Louis Tomlinson fans have camped out at Ardwick all weekend to be ahead of his show tonight in Manchester. The show, at the O2 Apollo tonight, has been rescheduled four times due to the pandemic.
Eager fans have spent thousands of pounds and now their bank holiday weekends in the tent car park, preparing to be the first in and through the barriers when the star, from Doncaster, takes the stage.
Katie Little, 24, from Carlisle, has been camping since yesterday morning (Monday the 18th). She told the Manchester Evening News on why she chose to camp in a parking lot in Ardwick, saying, “It’s the pressure, you hear about everyone coming so you have to come here and make friends.”
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Despite booking a hotel near Piccadilly for last night and tonight, Katie and her friends decided to camp out yesterday to ensure they would be in front of the show today.
“We had a hotel near Piccadilly and didn’t use it, Argos sold tents for £20 and it was actually quite warm until two or three in the morning.”
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Katie explained that campers were given a wristband to wear, organized by other fans so that they would keep their place in the queue if they had to leave to use the facilities or pick up food. She was number 72 in the queue.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Angie Dolezal from Cologne, Germany was 45th in line and followed Louis Tomlinson’s tour across Europe, having already seen seven shows.
She explained why: “We are from Germany, so far we have seen seven shows on this tour, this will be the eighth.
“We camped in Berlin, Paris and Zurich.
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“Sometimes being in front is more pleasant, sometimes not. In Antwerp, I was in defense and it was great, but seeing Louis in attack is different.
“We have an AirBnB for tonight and then we have London and Doncaster. I could camp in London but if there are already 100 people I won’t.
“Most of the tickets I get are resold on Twitter, but you have to be careful on Twitter because of the scammers. See Tickets is good too because they refund you if it’s fake.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
When asked how much money she spent on this tour, she replied, “I try not to think about it, literally just tickets, flights, hotels, it’s 2k. Tickets alone will cost £1,000.
By the end of the summer, Angie will have attended 15 Louis Tomlinson shows after seeing him on tour 11 times and four summer shows in Europe.
However, it’s not just Louis Tomlinson that fans are here to see. Angie explained that she also had tickets to nine concerts of her opening act: Only the Poets.
Angie’s friend Fiona Bennett, 22, from Hanover, Germany, is missing university to continue touring and see Harry Styles on his Love On Tour which kicks off in June.
She said: “I’m doing four shows for Harry and it’s costing as much as I paid for all my tickets for Louis.”
She went on to explain that camping in Manchester was much better than mainland Europe as they were allowed to have a tent and there was parking to use. In other countries, they had slept on the streets in sleeping bags in the rain.
“It’s good compared to mainland Europe because they don’t allow tents on the street so you’re right on the street.”
Although they had traveled all over Europe, neither Angie nor Fiona had seen most of the cities they had visited.
Angie summed up the experience by saying, “I saw a lot of Paris because I didn’t queue, but we drove all over Europe through the car parks.
“Sometimes I question my sanity, why am I doing this for a man!”
Sarah Jimenez, 23 from Paris, has been camping since Saturday afternoon and is fifth in line. She has tickets for the show tonight and tomorrow, but says she won’t be camping tomorrow and will instead enjoy the show in the back.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“We waited two years for this tour. It’s Louis’ first solo tour, it’s special. We won’t be queuing tomorrow, we’ll be at the bottom of the pit and having fun.
“I’m doing nine shows in total, so I’ve been to Amsterdam, Oslo, Cologne, the two Paris shows, then I’ll do the two Manchester shows, London and Doncaster.”
Despite a chilly night in the parking lot, Sarah says the weekend has been good. She said: “It was cold and wet, but the security was so nice, so nice to us. We camped in Oslo and they didn’t care.
“It was illegal to have a tent in Oslo, it was so very cold.”
Similar to Angie, Sarah thinks she spent around £2,000 on the tour, but said: ‘We’ve been saving up for this for years. The pandemic meant I could save more. If I had more money, I would do more.
Saf Cengiz, 19 from Cheshire, is the number one fan. She’s been camping since 6 a.m. on Saturday the 16th and spent hours alone in the parking lot before other fans arrived.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
She is the fan who set up the wristband system and will see Louis tomorrow night in Manchester as well before heading to London and Doncaster for his hometown show.
She explained, “I was here for 10 hours before someone else showed up. There were monsters on the ground and I slept about three hours in four days.
“It’s not the first time I’ve done it. My first One Direction gig was in 2011 and I don’t know, I camped for Harry Styles, I camped for Louis. The obvious reason is to reach the barrier.
“I’ve been to Berlin, Cologne, Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam, Milan and I’ll do Manchester, London and Doncaster.”
Her efforts were recognized and yesterday she received a gift from a famous face. She said: “Yesterday Jonny Vegas was paying here and he gave me £140 so I bought all my friends here breakfast.”
Molly Day, 24, flew in from Kent for this show and has been in the car park since 12pm yesterday, Monday the 18th. She explained how being at a Louis Tomlinson show gives her a sense of community.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
She said: “I’m very cold, oddly I like it. I have never camped overnight before but spent the day there.
“Every time I come here it feels like home. Everyone wears merchandising, it’s a community. You can leave your bag and that’s good because there is security.
“I’m going to London, I’m going to Doncaster, I’m going to the Only the Poets support show on April 24.
“For me, following tours like this is not sustainable. I work and I can’t take all my free time. But, it’s like I grew up with it [Louis]but not literally together.
Kiylie Delail, 20, is from Toulouse in France and traveled to Manchester, to camp, for her very first gig.
She said, “I wasn’t supposed to come. I just found a random ticket, someone on Twitter sent it to me.
“I’ve always been a fan, since X-Factor. I’m glad it’s Louis. She’s a very important person in my life, even though we’ve never met.
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