A New Order concert scheduled for Thursday evening at Alexandra Head, near Cardiff Bay Barrage, was cancelled due to “health and safety grounds” following a severe weather warning.
The decision was made as Storm Lilian is expected to bring strong winds between 05:00 and 11:00 BST on Friday, with organisers citing “extreme weather, including severe winds” as the reason for the cancellation.
Although the weather warning primarily covers North Wales, including areas such as Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Anglesey, the concert’s organisers decided it was too risky to proceed.
The band took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their disappointment, stating: “We are disappointed to not be performing for you all tonight, but the safety of our fans & crew always comes first.”
They also mentioned that an official statement regarding ticket refunds would be released soon.
Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans, one of the support acts for the show, echoed the band’s sentiments.
He explained in a post on X that the cancellation was unavoidable due to the dangerous weather conditions, emphasizing that “the safety of everyone working has to come first.”
Burgess later surprised fans who had traveled for the event by leaving £500 behind the bar at Tiny Rebel in Cardiff as a gesture of goodwill.
The Met Office has warned that Storm Lilian could bring gusts of wind in the 50 to 60mph range, although there is some uncertainty regarding the storm’s exact impact.
The Bay Series, the event organisers, apologised for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation and assured customers that they would receive automatic refunds.
For some fans, the cancellation was a significant disappointment. Dermot Owens, a 54-year-old fan from Belfast, received news of the cancellation just as he got off the train.
“I had VIP tickets too, so we’d have been right up in the front,” he said.
Despite his disappointment, Owens maintained a positive outlook, stating: “I’m very disappointed, but life’s too short to be angry about these things.”
Other fans, including some who had traveled from as far as the United States with non-refundable hotel bookings, were also affected by the unexpected cancellation.
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