Beach Blast? Star-studded country show hits sour notes with fans

CTV Atlantic: Mixed reviews of Dooly’s Beach Blast A massive concert in "shediac" seems to have hit a sour-note with fans. CTV’s Cami Kepke explains.

A massive weekend concert in Shediac, N.B. is hitting a sour note with fans.

Tens of thousands of people came out Saturday for the star-studded country show at Parlee Beach, which featured Florida Georgia Line as the headline act. While most concertgoers agree the entertainment was exceptional, they say the event itself was poorly organized.

“They had a really great lineup for music, but there’s just way too many other hiccups they have to fix,” says Ian Butler, who attended Dooly’s Beach Blast.

Some people paid nearly $200 to see six acts perform, and while they say the entertainment was worth the money, some say the event itself was a rip-off in the end.

More than 600 people have posted negative reviews on the event’s Facebook page, with attendees blasting everything from long lineups and lax security to dirty campsites and overcrowding. Angry concertgoers also took their frustrations to Twitter.

“The lineup was nuts,” says concertgoer Andy Bosshard. “We had friends who said they were in line for about two hours waiting.”

Once people were inside, it seems they had even longer waits for food or water.

“That was the worst. At one point they were selling beer tickets but had run out of beer so I had people I was with run into the situation where they bought beer, but couldn’t get their beer,” says concertgoer Rane Giffin.

Some campers arrived as early as Thursday and say problems were evident right away.

“They would run out of toilet paper so fast and fill up so fast,” says Butler. “They got pretty disgusting. A lot of times there would be no soap or hand sanitizer.”

Aric Salsman, who works for one of the two security agencies covering the event, says they were overwhelmed by crowds of tens of thousands of people almost immediately.

“The owner of my company talked to the event organizer and promoter about maybe doubling security and they just didn’t bite,” says Salsman. “So, with what we had, we had to do the best we could.”

Meanwhile, the RCMP was busy dealing with clogged roads and pedestrians, but say the situation could have been worse.

“We arrested 17 people for being intoxicated in a public place,” says RCMP Cpl. Eric Hanson. “All of those people have been released without charges. It’s just a matter of keeping them off a busy street and safe until they’re sober enough to be released.”

Concert organizers declined to comment so it’s not clear exactly how many people attended the event. It’s also unclear as to whether another Dooly’s Beach Blast will be held next year.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Cami Kepke