City of Glasgow Council’s licensing board has blocked a proposal to serve cans of beer at Metallica’s concert at Hampden Park on 25 June. The board granted an occasional alcohol licence, but it did not allow the can-serving trial that had been put forward for the show.
The decision lands now because the concert is already on the calendar and the alcohol plan was meant to be tested on the night. Metallica will play Hampden Park on 25 June, and the rejected proposal had been designed as a pilot to ease bar queues for seated ticket holders at four bars inside the stadium.
Stephen McGowan, representing Sodexo Limited at the licensing board hearing, said the plan would have been limited to a seated area and four bars. He argued that opening cans would speed service and keep people moving. “Serving an open can is quicker. Queues will be quicker, which will get people into their seats settled so they can enjoy the concert,” he said. McGowan also said Sodexo were happy to follow police recommendations, including no 500ml cans and stopping sales if there were any problems, and said the move would cut down on plastic waste.
Police Scotland pushed back on safety grounds. It told the board that the chief constable had concerns over public safety and warned that cans could be used as projectiles. The clash was stark: one side framed the cans as a quicker way to serve drinkers and reduce pressure at the bars, while the other saw the same containers as something that could be thrown in a crowded concert setting.
That is why the board’s ruling matters beyond one night at Hampden Park and why venues usually default to plastic glasses at gigs. Cans and metal tins can be thrown, and the metal can cause lacerations if they are used as missiles. The rejected proposal was meant to be trialled as a pilot at the stadium, but the licence approval stopped short of allowing it. For the concertgoers heading to Glasgow on 25 June, the drinks will still be served under licence, just not in the form Sodexo had hoped to test.
