Entertainment
AJ Tracey ‘didn’t expect’ large crowds at surprise Manchester meet-up as police intervene and he cancels next event over Covid concerns
AJ Tracey has been forced to cancel his next fan event after attracting large crowds at his surprise meet-ups in Manchester and Birmingham this weekend.
The Ladbroke Grove rapper celebrated the release of his latest album, Flu Game, with a mini-tour across the UK.
Taking place on Sunday, AJ would stop off in Birmingham at 12pm and Manchester at 4pm before finishing off with Bristol at 8pm. The events in Birmingham and Manchester went ahead as planned but the rapper didn’t expect such large numbers to show.
Photos of the meet-ups showed huge groups of fans gathered at Platt Fields Car Park in Manchester with little social distancing.
Several police officers were seen arriving on-scene and attempting to control the crowds.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News: ‘We are aware of a large gathering at Platt Fields Park on Wilmslow Road Manchester. Officers are in attendance.’
At one point, AJ was filmed on a basketball court and rapping along with fans who were reciting the lyrics to his songs while separated by fencing.
One Twitter user asked Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham if he would be taking action over the event, to which he replied: ‘We are – organisers have been fined.’ However, it’s not clear who the specific organisers he was referring to were.
After hopping back on his tour bus, AJ shared a video announcing that he was cancelling this evening’s planned event in Bristol over concerns with coronavirus safety measures.
The rapper said: ‘Big love Manny and Brum, thank you everyone for coming out and copping some CDs and whatnot and showing some love but, it’s not going to be safe for me to come to Bristol.
‘I didn’t expect that many people to turn up in Manny and genuinely it’s just not OK for me to go ahead. So I’m gonna head home to London. But I appreciate you lot showing support and when it’s safe to do so I’m definitely gonna come back and do some shows.’
He captioned the post: ‘I’ll be back when it’s safe to do so, sorry guys.’
AJ, real name Che Wolton Grant, released his second studio album, Flu Game, on Friday.
It follows on from the success of his 2019 self-titled debut album, which reached number three on the UK charts.
The 27-year-old rapper has received three nominations at this year’s upcoming Brit Awards, for British male solo artist and two nods for British single with the songs Rain and Ain’t It Different.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to AJ Tracey’s reps and Greater Manchester Police for comment.
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