Ed Sheeran's three-night run in Cardiff last week made headlines for a whole host of reasons. Kicking off the Welsh leg of his ‘+ - = ÷ x Tour’ (‘The Mathematics Tour’), the concert from May 26 to May 28 was the Bad Habits singer's first time back in the Welsh capital since 2018, and the first time the Principality Stadium has played host to live music in two years.
Scores of fans poured into city, with one group travelling 16 hours from Mexico - and it seems the effort was well worth it, as the concerts themselves have been hailed by fans as "amazing" and "worth every penny". Friday's sell-out show made Welsh history with over 75,000 concert-goers - making it the largest gig to have ever taken place in Wales, according to Wales Rugby Union, which manages The Principality Stadium.
Sheeran's songs are well-known for their romantic lyrics and it seems that night love was in the air, as not one, but two, people proposed to their partners. The first night of the concert on Thursday was also one to remember: in a beautiful gesture, the singer gifted his shirt to an 11-year-old girl who had been pushed into barriers.
But Sheeran's residency in the capital was also memorable for the wrong reasons. Coinciding with the start of half-term, Friday afternoon saw queuing traffic for a whopping 15 miles on the M4 westbound, causing severe delays that lasted until the evening. One family on their way to the gig got stuck in the traffic jam for three hours and ended up missing the concert altogether. You can read all our latest What's On news here.
Friday evening also saw chaos at Cardiff Central Station, with fans claiming they were unable to board their trains due to the sheer size of the crowds waiting outside. After the first gig on Thursday, drivers claimed it was "absolute chaos" as they waited for hours to to leave car parks in the city centre. Saturday was also a particularly busy day in the city as Ed Sheeran's last concert coincided with American rock band My Chemical Romance 's outdoor gig.
Amid the carnage, the Welsh Conservative party leader, Andrew R T Davies, called for better transport infrastructure in Wales. On Saturday, he wrote on Twitter: "Serious questions must be asked about how three big gigs in Cardiff have ground south Wales to a halt. This simply isn’t good enough. We need modern transport infrastructure in Wales."
His view is shared by many WalesOnline readers, who commented on Facebook in response to our post that Ed Sheeran was set to play to the biggest capacity crowd in Wales on Friday. Helen Bastow wrote: "Wales cannot cope with this! I love Ed Sheeran. It’s not about him. It’s about anything planned on that scale in Wales. Our roads were gridlocked! 1 hour 30 mins to get home on Thursday and 3 hours plus to get home on Friday. The Welsh Government need to take stock of this."
She continued: "It’s fab that we have these venues in Wales but our roads/rail cannot cope with it. Surely there is some responsibility that this is looked at!! We need the relief road around Newport!" Zoe Evans echoed her opinion, writing: "And Cardiff needs to learn from this that they cannot cope with events on this scale. Gridlocked roads, people stuck in car parks for hours. Infrastructure needs huge improvements before a repeat of an event like this!!"
Babs Titley described the situation in the capital as "absolutely crazy", and pointed out that several concerts were happening at the same time. She wrote: "My friends and I were there last night in a different concert. I think there were about 4 concerts taking place in Cardiff. It was an absolute nightmare, totally gridlocked. Is it not possible to stagger these concerts a little more to make it easier for everyone?"
Giuseppe Cavaleri said it was "shambolic", writing: "Yes, it is the biggest ever, people waiting on train platforms two to three hours for trains, people stuck in car parks for the same amount of time." Leyton Jones said: "The stadium may be able to cope with the fans but the M4 certainly can't."
Those who attended Sheeran's gig also revealed their long journeys to get there. Emma Gibson said her usual three hour journey had expanded to a tremendous seven hours when she dropped her son off at the concert. While Stephanie Roper said the concert was amazing and "worth every penny", she added: "Took us over 4 hours to get there from Salisbury because of all the traffic."
Ceri Ann said the same, writing: "We went on Thursday, took 3.5hrs to get there and it was worth it...my teenage daughters had the times of their lives!!!! He was worth every penny, the man can certainly put on a show, he was amazing."
Meanwhile, others had a more humorous view of the huge congestion on the roads. Lee Shorter wrote: "Say hi to everyone in the gridlocked M4", and Brian Mahoney quipped: "Surely the never ending stationary traffic jam on the M4 is the biggest event to ever take place in Wales?"
"Might be [the biggest concert on Wales] if 50% of the ticket holders were not sat on the M4 at the Brynglas tunnels" wrote Nathan Morgan, while David Boneham joked: "Is the concert taking place on the M4 as that is the most popular place in Wales to sit and endlessly listen to music?"
But others pointed out that heavy congestion was normal for big events. Caroline Meller wrote: "Nobody likes a traffic jam but this is not a Welsh issue. M25…M6…M5…M42…M1….Events cause congestion in lands beyond the Welsh borders too", and Kevin Lee added: "I'm guessing that most of the people on here have never been to a live concert before......three hours sat in the car park at the end is part & parcel for a gig." To get more What's On stories sent straight to your inbox every single day, click here.
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