Open air concert

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An open air concert is a concert taking place outside a hall in the open air.

[edit] Overview

As a rule on an open air concert, whose visit can depending on the event cost an entrance free or not, modern music like pop or skirt music is played. Hereby it is important, in particular if prominent artists arise, that the stage can be seen clearly from all parts of the festival area. If several of such concerts (mostly at several days) take place at the same site, this open air concert is called also music festival or festival. Open air concerts, on which techno music is played, are however in the minority.

It is common at most open air concerts to dance in front of the stage. Here can be also danced pogo when punk music is played with. Occasionally it is also usual to perform dance and climb acts similar at Loveparade. However this is mostly forbidden. At concerts with punk music stagediving is far common.

[edit] Facilities

Open air concerts can take place at fastened or at non-fastened places. First are part of a municipal festival and are mostly free for visitors. The latters are frequently part of a festival. If rain occurs during an open air concert the grass of the ground is often heavily damaged or destroyed by the visitors and the area where the open air concert should be recultivated. Open air concerts for which the visitor must pay an entrance fee should take place in fenced-in areas in order to avoid non-paying visitors. If the area is not fenced-in a temporary fence should be used. The current supply of an open air concert takes place usually from public electricity grid. If no suitable power connection is available, emergency power generator must be used. Because of the high loudness of most open air concerts, open air concerts lasting until late in the night, can take as a rule only on areas far awa from inhabited houses. Certain similarities with open air concerts have open air discotheques, which are in buildings with openable roofs, as the "Megadrome"-discotheque in Coswig. However here is almost no live music played as on most open air concerts.

The stage of an open air concert is as a rule built often from scaffold elements, and in most cases equipped with a roof for the protection of the electrical equipment such as amplifiers or microphones from rain. Almost the same light effects are installed as in discotheques. The loudspeakers are hung up mostly in on the left and on the right beside the stage developed towers, the mixer mostly are in their own tower before the stage (see FOH). As in a discotheque there are bars with beverage sales. They are mostly in easily dismountable structures or in trailors.

As sanitary plumbings toilet cars are used when a water waste connection is available. Otherwise chemistry toilets, which are accommodated mostly in plastic cabs, are used. Nevertheless many male visitors perform their pissing in the open air.