See the crowds at Coldplay’s first Rogers Stadium show
Coldplay fans appeared to experience a smoother exit from Toronto’s Rogers Stadium on Monday night, after complaints of poor crowd control following the outdoor venue’s inaugural show last week. However, some concert-goers told The Canadian Press they were still left feeling “lucky” to get out without any major incident. Here is a look at some scenes as fans entered and exited the venue.
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Rogers Stadium A Toronto Transit Commission worker is seen holding a sign directing Coldplay fans toward Rogers Stadium as they exit Downsview Station. The TTC said it would add more staff to its Downsview Park and Wilson stations on concert nights, while Metrolinx only said it would “closely monitor” GO train ridership levels for events at the stadium. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Live Nation Canada had promised to add more signage, lighting, staff, and water stations in an effort to address concerns concert-goers had at K-pop group Stray Kids’ concert at the venue a week prior. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium With limited parking on site at Rogers Stadium, fans were encouraged to take public transit, and the TTC held a staff debrief on Wednesday and attended a meeting with the City of Toronto, Live Nation, and other stakeholders to improve user experiences. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Large throngs of people were directed toward the three entrance gates at Rogers Stadium, all of which lead to an expansive ‘fan plaza’ that features multiple food and retail vendors. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Several concert-goers trekked through surrounding fields to make their way towards the gates. Sheppard West and Wilson stations are alternative arrival options to Downsview, but both leave commuters on the opposite end of the stadium. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium A designated drop-off zone along Beffort Road is also available for taxi and rideshare service users, but unless riders remain in the car, Rogers Stadium is not accessible by foot from Beffort, resulting in quite a hike for some to get to the stadium gates. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Clusters of Coldplay fans are seen in front of one of three entrance gates. Fencing restricts attendees to a small entryway along a walking path. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium In this overhead shot, the large scale of Rogers Stadium is illustrated, with pedestrians entering from the front and sides, and the taxi and rideshare seen at the rear behind the stage. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium A section of the bleachers shows a portion of the 50,000 spectators watching as Coldplay performs on July 7, the second act to perform at the newly constructed venue. It was also the first time Coldplay took the stage in Toronto since 2017. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium During the show, the group’s frontman Chris Martin thanked the crowd for going through all “the traffic and the travel and the trains and the waiting” to get to “this weird stadium in the middle of nowhere.” (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Once the concert wrapped, it was time to see if the new “adjustments” made by Live Nation Canada made a difference. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium As crowds leaving the stadium thickened and with only two ways out, staff held up green lights to tell people they could go, and red lights to instruct people to wait inside the venue. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium The practice, which Live Nation Canada refers to as “pulsing,” was also used at the first show. This time around, the company had promised to reconfigure the exit routes so that crowds would be dispersed to multiple nearby TTC stations, instead of just Downsview. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium However, two Coldplay fans told The Canadian Press they felt “herded like cattle” and said they were kept in the venue for 40 minutes after the show ended. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium Other fans said they tried to get ahead of what they expected would be a “hellish situation” and left partway through the final song. It only took them about 10 minutes to leave, they said. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
Rogers Stadium By 12:30 a.m., transit staff announced the last GO Train of the night had left and staff began taking down signs as the crowds were almost entirely dispersed. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press)
