Jamie Webster fans left the M&S Bank Arena in tears following reports of "overcrowding" and claims tickets were "not checked".
11,000 fans made their way to the sold-out gig on Saturday, November 19, to watch the 28-year-old singer perform at his highly-anticipated hometown show. However, reports quickly surfaced online of long queues once fans entered the stadium, as well as "overcrowded bars and flooded toilets".
Liam Kelly, who was meeting his friends inside the arena, claimed that tickets were not checked and that some fans without tickets managed to gain entry. Arena bosses told the ECHO that ticket checking was "rigorous" and "all appropriate checks were made on the night".
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Liam told the ECHO: "I was queuing after the support acts had finished and it didn’t move for about 40 minutes.
"People were coming out crying saying there was overcrowding at the bar and lots saying they were going home. Everyone went in and there were no checks on tickets, no bag searches, nothing.
"I offered my ticket to the scanner who just waved me in. Inside the arena floor was actually OK. It was busy but there was room, and it felt safe. The problem was the entranceway.
"There was one entrance for thousands of people, straight into the area in front of the bar and toilets - it’s absolutely maddening. That’s where it was overcrowded.
"I feel gutted for Jamie Webster who had his set cut short and wasn’t able to play an encore."
Another fan who was in the standing area said: "Everybody who was standing was being sent in using just one entrance, which was next to the bar as soon as you got in. This meant the queue for the bar was mixing with people coming in. Nobody could move forward when they got in but they were still sending people in behind us.
"We went to the self-serve bars they had there but there was one person trying to control hundreds of people wanting drinks. All of the machines stopped working and, when somebody told the workers, they said there’s nothing they can do about it. But, they never told people to stop joining the back of the queue.
"The toilets were under around two inches of what I hope was water. I told a steward they need to stop sending people in and he said there’s nothing they can do to help."
Jamie Webster announced on stage that police were at the concert before he was forced to cut his encore. The Liverpool-born star played an apparent shortened set as concern grew among the crowd.
The Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) said the event was deemed safe and the process for checking tickets was "rigorous" despite concerns raised on social media. The ACC added they believe "all checks were made on the night".
Faye Dyer, MD of The ACC Liverpool Group told the ECHO: "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.
"We are developing some FAQs around specific issues, so we will circulate them when we have finalised them."
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