Gurgaon:
First, the Metallica concert, scheduled for Friday evening in Gurgaon, was postponed to 4 pm on Saturday. Then, after some angry fans trashed equipment, came reports that the Delhi gig had been cancelled altogether.
So far, the organisers have said the event on Friday was scrapped for "technical reasons." The news was broken less than two hours before the heavy metal band was scheduled to play (
Live Blog).
Organisers say that all ticket holders will be refunded. They say full-page advertisements on refunds will be put out in the next 24 hours explaining all the details.
At the venue at Leisure Valley in Gurgaon, 25,000 fans received the news with anger, partly because the announcement made also said that at that time, the band was addressing a press conference at their hotel. (
Buzz on Twitter)
Crowds started lining up at about 3 on Friday afternoon - a video on YouTube showed fans running in when the gates opened. (
Watch)
During the next three hours, several announcements were made requesting people to move back because the barrier in front of the stage was giving way. The crowd got increasingly more restive with every such announcement, objecting and booing.
After the announcement that the concert had been cancelled, some angry fans near the stage damaged equipment; some tried to set fire to banners near the stage. Others hurled plastic 10-litre bottles of water onto the stage. But a majority of the thousands gathered, though vocally disappointed, stayed calm and largely orderly as they exited through small rickety gates.
A young fan named Karan said, "I am very disappointed that the concert has been cancelled. I came all the way from Mumbai to see the concert. I have been standing for almost two hours now and have just been told that it has been postponed. No organiser has made any official statement if our tickets will be reimbursed or not."
"I'm glad my sons got out from the #Metallica madness unscathed. Why can't we organise an event without drama?" tweeted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Earlier on Friday in an interview to NDTV, the members of the heavy metal band said they were looking forward to playing for a massive audience. They also said they were keen to see the Taj Mahal.
The police chief in Gurgaon says he was not informed that the concert had been called off. "The organisers have to say why they cancelled (the show). They have to explain. They have cancelled it without taking the district administration into confidence," said Police Commissioner S.S. Deshwal. He said that fortunately, the crowd dispersed peacefully.
The concert was organised by DNA Entertainment Network; 25,000 thousand tickets had been sold for prices ranging from Rs. 1650 to Rs. 2750.
Metallica is scheduled to perform in Bangalore on Sunday.