Eagles, Stadium Offer Refunds To Irate Fans Over Poor Sound Quality

A couple of thousand irate Eagles fans attending the group's August 11 concert that christened Denver's new Mile High Stadium (Invesco Field at Mile High) will be receiving ticket refunds from the Eagles and the Metropolitan Football Stadium District. Tickets were priced $40 to $175.

Concertgoers sitting in the upper stands in sections 505 through 512 and sections 530 through 537 blamed the band for poor sound quality because it used its own sound system. The stadium uses a distributed sound system; but bands always carry their own sound and use a direct sound system. It was determined the affected seats were too far away from the sound system.

Band manager Irving Azoff estimates that about 5,000 of the 54,000 in attendance were affected and will receive refunds.

"Even though our attorneys say we have no obligation to do the refunds, we care about our fans," Azoff told the Denver Post. "In my 30 years (in the business), this was my worst stadium night experience."

Industry veteran, Roy Clair, who's been providing concert sound systems for 35 years, does about 200 outdoor concerts a year and whose company has won numerous industry awards and provided the Eagles with the sound system, told the paper future concerts at the stadium will face the same problems.

Clair said the stage was built 100 feet high with the sound system at 80 feet, and in retrospect, he said, the stage would have had to have been 250 feet for sound to reach all the upper levels, adding $500,000 to the cost.

"When we did the sound checks, everything was normal," he said. "Once the people arrived that changed."

"This stadium was designed to be the noisiest in the NFL and they accomplished that goal," Clair continued. "But you can't design for that noise and still have a dual purpose for concerts."

Stadium Executive Director Tim Romani told the paper the comments made about the stadium not being designed for concerts is "completely inaccurate."

"That's the most absurd thing I've heard," he said. "It is totally false. Any building should be able to accommodate sound if the preparations are made," adding that the comments coming from the Eagles camp "is their way to deflect responsibility."

Chicago's Jam Productions promoted the concert.

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