Wireless Festival and Comedian John Bishop spark controversy after changing set times for England's Euro 2024 final
13 July 2024, 10:11
Comedian John Bishop has divided fans after announcing he will be changing the time of his gig on Sunday to accommodate England's Euro 2024 final against Spain.
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A number of music festivals have also sparked controversy after adjusting their sets to allow fans time to get home before the big fixture.
Wireless Festival and Kew The Music are among the star-studded events to bring the timings of their headline acts forward and even remove some artists from their line-ups.
This comes after Gareth Southgate’s side left it late to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-final after Ollie Watkins’ superb goal in the last minute of the match.
Mr Bishop was due to perform at The Civic Theatre in Wolverhampton at 8pm on Sunday, as part of his Back At It tour - the same time that the final is set to kick off - but has announced the gig will take place in the afternoon.
Following the dramatic ending of Wednesday’s match, the Liverpudlian comedian took to Instagram to post: “Regarding my show on Sunday evening #itscominghome.”
He then panned the camera around to show the semi-final concluding and the England team celebrating, before filming himself explaining his decision.
He told his 934,000 Instagram followers: “This is a message to all the people coming to Wolverhampton on Sunday.
“I'm not doing the show at eight o'clock, the show's going to get moved to the afternoon.
“You're all gonna get an email in the morning telling you the time. I know it won't suit everybody so anyone who can't make it, we'll give you a refund.”
John confirmed: “But we're definitely going to move the time to Sunday afternoon because there's no chance I'm going to be doing it at eight o'clock, because I'm gonna be busy watching these boys.”
The comedian’s decision has sparked a divisive reaction among fans with one user saying: “I wish I had a job where I could change the time I start, at the cost of disrupting a few thousand people, to watch a football match. Fair play.”
While another supported the choice and said: “People moaning, I actually think most would prefer it to be moved? And if it wasn't, it would be half empty with people watching the match instead.”
Read more: Moment Gareth Southgate doppelganger police officer is serenaded by England fans
Meanwhile, Wireless Festival has announced that Sunday’s music will finish at 7pm rather than 9:30pm as planned, giving fans an hour to make their way home for the important match.
The Finsbury Park event confirmed that headline act Doja Act will still perform but at the earlier-than-expected time of 5:45pm.
However, this also caused controversy with the festival removing Digga D and Tyla from the line-up to allow for these adjustments.
One user commented on the Instagram announcement: “What does football have to do with a music festival? They are two different cultures! Believe it or not but some people are not interested in a football being kicked about religiously.”
“Are you serious? We paid so much for a 7pm curfew and 2 cancelled artists? I can’t believe this,” another fan said.
Another festival-goer added: “I don’t care about football, I care about Tyla.”
Kew The Music have also brought their Sunday set times forward but this was met with a better reaction from fans with some saying it was a ‘great call’.
The festival, also based in London, took to X to announce the new slots for Doors, Jamie Webster and Richard Ashcroft with the former Verve man now taking to stage at 6:30pm.
England are in their second successive European Championship final as they look to secure their first major trophy since winning the World Cup in 1966.
