Raye Manchester: "At least 10 incidents" of fans calling for medical help at Co-op Arena concert
An audience member at Raye’s Manchester Co-op Arena gig claims they witnessed "at least 10 incidents" of fans calling for medical help.
A number of ‘medical incidents’ at Brit-award winning singer Raye’s Manchester gig have been put down to ‘over excitement’ according to the venue. One concert-goer claims she witnessed "at least 10 incidents" of fans calling for medical help during the show.
Raye has already visited Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and France with her This Tour May Contain New Music concert series. Now in the UK, the Grammy-nominated singer performed two nights in Manchester this week and is set to play Glasgow, Birmingham and London in the coming days, before heading over to Canada and the US.
One fan who went along to Manchester’s Co-op Arena on Wednesday (February 18) said the event "felt like a packed festival" with the standing area filled "wall to wall". The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, captured a video of multiple groups of people calling for medical assistance throughout the show.
Her video shows two different areas in the standing section lit up at the same time by people's phone torches as they tried to signal medics. The concert-goer also noted that she could see attendees being carried out by medical staff.
The fan, who originally shared her story with Sell Us Your Story, said: "It felt so busy - I almost couldn't believe there were that many people allowed there. We kept seeing lights going up and counted at least 10 times it happened.
"It was quite distracting, because every time someone was signalling, you wanted to make sure everyone was OK. I was sure they were going to end the show early. I just think that if you have 10 or more medical issues in a show, something isn't being done right."
Co-op Live have said that there was no overcrowding at this event and that a "small number" of medics were deployed throughout the show.
A spokesperson for Co-op Live has said: “All events at Co-op Live adhere to strict guidelines and regulations to ensure the wellbeing of fans, and to negate the possibility of overcrowding. A small number of medical response teams were deployed during the show due to over-excitement.”