Chaotic scenes have erupted ahead of Harry Styles’ first Australian show.
The pop susperstar will kick off the Australian leg of his world tour at HBF Park in Perth on Monday night.
Fans hoping to secure one of the coveted standing spots were banned from camping out the night before.
HBF Park said fans queuing or camping prior to 8am on Monday would be asked to move.
“No priority entry will be given to anyone camping outside the venue prior to event day, and fan made early line systems will not be honoured,” the park said.
The ban saw a mixed reaction with some praising the move, while others were less than impressed.
“How sad that you’re taking away a time-honoured tradition of die-hard fans. Instead of being authoritarian line lords, you provide additional security to monitor the people (who) are willing to spend days waiting to see their favourite artists,” one person said.
“Quite frankly, you’re biting the hand that feeds you.”
As the ban lifted thousands flocked to the gates in the hope of being some of the first in line.
Fans were seen setting up shade tents, chairs and umbrellas in anticipation of the long wait ahead, with temperatures climbing to 24 degrees by 8am with a high of 36C expected throughout the day.
Many of those in line were young women, dressed in Harry Styles merchandise or bright colours and prints.
Some of the women had signs with them, one read “You’re my hall pass”, while another read “We don’t talk enough, call me”.
There were paramedics on standby after six fans collapsed from heat exhaustion on Sunday while lining up to buy merchandise.
Temperatures peaked at 32C on Sunday.
The Watermelon Sugar singer’s arrival has been hotly anticipated.
Styles was originally set to perform a string of arena dates in Australia in November 2020, however, those dates were postponed indefinitely due to the Covid pandemic.
“I really hope to play the shows as planned for 2021 but will continue to monitor the situation over the coming weeks and months,” he said at the time.
He announced his tour would be coming down under in April last year with tickets selling out in seconds.
Eager fans captured Styles during sound checks on Sunday, with videos of Styles rehearsing before the show popping up on social media.
Gates to the venue will open at 5pm local time, with the event set to start at 7.20pm.
The hitmaker will then head to Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast where similar scenes are expected.