Bad news for all of those U2 fans in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Owing to a lack of adequate police protection at their performance venue following the city’s protests of the Jason Stockley acquittal verdict, the band has decided to cancel this evening’s concert. “We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size. We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity,” U2 and Live Nation said in a joint statement to Vulture. “In light of this information, we cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert. As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment.” As per the industry standard, full refunds will be granted to everyone who purchased tickets.
Update, September 17: Ed Sheeran has also cancelled his Sunday evening concert in St. Louis for the same reason. “With the safety of the fans being of upmost concern, and after consulting with local officials, who could not fully commit to providing a sufficient amount of police and other city services support, we felt it was in everyone’s best interest to cancel Sunday night’s show,” Sheeran’s touring group said in a statement. “While we regret to have had to come to this decision, we do look forward to returning to St. Louis as soon as Ed’s schedule will allow in 2018.”
