SORRY to burst your gig bubble North East, but for me it was a nightmare.

The bands were excellent, couldn't ask for more, but for me and hundreds of others standing at the outer barrier beside the stewards, my experience was breathless crushing. Young men and women who waited for hours at the front barriers had to be hauled out by stewards because of the pressure of being crushed by drunken young idiots.

Shoes and coats and jumpers were tossed about, constant beer being flung in the air soaking people, never mind getting drenched by people urinating into the plastic beer cups and tossing it high in the air. Maybe they thought it was funny. Disgusting animals.

The smell of cannabis and visibly seeing someone snorting "stuff" did nothing for me or my friend's young son.

For the people at the golden circle at the front of the stage, you had loads of room and looked liked you really enjoyed it. Only wish I was there with you.
Never Again

Let's have more
I THINK they should rename the Stadium of Light, the Stadium of Sound & Light after the three successful concerts. While I didn't attend the Take That concerts, judging by the Oasis one, we have one of the best open-air live venues in the country. I was there from 5:30pm to watch all the bands and from The Reverend and The Makers to Oasis the atmosphere was electric and good- natured.
Our local economy has benefited from them by £40million, which at a time of global financial uncertainty was a very well needed shot in the arm for our city and one that will not have gone unnoticed in many other cities across the country.
We need to take advantage of this experience and strike while the iron is still hot. I hope other promoters see how successful these concerts have been and work alongside Sunderland AFC, Sunderland City Council and Nexus to arrange more.
Bob Price,
Rydal Mount,
Sunderland

Apply same rules
HAD the behaviour of the fans at the Oasis concert been on a Saturday afternoon and they had been football fans not music fans, there would be "wanted" pictures in the Echo and demands for an inquiry into the disgusting behaviour of the "hooligans".
There was widespread and extreme drunkenness in the streets hours beforehand. Bottles were thrown into gardens and large numbers of people urinated in the streets. Those were the ones who could still walk as many were too drunk to walk easily.
Much of this was in front of the relatively small numbers of police who, unlike on match days, stood by and did nothing. Where were the batons, dogs and horses that are a regular part of most football fans matchday experiences?
The stadium it seems was not much better with people urinating pretty much where they stood or in cups, bottles and glasses which were then thrown into the crowd or poured from the top to bottom tiers. Other people risked life and limb by balancing on the wall between the two tiers.
While this maybe considered acceptable behaviour at rock concerts, is it not time to apply the same rules to every "fan" be they football or music? I'm sure "some" football fans would love to be allowed into the SoL mortal drunk, not have to miss the game to go to the toilet or be allowed to throw missiles or urine at other fans. Unfortunately it seems there is one rule for music "fans" and another for football "fans".
Had the authorities challenged the behaviour that went on, in the way they normally do with a football crowd then maybe we wouldn't all be patting ourselves on the back quite as much as we seem to be.
Name and address supplied

Best gig I've seen
AS a born and bred Mackem now living in London, I was delighted to have the opportunity to come back to Sunderland to see Take That.
And what a show! As well as being probably the best gig I've ever seen, credit and thanks must go to Niall Quinn and SAFC for having the vision, nerve and logistical skills to stage an event of this magnitude on home soil.
Everything ran like clockwork. The staff and stewards were all good-humoured and couldn't do enough to help. They went out of their way to ensure that we were looked after properly and had a great time.
I've been to many venues around the country but this one topped the lot and I hope it will be the first of many such events for Sunderland.
For too long the city has lived in Newcastle's shadow when attracting big names and it was fantastic to see bands with the status of Take That and Oasis in the North East without having to trek to the air raid shelter that is Newcastle Arena.
A huge pat on the back to everyone involved in making this fantastic experience happen. It did my heart good and made me proud to come from Wearside.
Congratulations SAFC – in the words of the Take That song, Sunderland really did "rule the world" last weekend!
Gillian Watson,
London SW2

Not covered by TV
DESPITE over 100,000 attending magnificent Take That shows at the Stadium of Light, our local TV stations did not afford a single reference to the event. The programmes purport to represent the whole region but it seems that if it's not happening in Newcastle then it's not really happening.
I contacted both TV stations. Only BBC replied, saying they were denied access by the event organisers. This should still not prevent reference to the event, after all, news teams report on other events without access inside.
Maurice Alderson,
St Gabriel's Avenue,
Sunderland