Anything Coldplay sells in a flash

Ayra Wang and Jamie Liu

Coldplay fans queued for two hours for exclusive merchandise at a pop-up store yesterday, ahead of the famous British rock band's first concert at the Kai Tak Stadium tonight.

A long queue formed outside the pop-up store at the Airside mall in Kai Tak, with crowd-control measures implemented, including limiting customers to 15 to 20 at a time.

One of the store staff, Mr Chan, said they had prepared air-conditioned break rooms for queuing fans, and customers were updated if any items had been sold out.

"Apart from posters and caps, we also sold exclusive t-shirts for the Hong Kong concerts, which is the most popular among all merchandise," Chan said.

Eden, who has been a fan since he was a secondary school student, said he started to queue outside the pop-up store at 3pm, and had to wait for around two hours before he could get in.

"The choices of t-shirts were in abundance, but it is a pity that the exclusive version was in shortage. But this is something that no one could expect, I think the store has already done sufficient preparation," Eden said.

Meanwhile, overseas and mainland fans assembled at a Cityline ticket exchange stop at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday to exchange misprinted concert tickets for the shows tonight, on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Organizer Live Nation also reminded spectators not to bring empty plastic or silicone reusable bottles larger than 600 milliliters, as well as disposable containers, glassware, aluminum cans or thermal bottles.

All bags larger than 38x30x20 centimeters - or 15x12x8 inches - will not be allowed inside, along with professional cameras, recording devices, selfie sticks, and drones. Hazardous materials, banners, or laser pens are also not allowed inside.

Children under 12 or shorter than 140cm cannot enter the standing area, while the seated section welcomes attendees aged three and above.

The sports park's chief executive John Sharkey said the concert marks "a major milestone for the venue, and we look forward to hosting more international sports and entertainment spectacles, boosting Hong Kong's sports and entertainment economy."