MAGICAL MUSIC AND CROWD CHAOS – THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VERVE’S BIGGEST GIG

Twenty-five-years-ago a county park on the outskirts of Wigan became the epicentre of music history.

Hometown heroes The Verve were about to play the set of their lives at Haigh Hall. The gig would go down in folklore. 

But what’s less well known is that fans faced a potentially deadly crush when the music came to a close. 

For all the crowning glory of the music, a crowd tragedy was narrowly averted after the final song. 

Why were thousands of concertgoers allowed to exit in complete darkness heading to a dead end?

And how much did disagreements over planning contribute to problems at that end-of-the-century May night?

words Dickie Felton  | gig photos Rob Lovett 

24 May 2023

Pubs nearby were running out of beer several hours before the gates opened.

Me and pal Ian made do with the only booze left – sherry.

Wincing with every sip we stood outside the pub watching an endless carnival of Verve fans head to Haigh Hall.

Legions of indie kids slid by supping cans of lager. Older guys smoked spiffs, eyes hidden under bucket hats.

Groups of lads descended from all corners of the UK.

Despite being here for a concert they walked past and sang about football. They’d come from all over. Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn, Bolton, Bristol…

This was Sunday 24 May 1998 and 33000 fans were on their way to a country park to see The Verve play the biggest gig of their career.

When tickets went on sale months earlier they sold-out in under an hour.

The Verve were the hottest property in British music – their 1997 ‘Urban Hymns’ album was on its way to selling an astonishing 10 million copies.

Richard Ashcroft’s band stood on the verge of global domination with anthems ‘Bittersweet Symphony’, ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ and ‘Lucky Man’.

Now they’d returned home to a field north of Wigan to share their success. And everyone wanted to be there.

Andy Richardson (pictured top left looking at camera) was among the throng headed to Haigh Hall. He said: “I was with all my pals and the whole day was just an amazing vibe.”

Danny Aspin was 19 and struck lucky getting two tickets after someone scrawled a note and pinned it to the noticeboard of Reidys record shop in Blackburn: ‘Two Verve tickets for sale…’

“The Verve were massive, the album was massive. Two years earlier Oasis had played their huge homecoming gig at Maine Road.

“But The Verve at Haigh Hall felt even bigger than that,” – Danny Aspin.

Inside the concert site, drinking ale in the May day sun, fans like Andy and Danny may have been unaware of heated talks going on behind the scenes in the weeks leading to the event.

Police and organisers had been locked in a dispute over concert planning.

A month before the gig police chiefs were calling for stronger measures to stop gatecrashers piling into the venue.

They had urged gig-promoters SJM to count the numbers of fans entering the gates.

Chief Inspector Ken Dickson told of his concerns in the Wigan Evening Post four weeks ahead of the big day:

“We need assurances that there are going to be 33000 people on the site and no more.

“We don’t want any overcrowding and we want the event to go smoothly. Any more, then it could get out of hand.”

Insp Dickson urged promoters to use a ticket-counting machine to keep a log of numbers entering the festival site.

But organisers SJM were adamant the site would be secure and ticketless fans would not gain entry.

They argued manually checking tickets would be good enough…

But as support act Beck made his appearance on stage, crowd problems were brewing in areas around the Haigh Hall site.

A large group of lads from Wigan, who did not have tickets, were initially content to listen to proceedings from the canal opposite the golf course which backed onto the concert site.

One of those, David, (not his real name), said: “The atmosphere was electric with coach after coach driving past from all over the country. It was something special.

“After a while we noticed people on the golf course close to the the venue’s external steel fence. So we crossed the canal and joined them.

“Any lad in his late teens and 20s from Springfield and Beech Hill who didn’t have a Verve ticket ended up on that golf course. It was packed and I saw faces which I hadn’t seen since school.”

The local Wiganers were soon joined by lads from Liverpool as numbers outside the fence swelled.

The groups shared cans and listened to 27-year-old American Beck without being able to see him.

But as the clock ticked towards headliners The Verve taking to the stage, another group of men turned up at the golf course.

These lads ‘from Manchester’ were not interested in listening from afar.

“They had a rope ladder to try to climb over the big steel fence. Things then took a turn for the worse…” – David.

This new gang ‘started to rip down the perimeter fence and more people joined in’.

David: “Things were getting rowdier. The stewards were getting more and more aggressive which was being replicated by the very large group of ticketless lads outside.

“With the outer fence now totally gone stewards came out in a Land Rover.

“It was like a safari jeep driving up and down to keep the lions in their pen…”

As Beck was rounding up his set, tensions outside were at fever pitch.

David: “Cans were thrown at the Land Rover. The driver drove very fast at the crowd, the majority got out the way but unluckily, one lad got caught by the car and was tossed 10 foot in the air…

“This enraged the crowd and the Land Rover was attacked, cans were flying and people were hanging off it trying to get to the driver. Suddenly the gates to the site opened.

“A large group of us steamed the gates. We were in…”

SJM’s arrangements for preventing access to the site were suddenly in tatters. Police fears over disorder were coming to fruition.

Fans with valid tickets inside the venue were enjoying the build-up to the headline act.

Kroiy Davies was laying claim to be one of the youngest fans at Haigh Hall.

Then, just seven-years-old, he had been taken to see The Verve by his dad and uncle.

Dad Brian was keen for his lad to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.

The family joined thousands hugging and singing as one during ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and ‘Lucky Man’.

But ask Kroiy today what his main recollection is of that night and it’s what happened on the way out of Haigh Hall:

“An exit sign that led to nowhere and being lifted over an eight foot fence to escape the crush…” – Kroiy Davies.

Proud Wiganer Phil Naylor, 21, watched The Verve from a raised bit of grass singing along to ‘Come On’ and the stage lights seemed to light up Wigan:

“For that moment I felt like I was in the centre of the universe,” – Phil Naylor.

Danny Aspin: “The sun was going down when they played ‘Lucky Man’. Big screens on stage depicted birds flying into the sunset. It was an amazing experience.”

Fan Kath Jackson was 23 and living in a shared house in Aigburth, Liverpool: “Several of my housemates got tickets and we travelled together. It was a big deal to get tickets and be off to see The Verve.

“Beck was mesmerising, he had amazing stage presence, super talented, funky, eclectic, and cool. I was hooked on his music after witnessing that performance.”

After The Verve had gone off stage Kath and pals made for the exits.

“It was very dark, there was no lighting, and it was all very confusing. We followed the crowd of thousands, all shuffling along in the dark like one mass of bodies, heads still buzzing from the gig.

“It was a slow shuffle and seemed to go on forever.

“Then we realised we were heading towards a giant fence, and not an exit all. A slow wave of realisation moved across the dazed crowd…” – Kath Jackson.

“There was was zero signage or lighting to guide us. But eventually we made it out.”

Me and pal Ian were in the same sea of people coming out.

My experience of being in big crowds spanned football and music.

But as we moved in mass to the inner exit gates we were pinned much closer than was safe.

Unfortunately I knew about crushing – nine years earlier I’d stood on the Leppings Lane terracing during the Hillsborough disaster.

As we left the concert the crowd got more and more compact and some people started screaming.

The problem up ahead seemed to be that some of the exit gates were closed when they should have been open.

“I thought, ‘there’s going to be another Hillsborough here’. It felt that dangerous…” – Ian.

Suddenly another gate opened and it eased the crush. But our problems were only just beginning.

Once though the gates we found ourselves in the pitch black with thousands of others. And there was nowhere to go.

Mesh fences got pushed over to escape further crushing. I think I ended up in a ditch.

Danny Aspin:  “It was chaos. Pitch black. Packed full of people and you couldn’t find where the exit was. Everyone was in total confusion. Everyone got bottlenecked and there was a mixture of fear, panic and frustration.

“People started pushing and shoving, swaying around like a football crowd. Fences started getting ripped down to get out.”

The post-gig chaos centred around several failings: a lack of open exit gates, a failure of lighting, the layout of the arena, and total lack of stewards and police.

Ultimately, there seemed to be no plan for the safe exit of 33000 fans from one of music’s most historic gigs.

Two days after the show it was revealed seven security staff were taken to hospital after being ‘viciously attacked with scaffolding and fencing’ before the gig.

Police alleged the situation was made worse because there were ‘insufficient stewards manning the arena outside the gates’.

Police confirmed panic-stricken fans were also crushed as they scrambled to leave the arena after lighting at one of the exit gates failed.

“People were coming up and screaming at us, saying that there were people getting crushed because they couldn’t get out,” – Supt Peter Fletcher, Wigan Police.

Wigan cops would eventually apologise for not having enough officers on duty at the concert.

Young Kroiy eventually got home safe but his dad was insensed by the near-disaster at the gates.

He wrote to the Evening Post to complain about their treatment at the show.

He described the crush that enveloped him and his lad and thousands of others.

“Panic started to hit me when people started screaming. I remembered the horrific scenes and Hillsborough so we decided to climb the fence as did hundreds of others…” – Brian Davies.

Seven-year-old Kroiy was passed up and over the fence to safety.

The family eventually got home three hours later.

Dad Brian: “I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and The Verve did Wigan proud.

“But ask my son about the concert and I know what he will remember most…”

Dickie Felton

With thanks to: Rob Lovett, Mike Hill, Ian Latta, Kath Jackson, Kroiy and Brian Davies, Danny Aspin, ‘David’, Phil Naylor and Andy Richardson.