By Julius Dennis
Technical issues left thousands of Lady Gaga fans locked out Suncorp Stadium last night, with the show beginning nearly an hour late.
Problems were discovered during the star’s soundcheck, resulting in the gates opening at 5.50pm instead of 5pm as planned.
The disruption led to some fans queuing outside Suncorp for another two hours.
Concertgoers were forced to queue for hours outside Suncorp Stadium. Credit: Cameron Atfield
Lines to enter the stadium stretched almost to Milton train station, with thousands joining unsigned queues in the hope it would end at their nominated gate.
The line to get in to Gate B, on the Milton Road end, stretched all the way to Caxton Street.
In the Brisbane summer heat and humidity, some tempers were frayed as anxiety rose – with the scheduled 7pm showtime already passed, many fans voiced concern they would miss the start.
Some had travelled from interstate and were considering their recourse options before finally making it inside with just minutes to spare.
“This delay resulted in a backlog of patrons queuing on the stadium’s external plazas,” a Suncorp Stadium spokesman said.
“This backlog exacerbated the already delayed entry, resulting in patrons experiencing unusually long wait times.”
The spokesman said 95 per cent of ticket holders were in the venue by 7.40pm when Gaga took the stage, 40 minutes later than advertised.
But many were still stranded outside, with some filming what they could see of the show from the stadium’s plaza area, outside the gates.
“The venue, as always, will perform an extensive debrief with all stakeholders in the coming days,” the spokesman said.
Em Davies said she did not reach the standing area on the stadium floor until 8.04pm, when Gaga was into her third song for the night.
“I have been to many concerts at Suncorp like Ed Sheeran, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber and never experienced lines that long,” she said.
“People kept pushing in, whispers of people fainting because it was 30 degree[s] … no one knew what was going on.”
Davies said her tickets had not yet been scanned when she heard the show starting – and once through the gates had to line up again for a standing-area wristband.
”There were further queues to get down to the field [with] no help or assistance from any staff there,” she said.
“We finally got down to the field … 24 minutes after Gaga started, which for $212 tickets isn’t good enough.”
Fans still stuck outside at 7.15pm. Credit: Cameron Atfield
Davies said she had already contacted Ticketmaster and would be reaching out to Suncorp Stadium “for at least a partial refund”.
Another concertgoer caught in the long queue said there were no issues when she saw British superstar Ed Sheeran perform at Suncorp in 2023.
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