Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball lit up Antwerp’s AFAS Dome (previously known as Sportpaleis) on Tuesday night, drawing 23,000 fans for her only Belgian tour date. But as the last notes faded, the night turned into an ordeal for many concert-goers struggling to get home.
This author was among them, one of thousands leaving the arena to find that the hardest part of the night wasn’t getting a ticket, but getting home.
The transport bottleneck
Getting to the AFAS Dome from Antwerp’s Central Station is simple enough, just a 10-minute metro ride. Leaving, however, was a different story. Foolishly, I maybe thought that the trains would run long enough for everyone to get home safe, especially given the magnitude of the event. But that was not the case.
The first obstacle came before the concert even began: Lady Gaga’s 35-minute delay, which quickly put anyone relying on public transport on edge. The show ended around 11pm, and the last train from Antwerp-Centraal was at 11:42. In theory, there was plenty of time to make it. In practice, not a chance.
Retrieving coats and bags from lockers took nearly half an hour, and by the time we reached the metro station, the scene was chaos. The platforms were bursting with “little monsters” – Gaga’s affectionate term for her fans – pressed shoulder-to-shoulder, as security staff tried to control the flow, so as to avoid accidents near the rams.
Trains came and went, but we barely moved. After 20 minutes, it was clear we would miss the last connection.
Illustration picture shows people outside in the Sportpaleis in Deurne (Antwerp) on Thursday 11 August 2016. Credit: Belga
We pooled together for an Uber Van - €150 for six people - expensive, but the only option left. For others, such a price would have been impossible, including for those who had already paid for non-refundable train tickets.
The AFAS Dome regularly hosts events drawing tens of thousands, but public transport schedules haven’t kept pace with demand. Late-night connections from Antwerp often end before concerts do, leaving fans with few safe options.
Not an isolated incident
After looking into it, this experience wasn’t unique. Concert-goers from across Belgium report similar problems after big shows in Antwerp’s AFAS Dome.
"Originally, we wanted to take the train because my mum doesn't have a car and neither do I.", explains Charlotte, 20 from Nivelles in the Walloon Brabant.
"When we saw what time the last train was, we quickly realised that it wasn't going to be possible if we wanted to see the end of the concert... and given the price of the tickets, we really wanted to see the whole thing (luckily, because it started about 40 minutes late)! In the end, we made arrangements with some girls we knew. We parked in a car park at the entrance to Antwerp and then took the tram".
AFAS België CEO Machiel den Dekker talks as 'AFAS Dome Antwerpen' is presented as the new name for the Sportpaleis event venue, Wednesday 02 April 2025 in Antwerp. Credit: Belga
Several people resort to coming by car and paying for a parking. But that’s not always a guarantee for an easier experience.
"I had the same thing happen at Beyoncé's concert at the Sportpaleis", says Emilie from Brussels. "I drove there, you pay €50 for parking and at the end of the concert (it already takes ages to get out) you have to scan your ticket to leave the car park, except that there's a time limit once the ticket has been scanned... and there was so much traffic that when we got to the barrier we had to pay for parking again because our exit ticket had expired."
A few concert-goers decided to make this a full Antwerp experience and stay to sleep there, like Pauline, 23, from Brussels: "For this concert, I planned ahead and booked a hotel directly because I went there in June for Dua Lipa and we were stuck in the underground for quite a while. We just made it back to Brussels on the last train and last transport... and given that Lady Gaga's concert was longer, it was an obvious choice to stay overnight."
Staying in the diamond city may seem like the best option (albeit not the cheapest), but it’s not without its difficulties. For some, the culprit remains… the metro.
"It was a while ago now, but when we left the Sam Smith concert, it was awful. We couldn't even see the underground exit, so we decided to walk back to our hotel (a 45-minute walk). Luckily, it was summer. But we just couldn't see ourselves getting crushed in that crowd of people pushing each other," laments Xënya, 25, from Uccle.
A predictable problem
The AFAS Dome is Belgium’s biggest indoor concert hall, often hosting more than 20,000 people. Yet, public transport schedules rarely match the size of its events. Most trains and metros stop before midnight, long before crowds can safely disperse.
This problem is also not unique to the Dome, as other concert-goers reported experiencing the same issues after attending events at Forest National in Brussels. In extreme cases, whether in Antwerp or Brussels, some people had to resort to sleeping in the station to wait for the first trains in the morning at around 4am.
Until more coordinated transport plans are put in place by event organisers and mobility operators, thousands of spectators will continue to face the same problem: a great show followed by a long, complicated journey home.
De Lijn, by the way of their spokesperson Jens Van Herp, made this statement regarding the situation:
"Our Antwerp metro team confirmed that transfers from the Sportpaleis stop (in front of the AFAS Dome) went very smoothly despite the large number of visitors. There were no incidents reported at the station, and everyone had left by 00:20.
For major events at the AFAS Dome, we have 14 additional trams in service. All vehicles were running on Armistice Day. This extra capacity ensures smooth transfers to and from the concert hall. These metro carriages arrive empty at the AFAS Dome and do not pick up passengers at other stops, guaranteeing full capacity for event visitors.
De Lijn operated at full capacity to transport attendees of the Lady Gaga concert. When a performance ends later than expected, we adjust to provide extra metro capacity exactly when visitors leave. All dedicated trams were in operation during the (later) peak departure time."
When contacted for comment about possible measures or extended services, SNCB did not respond to our questions.
This article was updated on 13 November at 10 a.m
