Foo Fighters share statement after being forced to cut set at Citi Field Stadium short due to "dangerous weather"
18 July 2024, 13:43 | Updated: 18 July 2024, 14:16
Dave Grohl and co had to cut their gig short due to thunder and lightning weather warnings at their Queens show.
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Foo Fighters have apologised after being forced to cut short their gig.
Dave Grohl and co were playing a set at Citi Field Stadium in Queens, New York on Wednesday (17th July), when they informed crowds that a storm was coming and they would have to stop playing once it became too dangerous for the crowd.
In the end the band played 14 songs on their set and only managed to perform the intro of their Everlong hit.
Taking to social media just after the show, they shared a statement, which explained: "We are so disappointed that we were unable to play our full set for tonight's fantastic crowd at Citi Field. 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."
They added: "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!"
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Ahead of the show being axed prematurely, Dave addressed the crowds and let them know due to the lightening storm, it was likely the band would have to quit before they were ahead.
"Hold on a second," he said. "I just got word from the side of the stage that there's a storm coming in. There's some lightning and s*** coming. Hold on. I'm not f***ing [around]. I'm up here right now telling you. We're gonna play as much as we can, before someone says it's not safe for YOU, OK?"
He added: "So just so you know, we're up here doing our thing for you until it's not safe for you, OK? For the time being, we're going to sing this s*** right now."
Watch the moment Dave announced the news about the storm before they played their Learn To Fly anthem:
Dave Grohl and @foofighters were absolutely ON FIRE AND ROCKING @CitiField tonight until a crazy storm came passing through, having to cut the show short. They handled the situation so cool and so professionally, As disappointing as it was to have a shortened show, nothing but… pic.twitter.com/Qd1GeTXwZ0
— Spring-Nuts (@SpringNuts_) July 18, 2024
The band also treated fans to a short but sweet snippet of their Everlong anthem, just before the gig was called off by the powers that be.
In a video where you can clearly see lightning striking above the stadium, Dave told the crowd: "Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to do one more. That's it. We're gonna do one more and wait this f***ing shit out.
"If we can come back, you fucking know we will, right? You know we will if we can. You know that right?"
He added: "So let's do this s*** before it gets weird."
This is how the Foo Fighters concert ended at Citi Field tonight. Booooo! Hope these storms pass quick. pic.twitter.com/5sWkD7UmEO
— JRJ (@JJShortarm) July 18, 2024
A lot of comments saw fans share their disappointment at the turn of events, with some questioning why the band didn't start earlier given the fact it was forecast to storm that night, but some recognised the severity in the safety concerns and commended the band for their decision.
lorddread28 wrote under their Instagram post: "It saddens me that people don’t understand how dangerous lightning is. I was nearly hit by some a few days ago. It is no joke! I am also a musician and if I was to perform out doors and there was lightning I would definitely postpone. Especially since MOST MUSICAL EQUIPMENT IS MADE OF METAL. They made the right call and if you’re mad about this you probably lack empathy."
See Foo Fighters' setlist at Citi Field stadium on 17th July 2024:
- All My Life
- No Son of Mine (with Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman" snippets)
- Rescued
- The Pretender
- Walk
- Times Like These
- Generator
- La Dee Da
- Breakout
- Eruption / Thunderstruck / Sabotage / Keyboard Solo / March of the Pigs / Blitzkrieg Bop (band introductions; "Pat Fucking Smear" crowd chant)
- My Hero
- The Sky Is a Neighborhood
- Learn to Fly (with Dave Grohl warning about the storm)
- Everlong (Intro only)
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