WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR PERTH’S BRYAN ADAMS CONCERT CANCELLATION?

WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR PERTH’S BRYAN ADAMS CONCERT CANCELLATION?
By Shane Pinnegar

Last night’s Bryan Adams concert cancellation was the latest punch in the guts for Perth’s showcase RAC Arena, with many disgruntled fans taking to social media to whinge and point fingers of blame in a myriad of bewildering directions.

With cancellation of the show not happening until 9pm – the time Adams was due on stage, and some 2 ¼ hours after the doors were due to open – the increasingly irate crowd blamed the Arena, Adams himself, and even the State Premier, some suggesting that this catastrophe would make them vote against him in the upcoming state election.

What they fail to understand is that there was apparently a ‘fatberg’ (a blockage caused by solidified fat, human hair and waste and flushed items like wipes and rags) in the CBD sewerage system which caused havoc throughout the city. This reporter can confirm that the State Theatre Centre car park – multiple blocks away from the RAC Arena – was also awash in backed up water that was suspected to include raw sewage – and it smelt like it, too.

Some of those stomping their feet online perhaps had little understanding of public health issues, and the fact that allowing 10-15 thousand people into a venue without working toilets and with raw sewage issues may have been an even bigger problem.

To blame the venue or artist for that is like blaming them for a volcanic eruption nearby, an earthquake, or a plane crash.

It’s fairer to point the finger at the Water Corporation or Public Health Department for not signing off on the show cancellation sooner, but again, blaming the state premier is ridiculous.

Even though it was a Sunday, there was an obligation to the many thousands of people milling about outside the venue – and traffic and other pedestrians and residents in the area – to make a decision about the concert’s viability more promptly.

It’s also worth noting that the venue and the tour promoters Frontier Touring were doing all they could to ensure the show went ahead, whilst also taking public health concerns very seriously.

This latest contrived controversy comes as the mass media – enormous fans of creating artificial outrage for clickbait – has sensationalised anti-RAC Arena sentiment about a late start time for R&B hip hop star Drake earlier in the week which was apparently the result of the artist’s own team being delayed, and the fact that a long-scheduled Kylie Minogue concert will now clash with a Wildcats basketball semi-final date, forcing them to find an alternative venue for what should have been a home advantage match. The Wildcats had apparently not requested RAC Arena keep any dates free for a finals game.

It seems to 100% ROCK MAGAZINE that if anyone was to blame for the late cancellation announcement tonight it was the Water Corporation and perhaps also Public Health.

Whilst some in the queue were looking for a scapegoat to blame, often with no grounds in reality, others took the opportunity to joke about the event with some Adams-themed quips including “update from the Water Corp – everything I do, I do it for you”; “we can’t get the water to… run to you”; “what a shitty situation!”; “this has been a shitshow”; “run to poo” and “I guess they could stop this thing ‘cos he hasn’t started.”

We also heard that much of the food prepared for the event would be donated to charity, which is admirable.

Whether Adams’s Perth show will be rescheduled or cancelled outright remained to be seen last night, but a statement from Frontier Touring at 8:30am AWST unsurprisingly delivered the news many dreaded: that the show was unable to be rescheduled and refunds would be issued. As with any cancelled event this is cold comfort for fans who had travelled from far and wide for the show, some even booking accomodation specially for the night, making it a night to remember for all the wrong reasons.

 

 

 

Category: Opinion