Neil Diamond concert sold out

Preparations have been made for a full house at FNB Stadium for the Neil Diamond concert, with park and ride buses being laid on and roads being closed.
FANS heading to the Neil Diamond concert at FNB Stadium on the weekend are urged to avoid the rush by getting to the Rea Vaya park and ride venues in plenty of time.

“Fans must come early to avoid the last-minute rush. The first buses will depart from park and ride venues at 1.30pm to the stadium and the last one will depart no later than 6pm,” said Jacques Grobbelaar, the chief executive of Stadium Management South Africa, which manages FNB Stadium.

The concert takes place at the iconic venue on Saturday, 2 April. It is sold out, and more than 97 000 fans are expected to rock to Diamond‘s popular hits, such as Coming to America.

Organisers have promised an electrifying evening. “A giant stage has been set at the centre of the pitch, with a quality sound system,” said Grobbelaar.

Park and ride
And getting there will be easy using the Rea Vaya park and rides. Parking tickets for light motor vehicles are R70 each; they are R200 for heavy motor vehicles.

There are four park and ride venues – at Constitution Hill and Wits University in Braamfontein, at Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate, and Gold Reef City in the south.

Parking tickets can be bought online through Computicket or at any Computicket outlet.

Individual tickets are sold out, but there are still options for hospitality suites. There are two kinds of hospitality packages available: one for R800 a head without catering, and one for R1 650 including food and drinks.

In a long career, Diamond has sold more than 115 million records worldwide, including 48 million in the United States. He was inducted into the Songwriter Hall Fame in 1984 and in 2000 he received a Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award.

Though his record sales declined after the 1980s, he is still popular and tours successfully. He has a loyal following of diehard fans. His songs have been recorded by a vast array of performers from different musical genres.

Safety
Grobbelaar said there would be a full range of safety and security. A joint operations centre would co-ordinate Johannesburg’s metro police department, emergency management services and disaster management unit, as well as the South African Police Service.

“We have also incorporated the services of private security and medical providers to ensure that all our emergency systems are in order,” he added.

Roads in Nasrec would also be closed to make way for concert goers. “We want to avoid congestion. This will be much easier for buses travelling between the stadium and park and rides.”

Gates will open at 6pm and the concert begins at 8pm. The following roads will be closed from 10am on Saturday morning:

Nasrec and Rand Show;
Rand Show and Golden Highway;
Nasrec Road and N17 Circle;
Booysens Reserve and Crown Wood Street; and
Soweto Highway from M1 to Mentz Street.
All these roads will be re-opened at 4am on Sunday morning, after the concert.