Express & Star

Rocket Man, Elton John, ready to land at Walsall's Banks's Stadium

The stage is set for pop superstar Sir Elton John to roll back the years and perform his greatest hits at Walsall's Banks's Stadium this weekend.

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The Rocket Man singer will arrive in style by helicopter on Saturday when his new European tour heads to the Black Country.

Excited fans can look forward to hearing him roll out the hits on the UK tour that has so far made stops from Maidstone to Gloucester.

Around 14,000 concert-goers are expected to descend on the ground.

Some 847 spaces at various locations in the immediate vicinity, all within walking distance from the ground, have been identified.

However, these will be on a strictly first come first served basis, and will be limited.

People should note that there is no public parking at the stadium for the concert other than for accredited guests and hospitality customers.

People attending the stadium by car are also asked to be aware that Bescot Crescent, from the entrance to Bescot Retail Park to the junction at Brockhurst Crescent, will be closed from 6pm on the day of the event. A third of the stadium's car park has been swallowed up by infrastructure for the event, leaving 430 bays which cost £10 to use.

A further 122 spaces will be available at Bescot Stadium station for £5 each.

Organisers warn that yellow and green zone car parks have uneven gravel and tarmac surfacing, and so may be unsuitable for people with mobility issues.

There are 35 designated car parking spaces on the red zone car park for blue badge holders, and pre-booking of these will be required by calling the ticket office.

Nearby, there will be around 95 parking areas at Barhale and 200 at Joseph Leckie car park.

Fans can purchase passes in advance from the ticket office by calling 01922 651416. But motorists will not be able to park at the Morrisons superstore in Wallows Lane.

By road, Walsall is easily accessible by several A-routes, while the ground is right next to the M6 – which drivers can get off at Junctions 7, 9 and 10.

Walsall is also served by the A34, the A454, the A461 and the A4148.

The concert is due to finish at 10.30pm and extra trains have been scheduled to arrive at Bescot Station to accommodate rail users.

To Birmingham, trains will run at 10.43pm, 11.13pm and 11.43pm, and to Walsall they will set off at 11pm and 11.41pm.

Some 14,000 fans are expected to be on their feet at the summer concert that will see the hit maker perform in the town for the very first time.

They will hear him belt out his best known songs including That's Why They Call It The Blues and Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me.

Tour manager DC Parmet, of Rocket Records, said Elton and his five-man band were very much looking forward to entertaining the crowds on the night.

"He will want hear the audience make some noise at the concert, to have a good time and enjoy the concert," DC said. "He has had a music career of more than 40 years and he wants people to have fun.

"That is what we do. We sell fun and it's good for people to get away from their troubles for a couple of hours.

"It's just a good activity for the weekend. Hopefully we will get some splendid weather too.

"One thing about Elton is that he likes to do shows off the beaten track because a lot of the folks who turn up the do not get an opportunity to go to the concerts in the major cities.

"So with this tour it's a case of Elton is coming to them instead of the other way round. He also likes to plan everything and it doesn't matter if it's in a green field site or a sports ground.

"He is a working musician and he wants people to enjoy themselves wherever he is putting on a show."

He said Elton will travel by helicopter from his Windsor mansion to the Black Country, where arrangements will be in place for him to land near the stadium ahead of him playing the set – that is expected to finish at around 10.30pm.

His husband David Furnish and their sons Zachary, four, and Elijah, two, who sometimes accompany him on the road, are not expected to travel with him this time.

DC said: "Everything about the stage is exciting to the children, the lighting and the sound equipment. The kind of experiences they have, I'm not sure if they realise how famous their dads are.

"You can expect to hear all the hits, along with some deep album tracks that perhaps the casual Elton fan will not perhaps be familiar with. But it will be a musical buffet to feast on and enjoy.

A crane next to the Banks's Stadium pitch helping to build the stage Sir Elton John will be performing on during the show

"As for his stage costumes, he has a personal wardrobe assistant who helps with the suits for the tour that are brightly-coloured and crystal encrusted designs. He's actually not doing any costume changes. It is be all about the music first and foremost. And to play his set in a great setting."

The set will not include dancers, but Elton will have his trusted musical director Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson and Kim Bullard on guitar. While John Mahon on percussion and Matt Bissonette on base will both provide backing vocals.

A protective floor is put down to stop the pitch getting damaged by concert-goers

Support act is Bright Light Bright Light, who Elton asked to open for him for the show, which has also been at Cardiff. After Walsall he will head to Westmorland, Kendal, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

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Preparations are well under way at the football ground with just two days to go. The backstage crew and production teams are busy building the temporary 66-metre-wide stage on a section of the pitch.

The stage materials and sound equipment have been arriving in nine tour trucks, the crew alone have travelled in three buses.

The stage is put together by workmen on the stadium pitch

More than 200 crew members will be involved in putting on the concert. The production catering team will be dishing up more than 750 meals in that time for the hard-working crew.

In addition, 375 metres of power cable – enough to run round the perimeter of the pitch 32 times – will be laid, while 10,776 pieces of plastic flooring will be used to completely cover the pitch to prevent damage to the turf.

The stadium's normal 11,300 capacity is being ramped up to around 17,000 to cope with expected demand.

Concert promotion company Marshall Arts said sales were buoyant and were given a boost by the recent warm weather spell. Bookings are available from Ticket Master and from the Walsall Football Club ticket office at the Bescot Crescent ground.

Fans will be able to purchase them on-site at the start of the show right up until the star takes the stage.

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said: "It is a great event for the town and an event that puts the borough on the map.

"I am very proud and pleased that he decided to come here. I have spoken to the football club's chairman Jeff Bonser about it and what it means not just for the stadium, but for Walsall to be known as an accessible and strategic venue for events with our close proximity to the motorway network and good public transport links.

"I would advise people travelling up from the south on the M6 to come off at junction seven and make their way along Broadway."

In a jobs boost for residents, Walsall Football Club has taken on more than 30 extra staff for the show to work in the food village, which will be set up around the stadium. Including live entertainment and a range of food and drinks – gourmet burgers to coffee and cakes, deluxe hot dogs to fish and chips – the food village will be open from 4pm on the day of the concert.

Stadium conference and events manager Vicki Chambers said: "The atmosphere at the club right now is amazing. We are briefing our new and existing staff to expect a tremendous occasion – Elton's fans are high energy and love to have a good time – and we are here to make sure that they do.

"In addition to taking on extra local people, we are sourcing local suppliers such as florists, butchers and wine merchants for our hospitality menu and decoration."

The club said it was also working with neighbouring businesses to ensure that there is sufficient parking and public transport facilities.

Its chief executive Stefan Gamble said: "We are obviously keen to minimise impact upon the local area during the day of the concert and beforehand.

"To this end we have identified more than 700 car parking spaces for concert goers despite losing a third of our car park to the event infrastructure.

"We have sourced and hired two additional car parks locally – Barhale and Joseph Leckie School; and have all disabled parking spaces directly on-site."

He added: "The club is also actively encouraging through social media and website stories, that concert goers utilise the excellent public transport system we have supporting Walsall.

"We also post messages daily on different aspects of the journey to Walsall, parking and public transport.

"All feedback has been resolutely positive and we have had people from all over the country pre-book spaces through our ticket office."

It is not only car spaces which are flying out, all of the hospitality boxes have sold out comprising the executive boxes, the Bonser Suite packages and directors and the 1888 lounges. In addition, the club has sold more than 80 per cent of its general ticket allocation.

After taking centre stage in Walsall the international superstar is also due to perform across the UK and Europe during the rest of the summer.

This will then be followed by shows in the likes of America, Brazil and Australia later in the year.

Alongside his band he will be at Westmorland County Showground in Kendal on Sunday and Eden Project in Cornwall next Tuesday and Wednesday.

He will also be in Glasgow on June 19 and Aberdeen on June 20. Other gigs are planned across Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Italy and Spain throughout July.

Sir Elton will then be performing in the USA including San Francisco in August and Rio De Janeiro in Brazil in September.

There are nine further dates including at The Colosseum, Caesers Palace, Las Vegas in October. It finishes in Sydney, Australia, in December.

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