Music fans out in force on the hottest day for sir tom and stereophonics
MUSIC fans flocked to Cardiff yesterday on what was expected to be the hottest day of the year so far.
Temperatures were tipped to hit 30C in some parts of Wales and while many made the most of the sunshine at Cardiff Bay and Barry Island, the city centre was packed with thousands of people heading to see Stereophonics and Sir Tom Jones at the Principality Stadium.
Gates for the concert opened at 3pm with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Feeder warming the crowd up.
There was some congestion on the roads ahead of the gig, with delays on the M4 building from early afternoon.
Speaking before the show, Steve and Natasha, from Bridgend, said they had arrived at 2pm to avoid the “chaos of the roads”.
Steve and Nic, from Bristol, both said Dakota was their favourite Stereophonics song.
Steve, who saw Sir Tom in Las Vegas a few years ago, was looking forward
to watching the Welsh legend sing at the Principality Stadium. “I think he’ll sing till he’s 100,” he said.
Julia, who said she knew Kelly Jones during his time in art school, was there with her daughter Stevie. She said that during his time in art college, Jones was “quiet” and kept himself to himself.
Toni Venditto, who owns Pregos Wine Bar in the city, said he met the frontman three decades ago.
He said: “He used to come to a few restaurants I went to in town, so I met Kelly when he was 17-years-old.
“He used to have a bit of pasta. I remember that he was looking around at the photographs on the wall. I had loads of celebrities around the room. He said: ‘Where is my photograph?’ So I said, ‘eat your pasta’ and he replied: ‘One day you’re going to pay me to put my photograph on the wall’ and it happened.”
Toni said he met up with Kelly on Monday: “We had a bit of lunch at Prego. He had just come back from Scotland.”
He said Kelly had invited him backstage for the show. Toni said: “I’m with them all the time. I’m on the guestlist with my friends and family and I am very excited.”
Donna, Suzanna, Charlena and Dawn had travelled from different ends of the country for the concert after making friends at a concert.
Travelling from Pontypridd, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow, the group said: “We first met at a Stereophonics gig and now we always come.”
Despite being excited to watch the group perform, Suzanna said she was “just as excited to catch up with these guys”.
Before the gig, rail companies had warned of queuing at Cardiff Central
and put on extra carriages to cope with the demand.
A “very full” Transport for Wales train had to be evacuated yesterday over a “serious health and safety issue” as malfunctioning air conditioning failed to stop temperatures soaring.
One passenger, returning to Cardiff after attending the previous night’s Harry Styles gig in Manchester, said she boarded the 2.31pm service from Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven.
She said: “We managed to get a seat but there were several people standing near the doors and the train was very full. It was very hot but we weren’t surprised. We then had a message on the tannoy to say the air conditioning was broken and engineers would be waiting at Crewe to try and fix the issue there.
“However, when we arrived at Crewe there was another tannoy message to say that the train would need to be cancelled due to a ‘serious health and safety issue’ where the air conditioning was unable to be fixed and temperatures inside the carriage had reached 36 degrees. Everyone then had to get off.”
The passenger said the train was “packed full” with Harry Styles giggoers as well as people on their way to Cardiff for hen parties and weekends away.
“It’s ridiculous they only put on two carriages for the journey in the first place,” she added.
A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Due to today’s very high temperatures and an air conditioning system failure on board the 2.31pm Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven service, the train was terminated at Crewe on safety grounds.”
Stereophonics and Sir Tom are back at the stadium tonight with Gruff Rhys in support. The forecast is for rain but the roof is set to be closed.