PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Thousands of Post Malone and Jelly Roll fans were frustrated and waiting to get inside Providence Park when the concert began Saturday night, with some in attendance describing the queue as “horrendous.”

More than 30,000 fans went to Providence Park in Portland to see the music superstars in the latest large scale music event at the stadium normally used for Timbers and Thorns games.

Just after the gates opened at 5:30 p.m., no clear lines were forming. Many who spoke with affiliate KOIN 6 News said they were upset with the lack of park staff directing the crowd.

“This is horrendous. We’ve been in line for an hour-and-a-half. I can’t believe it,” said Minnesota resident Zach Johnson. “We haven’t seen anyone tell us where to go. We just basically been following the mass crowd and doing our best.”

Wes Wiegand of Forest Grove said, “This is the worst concert that I’ve been to as far as lines getting into the stadium.”

“We prepped and prepped and prepped to get here early,” said Donna Davis of Vancouver. “This is horrendous.”

Davis said she spent “$1,000 for tickets to get here and the show started 30 minutes ago.”

Harold and Cindy Priest of Tri-Cities, Washington said the line was “just not right. My daughter, who’s pregnant, just fainted and had to go home.”

Ignacio Sotelo of Portland said he was worried. “I hear Jelly Roll out there right now and like, hey, I want to go. That’s who I came for.”

Around 7:30 p.m., a Providence Park employee told the fans another gate was open — and people began to run. Security was no longer checking people’s bags and just waved them in.

The lines were cleared just before 8 p.m. But the lengthy wait may have a lasting impression.

Concert goer Alvin Arlt, who said he was “annoyed,” said he would not come back to Providence Park.

Zach Johnson was even more firm.

“I will never come back here.”

However, fans who spoke with KOIN 6 News after the concert said they had fun and it was worth the wait — just not the hassle.

Previous shows provided insights

Last summer, two other large music events filled Providence Park and Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day said they’re took lessons learned from those shows and used them for Saturday’s concert.

“We have command officers that are working tonight. We’ll have our mobile precinct up there. We’re working closely, obviously, with PBOT around traffic, making sure that there’s good, safe ingress and egress,” Day told KOIN 6 News. “There are some tactical considerations that I’m not going to go into, but we have increased our awareness around so that we’re able to provide the highest level of safety and security for the concert goers.”

Heather Davis, the CEO of the Portland Timbers, said this concert is “not that dissimilar to a Timbers game, but it is obviously bigger and a little bit longer. But (Portland police has) been great partners and they’ll have plenty of staff down here.”

There were marked and unmarked cars and motorcycles in the area to catch drivers who may be under the influence.

“We let people know that you may make it home without getting caught by the police,” PPB Sgt. Kevin Allen said, “but you may not.”

Streets around Providence Park were also blocked off.

“The reality is we need to have space to work for those emergency situations,” Chief Day said. Creating a little space makes it easier for crowd disbursement at the end. “It’ll be open. People can cross the street freely.”

TriMet offered free rides to people with concert tickets to reduce congestion and provide transportation to people who are intoxicated.

“For the first time, people will be able to ride to this concert using their ticket to the concert as a proof of fare on TriMet,” said TriMet spokesperson Mark Miller.

Portland Bureau of Transportation made adjustments as well, with additional parking enforcement officers and increased parking meter fees.