A ROMSEY woman has raised concerns over the sound quality at a concert after a disappointing experience at a Lionel Richie show.

Hilary Piper, 66, who attended the performance on the evening of Tuesday, June 27 with her daughter, said that due to the way the sound system had been set up for the show, she was unable to hear what the performer was saying or singing during the event.

Ms Piper, who lives in Fishlake Meadows, said: “It was disappointing to be honest – nothing to do with Lionel, he was very good – but the sound system was just atrocious, it was so bad.

“We were up near the front to the left-hand side of the stage, and we were there when the support act was on, and we couldn’t hear one word he was saying.”

She continued: “We said then ‘The sound system is really bad, there’s something wrong with the sound system’. So, then we stayed where we were and then Lionel came on, everybody around us, there was a large group, all of whom said ‘We can’t hear anything’. So, it wasn’t just us.”

Hilary said that, when she raised the issue with security guards at the festival, she was told that the sound engineers had already left the venue and nothing could be done about it.

She continued: “This was not long into Lionel’s set, and they said ‘Oh, the sound engineers have gone home’, so I said, ‘What would happen if there were a black-out or something, surely the sound engineers would be remaining for the whole concert?’ So, we then moved from where we were, we moved further back, right down to near the back, and when you moved more into the middle, it was clearer, definitely.

"But I still wouldn’t have said it was the best sound system in the world and it seemed to me that all of the speakers were facing forwards and I would have thought why that was so bad at the side, the sound was going past you almost.

“My daughter had bought me the ticket as a gift, and I felt sorry for her”.

The Broadlands Estate and concert organisers have been contacted for comment.