Dream Theater Finland show cancelled on short notice over stage safety concerns

News
By ( Prog ) published

Dream Theater fans received message confirming cancellation just minutes before gig in Oulu was due to start

Dream Theater
(Image credit: Press)

Dream Theater fans in the Finnish city of Oulu were left disappointed when they were told a show had been cancelled just minutes before the scheduled start.

The Grammy-winning prog metal band were due to play at Oulun Energia Areena on Friday, 3 February as part of their Top of the World European tour.

But fans received a message from Ticketmaster a little over half an hour before the first support band were due to start their set. They were later refunded the price of the tickets.

Gig organisers say they realised at the last minute that the venue's stage could not safely support the weight of Dream Theater's lighting and sound rig.

Toni Peiju, CEO of gig organisers All Things Live Finland Oy tells Ilta-Sanomat: "The subcontractor company had made a stage that was not safe to perform on. The lighting and sound equipment are heavy, and the stage structures would not have been sufficient to support their weight. The lights would not have been allowed to hang. It was purely a security matter.

"There was no other option but to pull the plug on the show. I wouldn't have had time to do anything with the stage. The band is moving on, so organising a replacement gig is almost impossible."

The band said in a post on social media: "Tonight's concert at Oulu's Energia Areena has been cancelled due to unexpected safety reasons that the band or the organiser have not been able to influence.

"We apologise for the inconvenience to our Finnish fans. Ticket buyers will be refunded via Ticketmaster."

It is the second show from this run of dates to be pulled, with Dream Theater announcing this week that the 9 February concert at Horsens in Denmark was cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances." They gave no further explanation.

The tour, in support of latest album A View From The Top Of The World, continues with a February 6 appearance in Sweden.

Dream Theater Top Of The World European Tour 2022

Feb 06: Stockholm Annexet, Sweden
Feb 08: Düsseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Germany
Feb 10: Groningen De Oosterpoort, Netherlands
Feb 12: Tilburg 013 Poppodium, Netherlands
Feb 14: Zurich The Hall Zurich, Switzerland
Feb 15: Stuttgart Liederhalle, Germany
Feb 17: Manchester O2 Apollo Manchester, UK
Feb 18: Birmingham Symphony Hall, UK
Feb 19: Glasgow SEC Armadillo, UK
Feb 21: London Eventim Apollo, UK

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.