American band Allah-Las were ordered to cancel a concert in the Netherlands last night (Wednesday) after authorities received a terror tip-off connected with the show.
The Dutch terror threat status remains at level four out of five in the aftermath of attacks in Spain that left 15 people dead last week.
Police officers detained the driver of a van containing gas bottles – but later said there was no connection to the extremist cell that carried out the recent killings. A second person was later detained.
Following the tip-off, which came from Spanish security services, promoters of the Allah-Las show at the Maassilo venue were told to call it off and evacuate the building.
Rotterdam cops said they took the threat “seriously enough that, after discussion with organisers, it was decided to cancel the event.”
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A spokesman for Allah-Las’s label, Mexican Summer, told the Guardian: “The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the police and other agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt.”
Speculation on social media focused on the band’s name as the reason they might have been targeted. But they told the Guardian last year that they hadn’t intended to cause offence, and chose the word “Allah” because they wanted a “holy-sounding” title.
Frontman Miles Michaud said: “We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they’re offended. But that absolutely wasn’t our intention. We email back and explain, and mainly they understand.”
