AIKEN PROMOTIONS HAS said seating issues at Ed Sheeran’s concert at the Phoenix Park in Dublin last night were due to people arriving late.
A number of fans have complained about being unable to see or hear the concert properly, while there was also some confusion about whether or not people had standing or seated tickets.
“We want to clarify that tickets with General Admission (GA) on them are tickets for the designated standing area. If you have a seated ticket it will clearly state on it a Block/Row and seat number,” Aiken said in a statement.
The company added that about 5,000 people “arrived late” last night, leading to a number of issues.
“Please leave plenty of time to get to the venue. Please check online for details on where concessions and toilets are located and your best routes from the area you are in to those facilities,” the statement notes.
Aiken said that the movement of people “through the large gap between two banks of seats (that is the connection between the concessions area/entrances and the viewing area/pitch) worked well all night until Ed took to the stage when approximately 5,000 people were still to come in”.
When Ed went on stage those people who were in the concessions/toilet area and those still entering came in through the gap but did not move on to take a place in the designated standing area, they just stopped inside the gap to watch the show. This gap was not meant to be a viewing area, it was designed to facilitate movement between areas.
As a result, the company said, people behind those who had stopped were “unable to get into the viewing area and likewise some people were unable to get back out to the toilets for a time”, stating: “It took time and many stewards and gardaí to move them on in.”
The statement added: “There have been no reports of any (even minor) injuries as a result of this.”
Aiken said that additional measures have been put in place to prevent the same thing happening tonight.
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