Please use this thread to discuss details about ticket sales, travel and more regarding the MELBOURNE and HANGING ROCK shows of the Rolling Stones "14 on Fire" tour 2014:

This thread will tell you everything you need to know about where to stay, how to get there, venue maps and so on. The Melbourne Rod Laver Arena show and the Hanging Rock shows are just an hour or so apart travel wise, so they will be here in the same thread.



Map:



Google Maps is saying this:

Mebourne downtown - Hanging Rock (Macedon) : 81 km - one hour driving

This is driving time WITHOUT traffic. Please note that there will be LOTS of traffic and queues, previous shows and experience from Hanging Rock performances are telling you will be suck out there with a car. There are very little accomodaton. The nearest city/town is Woodend - see the map.

It would be great with some input from locals here. Feel free to post advices. My advice based on experience from similar places like Werchter, Hockenheim, Glastonbury, i.e. small place with few roads receiving too many cars is - be patient, bring a tent, or find a place nearby, or find a place in the OPPOSITE direction of anyone else is driving. Melbourne Airport looks like a great place, but many people will go that way. May be other directions are better.

I would say it could take 1-2 hours to get there daytime, and if you are late on show day in a car you will hear the show in your car, sitting stuck in some parking queue. Worst case.

Hanging Rock Virtual Tour: [panedia.com]

Bjornulf



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-04 13:32 by bv.

[www.visitmacedonranges.com]

[www.visitmacedonranges.com]



ROCKMAN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-06 23:56 by Rockman.

[www.frontiertouring.com/hangingrock]

Gives you the information on travel to and from Melbourne by bus as well as parking information if you drive. I am from Perth and used the bus to get to the Bruce Springsteen concert and it worked well. You can use the train to get from Melbourne to Woodend but not return. Accommodation is hard to get and not cheap, but I got in early this time. Now just got to get the tickets. See you there BV.

Cliff

Ok I've just got back from checking out the Hanging Rock site and spoke to the council ranger about the previous 3 shows: Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart & and in March this year Bruce S. He said that it can accommodate 18,000 but he thinks the Stones will try and pack a few more in as the demand will no doubt be there. It's basically a big paddock with a gentle slope down to the stage with Hanging Rock lit up in the background. They have improved traffic access in and out of the area but delays would be expected. Bus travellers will get preference in avoiding the traffic. Melbourne is a big city of nearly 5 million with a big spread of never ending suburbs.....so be warned!

As I stated in my travel advice yesterday under the countdown to 2014 shows there is good accommodation in the Bendigo area an hour up the highway and a few hotels in and around Melb airport. Melb city of course has all the major chains with 2 Hyatts, Westin, Langham, Intercontinental, Hiltons, casino hotels and of course lots of cheaper places to stay. Weather in Melb March is usually excellent and Melb has the best coffee and some of the best restaurants in the world and a very lively bar, music and nightclub scene.

If I can work how out to copy/paste photos into this thread I will post some of Hanging Rock site......

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

If you do "Edit post" under your own post in another thread then you can esasily copy & paste the same content (with graphics and stuff) into another post you have made somewhere else. To post images please see this page - chapter "How to publish a picture on the IORR forum pages":

[www.iorr.org]

Thanks!

Bjornulf

This is from Steve who lives in the area:

Rod Laver Arena is a modest walk from Federation Square in Melbourne. Or a short train ride. Access is EASY. No Drama's

Now on to Hanging Rock...

First off.. I live in Sunbury Victoria - it's between Melbourne and
Hanging Rock. Look on the map. I've been to the Rock many times. I've been to see Springsteen there.

AVOID driving past Melbourne Airport to get to Hanging Rock. It takes you down some very small winding roads just north of the airport. Take the CALDER HIGHWAY.

(An exception to the above can be made for Cricket Tragics who want to visit The Home Of The Ashes at Rupertswood House in Sunbury. No other exceptions make any sense.)

Use this [goo.gl] diagram.

Woodend is a village - not a city or a town. Much smaller than Glastonbury (before moving to Australia I lived not far from there as well!)

Camping on site (Hanging Rock) is not allowed. But finding camping in the area is a good idea. But away from the venue.

Reasonable advice to 'head the other way' but it's necessarily restricted. The next place North is called Kyneton (really nice place, limited accommodation). After that there's a gap until you get to a big place called Bendigo. About an hour's drive from Woodend. Heading to Bendigo after the show is probably a good idea for some, but then anyone moving on from there to Brisbane has that much longer a journey back to Melbourne airport.

The other places in the area (Macedon, Gisborne, Romsey, Lancefield, Sunbury) are all small towns with limited accommodation. By far the best bet is to have accommodation in Melbourne and head back there.

I didn't understand this bit in someone's posting "You can use the train to get from Melbourne to Woodend but not return." Full details of train service are not up yet, but it would be more than surprising if it wasn't set up as a return deal.

Generally: I've seen postings where people write about hiring a car and driving between venues. Unless you have experience of driving in Australia - where the distances are vast and there are huge long stretches of the route where there's nothing. No people, no accommodation, no foods, and no fuel. Unprepared people DIE trying to cross the Nullarbor from Perth to Adelaide.

Perth-Adelaide 3 days. Don't even think about it.
Adelaide-Sydney 3 days. Don't even think about it.
Sydney-Melbourne 3 days. Achievable.
Melbourne-Brisbane 3 days. Don't even think about it.

Bjornulf

Edited and replaced 15th March 2014



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-03-15 09:25 by CaptainCorella.

Hi everyone,
New to the forum. It looks to be lots of great info here. I'm from NZ but after seeing Springsteen at hanging Rock last year I will be heading here for the stones concert. It is such a special venue and well worth the trip. As it's been said traffic when it comes to leaving is an absolute nightmare. I had family staying in Melbourne who were on the organised bus transport back to the city and they were back and in their hotel room before we even got out of the carpark to head back to Bendigo where we were staying. Our plan this time will be to drive from Bendigo to Woodend and take the free shuttle the rest of the way. Buses get priority at the end of the night so we hope this will help a bit, but in the end even all that waiting around is well worth it!!

Quote
abbey712
Our plan this time will be to drive from Bendigo to Woodend and take the free shuttle the rest of the way. Buses get priority at the end of the night so we hope this will help a bit, but in the end even all that waiting around is well worth it!!

Interesting.

I'll keep an eye out for information about the shuttle (and check if it's a different one to the one that meets the trains). Where in Woodend are you planning on leaving your car?

We stopped in Woodend for coffee on our way to hanging rock last year as we had made good time from bendigo and there looked to be a large number of cars parked up in an empty area near to the village shops. We got a park no problem around 2pm

Does anyone know if there is a seating chart available?
I saw the seating chart of Bruce Springsteen's concert and he had general admission in front of the stage and at the back of the field. It would be great if the stones have the same set up.

Cheers,
Wuudy

No seating plan yet I suspect that Frontier touring is holding out publishing it until tomorrow (Monday) morning eastern Australian time. Paul Dainty for all the previous Stones tours has had the seating plans made available in plenty of time.....Gudinski is a very shrewd cat!!!

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

We will do mostlikely Adelaide - Sydney - Melbourne - Hanging Rock - Brisbane in a Camper. I hope we don't have to rush out at Hanging Rock to find a spot. Despite the distances which we checked carefully and did such distances also during the US Shows and on Holidays in Alaska / Yukon I think the stretches of 1000 miles in 3 days are feasable. Even with dirt roads.However you should be used to drive long hours.

Quote
winos
No seating plan yet I suspect that Frontier touring is holding out publishing it until tomorrow (Monday) morning eastern Australian time. Paul Dainty for all the previous Stones tours has had the seating plans made available in plenty of time.....Gudinski is a very shrewd cat!!!

It is perhaps a measure of my lack of shrewdness that I can't even begin to think what advantage comes from a majorly delayed announcement of the Seating Plans.

Personally, when something like this happens I'll believe in the Cock Up Theory over the Conspiracy Theory.

Hanging Rock Seating Chart is up,

Hanging Rock seating plan now on the Ticketmaster web site.

No sign yet of Rod Laver....

Nice aerial photo of an actual concert at Hanging Rock.

[themusic.com.au]

Also checkout that the article confirms the 18,000 licensed limit.

And another nice groundlevel photo

[www.heraldsun.com.au]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-09 02:49 by CaptainCorella.

Ticketek have finally uploaded the seating plan....!

The ticket prices are outrageous: I paid $150 for Aerosmith, $60 for Black Sabbath & $180 for the Boss for the same seat that the Stones are charging $375....how so Mick? I know production costs, labour hire etc is expensive but seriously is he having a lend???

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Quote
winos
Ticketek have finally uploaded the seating plan....!

The ticket prices are outrageous: I paid $150 for Aerosmith, $60 for Black Sabbath & $180 for the Boss for the same seat that the Stones are charging $375....how so Mick? I know production costs, labour hire etc is expensive but seriously is he having a lend???

Agreed.

We're going to try for the Category3 seats - $200 each pretty much. There seems to be a narrow strip of them around the back/edge of the arena. (Even the ones flagged as restricted view are up near the $200 mark.)

I know that Rod Laver has a good reputation as a venue, but I'm reminded of the time we went to see The Stones at Earls' Court in 1976. The reviews of that show were awful because of the echo. We thought it was great - we were sitting right as the back up against the wall from which the sound was echoing, so we had quite a good time really.

Yes it is a good venue and not too much reverb off the back wall compared to a few years ago. They are still charging top price for restricted viewing:

PC1 Side Restricted View $578.25

PC2 Side Restricted View $374.15

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Got my tickets! Section C7 for $374.
I thought I would at least get section B for that price, Oh well...

Cheers,
Wuudy

It looks like all the pre-sale allocated tickets are gone for Hanging Rock show as I've tried for all prices and nothing available. I will wait for the arena show sale coming up soon.

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Quote
Wuudy
Got my tickets! Section C7 for $374.
I thought I would at least get section B for that price, Oh well...

See you there! I got a single in C4

Quote
winos
It looks like all the pre-sale allocated tickets are gone for Hanging Rock show as I've tried for all prices and nothing available. I will wait for the arena show sale coming up soon.

Amazing to have sold out that quickly. I guess that it's the Frontier Touring pre-allocation that's sold. Of course we have no idea what proportion of the total that is.

Hang on for the "public" sale, as well as the $99 lucky dip.

Quote
Wuudy
Got my tickets! Section C7 for $374.
I thought I would at least get section B for that price, Oh well...

I'm in C7 too, got 2 tickets. I was expecting B as well but too nervous to throw them back and try again and not able to buy in the general sale next week.
Got 2 for Auckland too and that was a lot harder , perhaps being cheaper made it more in demand than I thought?

I've done my once in a life time, aisle seat by catwalk in 2006 and got my handshakes from Mick and Keith so these concerts are a bonus!

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CaptainCorella

Quote
winos
It looks like all the pre-sale allocated tickets are gone for Hanging Rock show as I've tried for all prices and nothing available. I will wait for the arena show sale coming up soon.

Amazing to have sold out that quickly. I guess that it's the Frontier Touring pre-allocation that's sold. Of course we have no idea what proportion of the total that is.

Hang on for the "public" sale, as well as the $99 lucky dip.

Yes I'm going to do that - I was just checking the availability of tickets, I would've preferred for RLA show to be sold first then I would've known if I needed to buy Hanging Rock tics, going to Adelaide as well so I have something.

pool's in but the patio ain't dry

Trying to get Sydney tickets now but the website is too busy... I'm in the queue

Cheers,
Wuudy

Quote
Wuudy
Trying to get Sydney tickets now but the website is too busy... I'm in the queue

Queue gone by 6 minutes past.

Holy crap, the best tickets that I can get are section 4 which isn't even pn the floor anymore for $577...
I'll try at the general sale of I can get tongue pit tickets. What a shame they don't have a tongue pit with general admission in Hanger Rock!

I'm curious to see what tickets you can get at the general sale. Smart system though, I didn't have the balls to wait for it even though I'm convinced they didn't sell all the best seats yet but just a selection of it.

Cheers,
Wuudy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-09 06:16 by Wuudy.

By 4:03 I was unable to select even one single cheapest seat for Rod Laver, so on a whim tried one of the PC1 seats. None available.

Most improbable in my view that 100% of a non-trivial number of top dollar tickets were sold (legitimately) in less than 3 minutes.