- Music
- 16 Sep 17
The band's legion of fans in St Louis' were left devastated after Saturday night's concert there was called off at the last minute. Local police said they weren't in a position to "provide the standard protection" required for the audience because of ongoing civil unrest in the city.
U2 were meant to perform at the St Louis' Dome at America's Center, but the local law enforcement has been under the cosh trying to deal with an outbreak of protests in the wake of ex- police officer Jason Stockley being controversially acquitted of murdering a black man.
So far, eight police officers were seriously injured when a peaceful protest turned ugly. And the local law enforcement fear things could spiral further out of control.
In a joint statement released last night, U2 and Live Nation said it was "regrettable" that the gig had to be cancelled.
"We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size," the statement read.
"We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity.
"In light of this information, we cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert.
"As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment."