Elton John and Coldplay in Manchester; travel chaos and gig clashes ahead of Manchester’s busiest week

Manchester - to say it’s a busy week for yourselves would be a great understatement. Not only is the FA Cup final this weekend, pitting the blue part of Manchester (City) against the red part of Manchester (United), you’ve got to contend with industrial action regarding train strikes too. This evening though is perhaps both a blessing and a curse for music fans around the United Kingdom - both Elton John and Coldplay are performing in this city this evening, creating a concert clash we at Peopleworld have only seen at major music festivals.

Indeed, Sir Elton John is continuing his farewell “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” tour at the AO Arena this evening, while Coldplay begin their tour also in Manchester, performing at the Etihad Stadium at the very same time. Which can only mean one thing - congestion around the area, especially during a rush-hour Wednesday, is going to be quite the grind. 

It gets even more congested later in the week, with June 2 seeing not only Elton John and Coldplay continue their performances in Manchester, but will be joined by Arctic Monkeys, who are playing Old Trafford this Friday and the start of We Invented the Weekend Festival on Salford Quays. So Manchester residents - plan well, well, well in advance. This is your two day notice.

Official guidance from Transport for Great Manchester have suggested that commuters use Metrolink to avoid disruption to audience journeys and foot traffic congestion in the city centre towards the Arena with ticket holders taking a similar route to make their way to the Etihad. 

“We strongly advise you not to drive into the city centre. If you have no other option but to drive, we suggest parking at a car park on the side of the city you're travelling in from, or using a Metrolink Park and Ride site. Trying to cross the city by car will add time to your journey and to the city centre congestion.”

What other musicians have clashed performances on the same date?

Festival slots aside, there have been a few concert clashes in recent years that have had the same impact on audiences as munich as the triumvirate of shows taking place in Manchester this week:

Beyonce and Rihanna (2016)

September 30 2016 was a difficult date for fans of both Beyonce and Rihanna for those living in the North-East United States. Beyonce performed her second night in Philadelphia, performing at the Lincoln Financial Field stadium, however Rihanna was performing as part of the Global Citizen Festival only an hour and a half away in New York City.

The more astute gig goer we would imagine would have gone to the first night of Beyonce’s performance in Philadelphia the night before, and then head to the last night of the festival the following day. But then that brings up how cost effective it would be to see the pair back-to-back.

Lady Gaga and Madonna (2012)

Both Lady Gaga and the Queen of Pop, Madonna, announced tours in 2021 that had a number of overlapping dates; but rather than question the organisers for the bottleneck of talent on show in the same areas at the same time, instead much was made of a potential rivalry between the two.

Lady Gaga was in the middle of touring her second studio album, “Born This Way” which commenced from April 2012, while Madonna was still on her “MDNA” tour. While Lady Gaga’s tour was an uplifting affirmation of being proud of who you are, Madonna opted for a very visceral and political stage show during the “MDNA” tour.

U2 and The Rolling Stones (2006)

Depending on your sentiments on both classic rock acts, it could be a collective sigh regarding who to see while the pair were embarking on the astounding live shows (see Youtube videos of U2’s Zoo TV tour to get an idea how incredible it is) or a collective groan that if pushed comes to shove, who the lesser evil to see would be. Though U2 fans were unfortunately not spoiled for choice; Bono and cohorts focused more on touring the South Pacific with a handful of dates in the United States that would make fans of both bands wince over a potential clash. But for The Rolling Stones, and their 103 tour dates that year, there was plenty of opportunity for fans to catch them somewhere down the line in the United States.