City walks

Open airs in the city: it works if you want it to

"Krone" reporter Robert Fröwein talks to Viennese people about their thoughts, experiences and worries.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

"Krone" reporter Robert Fröwein strolls through the city and talks to people in Vienna about their experiences, their thoughts, their worries, their fears. Everyday stories straight from the heart of Vienna.

In May, spring is usually in full swing. The days get longer, the flowers bloom profusely and people's moods improve noticeably, even in Vienna. May is also the month in which the arena traditionally calls for the open-air season. Almost as traditionally, the opening falls through due to the weather - this time it caught the German band Großstadtgeflüster, although the rain did nothing to dampen the mood. After a quiet weekend, the local pop princes Bilderbuch followed up with two completely sold-out shows, causing cheers and enthusiasm among culture lovers. On these three evenings, the arena's new sound system was put into operation for the first time. The city provided 600,000 euros in funding to calm the few prophets of doom from the three neighboring towers who were constantly complaining about the volume last summer.

I can't confirm that the new system now concentrates the sound more prominently in the interior of the arena - after all, I was right in the middle of Bilderbuch and not somewhere outside. The first stress tests in "competition mode" at least don't seem to have stirred up any further problems and it remains to be hoped that everyone involved can coexist in peace from now on. Whether this will remain the case in practice remains to be seen. There are people in my circle of friends who are culture fans. They report that those who were already grumbling in 2023 are still grumbling now. Arena circles are still calibrating the sound in order to find the optimal setting after the first live runs. Only with the "learning by doing" principle can a new technical achievement be optimized in the best possible way.

After several consultations during the event, the Bilderbuch fans were happy with the new solution. "A cultural institution like the Arena can't be called into question because of such a small thing," remarked a "regular customer" of the venue (as she calls herself), "it's a few months a year where you can party to good concerts. That shouldn't be a problem." One industry insider, however, noted the changes in sound. "I miss the pressure that you know from the arena concerts a bit now. Bilderbuch sounded a bit muffled, especially on the side, but I hope that can still be fixed." In any case, those responsible have been proving for almost a year now that they are sparing neither expense nor effort to maintain the status quo and appease the doubters from outside.

France shows that there is another way. A recent business trip to see Taylor Swift took me to the La Defénse Arena in Nanterre, a suburb that borders directly on Paris. The stadium is normally home to the traditional rugby team Racing 92, during the Olympic Games it is transformed into a swimming pool and from 2025 the Tennis Masters will be held there. Apart from that, the stadium hosts major concerts by Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons and Swift, who has performed four times in front of 45,000 people each time. Due to gentrification, residential buildings border almost all corners of the multifunctional location - and not at a striking distance as in Vienna-Erdberg, but actually within a stone's throw. This doesn't bother anyone there, because people are happy about the rich cultural and sports offerings. That would also be food for thought in Vienna for those few people who like to confuse a big city with the rural periphery.