Tags: concerts, stadium concerts, Sam Fender, The Killers, Hampden, Elland Road, Kaiser Chiefs
By Alfie Dunn
It seems that over the last few years, stadium gigs have started to become more popular. Whether that might be The Killers arriving for another tour of the UK but finding no large enough venues to accommodate for their hordes of fans from around the world and so having to belt out Mr Brightside at … checks notes… Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.
Or homegrown Geordie lad Sam Fender fulfilling his dream and playing two nights at his beloved St. James Park, they’re definitely on the rise.
Huge concerts like this, that seemed to be a thing of the past are back, even Beyonce is getting on it – recently performing at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. It’s hard to imagine Single Ladies being performed in the flesh at the same end of a stadium where Ji Dong-won once rounded Joe Hart to score a famous injury time winner, but welcome to 2024.
However, are they really all they’re billed up to be?
For me, live music has a special ability to get you lost in a moment of pure elation for almost 2 hours. You’re with your mates in some dingy, low-ceilinged basement venue, sweat dripping off the walls and the band you’re seeing have just started their encore. Drink in hand, you have one final sing-song and a bit of a bounce if you can still muster the energy and then finally, ears ringing, legs cramping, you’ve had another brilliant night.
This is, for the majority of those being booked for stadium gigs now, the experience the average fan would have had seeing one of their shows, potentially just a few years ago. Take Sam Fender, once again for example.
I recall seeing him for the first time in Leeds in November 2018, in a venue that doesn’t even exist anymore (long live The Chapel), and the description above is pretty much a full recount of how my night went – and not far off from my experience seeing him two years later at The O2 Academy.
Not begrudging his success, but there’s nowhere that the same, exhilarating thrill of small venue gigs can be replicated in huge arenas built for sporting events. For example, I was in attendance at Kaiser Chief’s Elland Road gig to celebrate Leeds United’s centenary year, and whilst it was a good gig, you had to be anywhere in the first 50 rows to catch a glimpse of the band, let alone get some sort of atmosphere within the crowd.
And that seems to be the problem with stadium concerts. It may be okay for Beyonce and Taylor Swift to do their shows at the Stadium of Light and Anfield due to their fans not expecting a full rocking show – judging by some videos you’d do well to hear the artists song over the top of thousands of screaming fans.
Maybe it’s just me being cynical but I just can’t get on board with thousands of people in a crowd that are purely there for the event rather than the music, especially those that have heard one song on TikTok and decided that their entire personality revolves around the particular artist performing.
Then that raises the question, is it the venue that’s causing the issues with the gig from a fan of my ilk’s perspective, or is it those in attendance? Or are they one in the same? It’s a bit of a paradox in that sense, as attracting those who aren’t the biggest fans to concerts is inevitable when a few tunes go viral.
However, with stadium concerts, especially those that are used to housing football matches, you’ll often find that it appeals to the wrong type of crowd. This is further exemplified if it’s a home talent performing – hordes of football fans may generally be attracted to the event and because of their surroundings, act like they would in the terraces on the weekend.
In my experience, with stadium gigs it’s one or the other; there’s no atmosphere at all, or the middle-aged Stone Island clad firm are looking for a scrap as soon as one of them is nudged by the natural movement of a crowd, spilling one sip of his dark fruits.
The verdict? Stop promoting too many stadium gigs, and leave them to the superstars. Huge events like stadium gigs can be brilliant, but let’s keep them that way – big time events that rarely ever come around, so that way, everyone is in the same mindset of having a great night and looking after each other, just like it was in those small venues where all these artists started their careers.