Take That

Monday and Tuesday, June 27 and 28, saw the biggest crowds ever flocking to Aston. Nearly 1000,000 people, mostly women, attended the two concerts given by Take That in Villa Park, the football grounds of Aston Villa.

Weeks before the event all residents of Aston received and A4 in their letter-box advising them about the invasion that was going to happen and apologising in advance for any inconvenience it may cause. In our area it was not bad. We could hear the music in the distance but for people living closer to the stadium it must have been a lot worse. Walking over to the football grounds through Aston Park I could feel the vibrations of the bass tones in my body while still on the slope downhill. But then the concert was not an all-night affair: the official opening was at 7:00 o'clock and all had ended before 11:00.

What was more disturbing, at least to some residents, was the closure of roads around Villa Park, not only on the days of the concerts but also before and after to build up the huge stage and take it down again. The traffic was diverted along alternative routes but these were not built to accommodate the number of vehicles in such a short time. The problem was mainly felt after the concerts, when everyone wanted to rush home. It took a few hours to clear the traffic, longer than is the case for Aston Villa at home matches.

It may seem strange but I had never heard of Take That before the events of this week. I did not live in England when they first gained popularity in the nineties and besides my interest in pop and rock music has never been great. Anyway I was told that the band broke up and has been reconstituted, so to say, the last one joining again being Robbie Williams, who "was fabulous", according to my spokeswoman.

Concerts like these do not come cheap. The woman just quoted paid no less than £55 for a ticket, which was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. All in all the concerts generated an awful lot of money and I wonder how much of it ends up in Aston. Taxi drivers had a busy evening; there were plenty of them going to and fro Villa Park. Also the eateries had lots of customers. But I guess that these are just the crumbs that fell from the table of the rich. This is not to complain: Aston was in the news and what is more it was in a positive way.

Ton