160,000 fans will flock to stadium

TENS of thousands of music fans will flock to the Sunderland Stadium of Light over the next few days, in the biggest week of rock and pop seen in the region for decades.

An astonishing total of 160,000 people will see Take That and Oasis play the Sunderland FC ground, in a feast of music expected to provide a £3.5m boost to the region’s economy.

With Sunderland Live, a two-week festival, under way, the city and the region is buzzing with excitement.

Months of effort have gone into planning for every aspect of the extravaganza, from parking and public transport to food and the fans’ behaviour.

Take That will kick off the week with shows tomorrow, and on Saturday, with Oasis taking to the stage on Wednesday.

After the concerts were announced last summer, thousands of fans queued for hours and camped out outside the Stadium of Light in an attempt to get their hands on tickets.

Take That, who were initially planning to play only one date, added a second after tickets sold out in record time – with the band’s Circus Live tour becoming the fastest-selling in UK history.

The Oasis show also sold out within hours, leading to the club expanding capacity by more than 1,000.

Research has shown that 91 per cent of Oasis tickets and 75 per cent of Take That tickets have gone to fans in the North-East.

Gary Hutchinson, the club’s concert project manager, said: “These figures prove that there is a market in the region for events of this size and that we have a substantial number of passionate music fans here.”

Liam Boylan, from promoters SJM, said: “The eyes of the whole music industry, trade press and the media in general will be on Sunderland, and I think it will really open the eyes of agents and tour promoters to the potential there is here.”

Take That

TAKE THAT found success in the early Nineties with hits such as It Only Takes A Minute and A Million Love Songs.

The five-piece of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams hit superstardom with the release of 1993’s Everything Changes, which included four UK number one singles.

Cracks started to show in 1995, with Robbie Williams increasingly unhappy in the band. He sensationally quit that summer.

Take That continued to tour as a four-piece but split, to the heartbreak of millions of teenage girl fans, in February 1996.

Williams became an international superstar with a string of smash-hit solo albums.

Following years of rumours, Take That minus Williams reformed for a hugely successful comeback tour in 2006.

Spurred on by their refound fame, the group – matured from their boy band roots – have recorded two albums: Beautiful World and The Circus.

Oasis

OASIS are one of the most successful British rock bands of all time.

Led by the iconic Gallagher brothers Noel and Liam, the Manchester-based outfit have recorded a string of massive selling and hugely influential albums and played sell-out concerts around the world.

Since forming in 1991, Oasis have sold more than 50 million records, had eight UK number one singles and picked up 15 NME Awards, five Brit Awards, nine Q Awards and four MTV Europe Music Awards.

They shot to fame with debut album Definitely Maybe, which included the singles Supersonic, Cigarettes and Alcohol and Live Forever.

Second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?

brought more success, becoming the third largest selling album of all time in the UK. Their most recent work, Dig Out Your Soul, scored them another UK number one album.

Since 1999 the band’s lineup has included County Durham-born Gem Archer on rhythm guitar.

Music city for two weeks

A STRING of concerts and events will be taking place in Sunderland around the visits of Take That and Oasis.

The Sunderland Live festival, a two-week programme of music, runs until Sunday, June 14.

There will be free music in city parks, pub and club concerts, and the opening of hit musical We Will Rock You at the Sunderland Empire.

Acts who will play over coming days include Monty Casino, Saint & The Cynics, Latin Connection and The Beautiful South.

Chris Alexander, head of culture and tourism at Sunderland City Council, said: “The programme shows the diversity of music and venues around Sunderland.

“We’ve had some big events, such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend, come to the city and now with names such as Take That and Oasis, it shows that Sunderland is being recognised for its music scene.”

For the full programme and ticket prices, see sunderlandevents.com

Park and ride – or take the Metro

GETTING the fans to the Stadium of Light for the concerts has involved a major traffic management operation.

Sunderland FC, Sunderland City Council, Metro operator Nexus and Northumbria Police have been preparing for the events for weeks.

The football club has paid for Nexus to run extra Metro trains until 1am on all three dates and the council is to run park-and-ride services.

Gary Hutchinson, Sunderland FC’s concert project manager, said: “The club has worked hard to ensure safe, efficient transport options for the thousands of concertgoers who will be flooding into the city.

“The Metro is a vital part of the city’s transport network and we are delighted that we have been able to facilitate extra services.”

Bernard Garner, director general of Nexus, said: “Public transport will have a key role to play in getting people to and from these concert dates at the Stadium of Light.

“The extra Metro services will be vital and will mean people can park throughout the Metro network to get to the stadium. The park-andride option is also an excellent way to avoid the hassle of finding somewhere to park in the city centre.”

The bus park-and-ride service, which will cost £5 per car, will be operating on all three concert dates. It will run from Fulwell Quarry to the stadium, between noon and 8pm and 11pm and 2.30am.

Traffic coming north along the A19 will be signposted to the event along the A1018, into the city centre with its multi-storey car parks, cutting traffic on the A1231 and in residential areas.

All city centre car parks will be open 24 hours.

Superintendent Marcus Hall, of Northumbria Police, said the force had made sure concert-goers had a wide range of transport options, while minimising disruption to others.

Ken Scott, chairman of the safety advisory group at the Stadium of Light, advised people to arrive early to enjoy the city’s attractions.

■ Timetable information is available at nexus.org.uk

■ For details of road closures, see safcconcerts.com