A woman who was ejected from a Coldplay concert for dancing to the song played at her mother-in-law's funeral has blasted the "disgusting" behaviour of security staff.
Andrea Nelson, who said she "felt like a criminal", went to see the band on Saturday night at the Etihad, however while she was in a seated area when she got up out of her seat to dance to the band’s anthem 'Yellow'.
Despite trying to reason with staff, she was escorted out barely halfway through the set. The tickets for her section of the stadium, which cost £150, state that standing during the concert was not allowed, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Andrea, whose partner Anthony was also escorted from the arena by security staff, said. “I stood up to dance, but so were other people. Because we were near the steps, security were next to us.
"They asked me to sit down, so I asked if we could be moved somewhere else, bearing in mind this was my mother-in-law’s funeral song. I told them this.
“They said I might fall over the barrier, which basically came up to my chest. I’m five foot. Next thing, about 10 security came and escorted me out.”
Footage of Andrea, from the Moston area of Manchester, dancing has been posted to TikTok, moments before she was removed. She continued “About 10 men [arrived]. They said basically you need to leave. I told them I hadn’t done anything wrong, I’d not been abusive, I said this is my mother-in-law’s song, and this is why I got up.
“I didn’t realise the seats were restricted. If I had, we shouldn’t have been paying full price for them. I would not have paid that fee if I’d known you couldn’t stand up. Who goes to a concert where you can’t stand up?”
Yellow was the ninth song to be played on Saturday night, meaning that Andrea and her partner, who left with her, saw less than half the show before being asked to leave.
She added: “It was disgusting really. It was just rude. They wouldn’t listen. Other people were stood up on our row, but much further around into the row.
“Nothing was said to them, because they were more difficult to get to. It was just us who were targeted, because we were right next to security.
“They came and said, ‘you need to sit down’, I said ‘this is my mother-in-law’s song, I will sit down in a minute’. They were just rude, saying ‘we’re watching you’. And because I didn’t sit down straight away, they called security and a load of blokes came.
“The way it was handled was atrocious. I’m a five foot, 50-year-old woman, does it really need that many people to come and escort me out? I felt like a criminal. They said if you don’t leave with us, we can remove you by force. I’ve stood up and danced at a concert, what have I done wrong?”
Andrea said she and Anthony were not physically touched when removed from the venue but were escorted out by staff. She said she didn't check the details on her tickets but was unaware that dancing at a concert would be outlawed.
She added: “It’s probably my own fault, but at the end of the day, I just wanted to stand up at a concert. Should they be selling tickets at full price when the seats have restrictions? No, they shouldn’t.”
"This meant a lot to me and my family. I was devastated. We’d paid a lot of money to come to this concert. It may never happen again in my lifetime. It was supposed to be a memorable concert for us, and this ruined it,” Andrea said. She is also in contact with the venue and is requesting a refund for her tickets.
“They could [have been] a lot more sensitive. They didn’t listen. How can you not stand up at a concert? That’s not my idea of going to a concert.”
The MEN contacted the show's promoters SJM, but a spokesperson said it was 'unable to comment' on the matter.
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