Gerry Cinnamon Sheffield gig beset by queue woes as rescheduled show leads to ticket troubles

Gerry Cinnamon’s ‘fantastic’ set in Sheffield on Thursday was soured for some attendees after ticket troubles caused severe queues to get in.
Gerry Cinnamon's performance at Sheffield's Utilita Arena on Thursday was beset by queuing troubles, with some customers waiting up to 90 minutes outside the doors.Gerry Cinnamon's performance at Sheffield's Utilita Arena on Thursday was beset by queuing troubles, with some customers waiting up to 90 minutes outside the doors.
Gerry Cinnamon's performance at Sheffield's Utilita Arena on Thursday was beset by queuing troubles, with some customers waiting up to 90 minutes outside the doors.

Several gig-goers have told the Star they had to queue in miserable weather for up to 90 minutes to get into the Scottish musician’s show at the Utilita Arena on September 30.

The issue was reportedly caused by ticket arrangements after Cinnamon’s sold-out appearance in the city was rescheduled three times during Covid, which caused complications at the entrance.

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Some attendees reported that the issue caused them to miss the entire support act – Circa Waves – and up to 10 minutes of the main event’s set.

Dom Stokes, head of live events at the arena, said an issue with tickets, the 13,000 guests in attendance and bad weather led to a ‘perfect storm’, but stated that the queue was cleared by 9.20pm – only 10 minutes after the headliner started his set.

One customer told the Star: “I personally paid £13 for postage for my ticket to then receive an email that I needed to collect from the box office an hour before the gig.

"However, the amount of people stood in the rain made this impossible.

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"There were people who bought tickets in 2019 for the original who had a ‘lost in the post’ email, people who changed address, and also a lot on the ticket exchange through Ticketmaster.

"We all missed the support act. I had to do something I despise and use a ticket tout. It was that or miss the whole thing.

"On the plus side, Gerry is one of, if not the, best live acts around. I’ve never seen anything so poorly organised.”

In response, Mr Stokes said he had ‘never seen staff work faster’ to process ticket troubles.

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He said: “I was on the ground that night and, yes, there were people who queued for over an hour. There were also people who arrived at 8.50pm for a gig at 9.10pm.

"No one will have missed the whole of Gerry’s set. At most, the worst affected would have missed two to three songs.

"There were customers with original tickets, customers who lost their tickets and asked for duplicates, customers who asked for duplicates then found their originals, and people arriving hoping to buy tickets who were in the queue. The show was rescheduled three times and there were a lot of complications.

"I’ve heard problems that some tickets were lost in the post or undelivered. We’re working with Ticketmaster about this issue, as we’re not the only venue I’ve heard that happen to.

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“Ultimately it was a fantastic show and I’m sure there are lessons we could learn. I’m sure Sheffield just saw what will be one of the biggest acts of next year.”

Ticketmaster was contacted by The Star for a comment.

Gerry Cinnamon, true name Gerard Crosbie, is a 37-year-old Scottish entertainer known for singing in his own strong accent and “honest” lyrics. His hits include Lullaby, Someimes, What Have You Done and Diamonds in the Mud.

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