Concertgoers at new Rogers Stadium sound off on washrooms, water, crowd control
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Some concertgoers who trekked to the new Rogers Stadium on Sunday evening are calling for changes following complaints about washrooms, water access and crowds.
After K-pop superstars Stray Kids performed the inaugural concert at the temporary music venue to 50,000 adoring fans, several attendees shared their negative experiences on social media.
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The range of issues facing concert promoter and host Live Nation, which built the stadium at the former Downsview Airport location in North York, includes inadequate washroom facilities, few water stations and massive crowds leaving the area.
“They’re having us crowd around and not letting people leave except in batches,” one concertgoer wrote on the X platform, giving the venue a zero out of 10.
In a subsequent post, the fan shared a short clip of a very large crowd standing outside the TTC’s Downsview Station at midnight.
“Clearly they didn’t consider ridership and transit capacity when building the Rogers Stadium,” she wrote.
A second video uploaded minutes later showed the concertgoer getting closer to the subway entrance.
“Hey @Rogers_Stadium! You’re going to have to fix this issue before the Coldplay concerts, especially since it’s forecasted to be warmer,” she wrote.
“The exit strategy is atrocious. People got sick and fainted. Some people missed the last GO train. This was a DANGEROUS situation.”
A friend of hers who also attended the concert called the crowding “insane.”
“Way too scary,” the friend added. “I was praying a stampede wouldn’t happen.”
Another concertgoer shared their views of the venue to Reddit, calling the situation following the show a “nightmare” and worse than leaving Budweiser Stage at the city’s waterfront.
They said the logistics were “horrible” and advised future attendees to “wear your comfiest shoes or seek accommodations” as it is a bit of a hike to get to the Downsview subway stop and GO trains.
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“The worse part was leaving the venue because it was dark and I saw several people falling,” they wrote.
“There’s 51k people trying to leave but there’s little to no signage of where to go. There were staff near the exits holding traffic wands and telling people to head left if they were going to the rideshare area.”
The concertgoer added that water stations were not located on the venue map and no signage pointed them out.
The stadium asked fans just before the end of the concert to “please stay safe, follow directions from event staff and look out for each other,” while reminding attendees that transit was free after the show.
Councillor James Pasternak, who represents Ward 6 York Centre where the venue is located, said a high-level meeting will take place Wednesday morning with city staff, TTC, GO Transit, Live Nation and other stakeholders to sort out the challenges.
“We have to do a reset,” Pasternak said. “We have to look at the exit plan, we have to look at how they’re moving this large number of people out of the stadium at the same time and make sure the TTC and GO Transit are providing frequency that we need to move people as quickly as possible.”
He said other issues that will be an easier fix are providing more water stations throughout the stadium and additional portable washrooms that are closer to the seating after attendees endured long lineups at far-away facilities.
“We have to look at this as a teaching moment to look at the things that went well,” Pasternak said. “From all indications, people had an amazing time at this concert. They love the music, they love the atmosphere. It was a perfect night for an outdoor venue.
“But at the same time, there were issues. When you’re trying to manage and accommodate a crowd of that size, you need to put certain things in place to make sure that it’s an enjoyable concert experience and that it’s safe.”
British rock band Coldplay is set to play four shows at the venue beginning next Monday.
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