It was a night of fantastic music and Scouse solidarity, but something needs to happen to sort out the M&S Bank Arena. Sam Millne gives his view and recounts the experience…
Ironic isn’t the word, but it’s not far off.
The crowd, brought together for the music of Jamie Webster at a sold-out M&S Bank Arena, battled physically and in voice against the capitalism that so many of Webster’s songs rally against.
As expected, the music, the show and the songs were fantastic. It was Webster at his best, uniting a crowd in protest, not with banners, but by showing that Liverpool was going to have a good time whatever the circumstances.
Protest comes in different forms. Jamie Webster uses a couple. Firstly, he combines his music and lyrics to create a form of entertainment that emboldens anyone with a similar outlook.
Second, and what shone through on Saturday night, was the stubbornness of Liverpool to have a good time whatever the circumstance. It’s how ‘we get by’, the title of the songwriter’s perfectly-named first album.
These days, chanting F*ck the Tories’ sometimes feels like it’s lost its meaning, however, on Saturday night, I had goosebumps hearing the unity of the crowd and the people.
Billy Bragg’s special appearance and rendition of ‘Never Buy The Sun’ was special also.
Although the set was eventually cut short and there will perhaps be a sour taste in the mouth of Jamie, the night was a triumph in solidarity and songwriting that the masses can engage with.
He can hold his head up high having become the first Scouser to headline the arena as a solo act since Paul McCartney.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the organising authorities on the night.
Aside from the music…
A paying support were once again let down by stadium design and no doubt, a large company paying poor salaries to not enough workers.
There have been issues at the arena before. The situation was arguably worse for the Champions League final screening this year, however, it didn’t feel right to make a fuss at a time when events in Paris were even worse.
I can only speak from my experience, but having been a few times, I know the problems that arose on Saturday.
Of course, none of the blame can go to Jamie Webster, who was visibly upset when he learned about the situation.
From the start, it seemed strange that everyone was sent paper tickets months in advance before being told that these were no longer valid and they were to use mobile tickets instead. That’s fine, but these tickets were being accepted as valid on the gate.
It didn’t seem like there were too many bunking in but if there had been, this meant that there could have been up to double the capacity, all using ‘legitimate’ tickets.
Thankfully, that scenario never came to pass.
I missed both support acts, The Sway and The Snuts, due to the length of the queue for standing that stemmed from there being one entrance for the entire standing section of thousands. Some people reportedly didn’t make it in at all or had to wait until after the main act had begun.
Once in, like on previous visits, the corridors were very crowded and there was, as usual, one set of toilets for the entire standing section. Well before the gig started these were flooding.
We didn’t even think about getting a drink as we knew it would have been a ridiculous wait, not ideal if you need water after queuing for an hour.
The main bar is badly located in the middle of the main entrance corridor.
Once off the concourse and into the arena itself, there was plenty of room to move around and everyone could have a good time.
That was until probably two-thirds of the way into the gig when Webster announced that the police were asking him to edit his set list due to security concerns.
They were reportedly worried about overcrowding, however, any danger had long gone and now the corridors were empty and the bar shut. The police need only have used their eyes to see there were no issues now.
A bizarre request. The situation escalated and despite being told to stop the gig, Webster refused to leave the stage.
He, a friend whose name I can’t remember, and Brooke Combe played a couple of slower covers before ending a reduced set list on This Place and Weekend in Paradise, two songs the crowd wouldn’t have left without!
Coming out wasn’t as bad, though the design of the arena was still clearly poor – this is nothing new.
There was noticeably a complete lack of police presence outside, likely a wise move as there would have been tension after they had tried to get the gig stopped.
In Liverpool, it goes without saying that crowd-crushing is at the forefront of people’s minds at any big event. You only need to look at events at the Champions League final when there would potentially have been fatalities if it hadn’t been for the calmness displayed by Liverpool supporters who knew all too well the dangers of panicking due to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
The gig wasn’t ruined and Billy Bragg’s appearance was a special moment. The songs were fantastic and, once in, everyone appeared to have a good time. However, forget Eurovision, something needs to be done about the arena now, for the safety of us, never mind just for when the world is watching next year.
UPDATE:
The M&S Bank Arena have released the following statement…
On Saturday night we hosted a sold out Jamie Webster concert at the arena. There were reports of overcrowding at one of the floor bars, however the crowd congestion was resolved and people were dispersed.
Merseyside Police received a report of concern for safety at the venue just before 9.30pm and attended the venue for a short period whilst our events security dealt with the incident. The event was deemed safe to continue.
The process for checking tickets is a rigorous one and we understand all appropriate checks were made on the night.
The safety of our customers is of the utmost importance; we take any incident seriously and a detailed investigation has already begun.
We sincerely apologise to both the artist Jamie, who was playing the biggest show of his life, and to his fans for any aspects of their experience which fell short of their expectations. We wish to thank Jamie and his promoter for their support in removing the encore to ensure the remainder of the show continued to operate safely.
Mersey Music 