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The Foo Fighters were forced to leave the stage while performing on their Everything or Nothing At All Tour in New York on Thursday as a lightning storm smashed the Citi Field Stadium.
Some fans were furious, slamming the iconic rock band for failing to offer a partial refund or a rain check for ticket holders, but others fiercely defending the decision to “call it a night”.
It was definitely unsafe to play. It was insane. They are coming back Friday, but you have to buy new tickets — they’re not rescheduling last night’s show.
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Frontman Dave Grohl warned the audience after performing My Hero that the show might be affected by the storm already lashing the venue, before a backstage crew member emerged seconds into Everlong and ordered: “shut it down”.
“We just got called. Listen, this f***ing sucks. Believe me, if I could do something about it, I would. Everybody, go get safe,” Grohl said on stage.
The band released a statement less than two hours later.
“We are so disappointed that we were unable to play our full set for tonight’s fantastic crowd at Citi Field,” they said in a post on social media.
“But the safety of our fans, the crew and everyone working in the stadium comes first, so when it was determined that there was no safe way to continue the show in this dangerous weather, we had no choice but to call it a night.”
“We’re grateful for every second we were able to play for you and looking forward to seeing you again — maybe as soon as Friday!”
Fooeys have a second New York show on Friday night, but the rained out audience will have to buy new tickets to attend.
Hundreds of fans responded to the band’s cancellation statement within hours of the post. One follower posted on Instagram that he believes much of the backlash was because “a lot of people were still drunk, wet, tired and upset”.
“No refunds, no rescheduling and no offer to pay their fees to play late after the storm passes. Awful,” another fan commented.
“People paid full price, some people had to sacrifice to save to go, some travelled. Some were there for a birthday etc. People can be disappointed and still love the band. Both things can be true,” another said.
“Storm was predicted. The smart call would have been, with all respect to the openers, to cancel or cut the opening acts,” another wrote.
But others defended the band for a decision they believe was out of their hands.
“Lightning would not stop and there were buckets of rain. We waited an hour, but the weather report said lightning wasn’t leaving for hours! It was dangerous for everyone,” one person said.
“They forced us all into the concourse and within minutes a hellacious storm started. They literally played until they forced to stop and get offvstage,” another said.
“This guy (Grohl) made a tour with a broken leg, they played plenty of times under bad weather,” another said.
“People need to understand the difference between rain = getting wet, and lightning = possible electrocution.”