Well, Metallica’s first ever gig in India didn’t happen and things got ugly in a hurry.
As you can see in the videos above and below, when the show was postponed and oversold the fans decided to riot and tear up the stage at the F1 show last weekend resulting in a cancellation and $200,000 in damages.
Here’s what happened according to Billboard:
…fans became unruly when the gates opened several hours later than the scheduled opening times. Still other media reports said fans became angry after DNA sold more tickets than the venue’s estimated 30,000 capacity and because the organizers failed to inform ticket holders of the cancelation.
Despite attempts to restore order, some spectators breached security and began to destroy the stage set and equipment. ESPN’s F1 website states that Metallica had brought more than 30 tons of equipment. When the damage was later assessed, there were hopes to put on the show the following day, but the organizers discovered there was not enough time to secure the required licenses.
About Saturday’s canceled race in India, an F1 Rocks spokesperson commented: “Every conceivable effort had been made for the concert to go ahead today, but in view of public safety and in consultation with DNA and representatives from Metallica, the decision was made to cancel the show.”
News like this does suck for the fans and band. And after seeing yet again other riot at a Metallica show, I’m wondering even more about our previous Metallica riot experiments and explorations into the band’s impact on it’s fans.
We already know that fans in countries like Iraq believe that seeing Metallica and experiencing heavy-metal music live is worth dying for.
And I know it’s not just a heavy-metal thing because we’ve seen the same thing happen in genres too. For example, the scene turned violent when hip hop fans at this Canada show, this NYC rap concert and this Drake concert rioted too.
And was also sucks is that after watching this India concert footage, we’ll unfortunately to add these unruly fans to our yearly “behaving badly” list.
But really?
What’s the reason for all this rioting?
Is it our raging and uncontrollable concert fan emotions, the band, the music, the police, the promoter, the Metallica-starved culture or a mix of all of the above?
Were you at the F1 Metallica concert to witness the riot? Have thoughts about what causes concert riots like these? Let us know what you think so we can include your thoughts and stories in a future episode of Live Fix Radio as we take a deeper look at this crazy concert rioting.