Bright Eyes feel “cursed” after storm evacuation of New York anniversary show
Bright Eyes have taken to social media to express their “devastation” over their part-cancelled show at New York City’s Forest Hills Stadium, which was cut short due to an encroaching storm.
The iconic band, formed in 1995, were undertaking the third and final show of their celebration of both 2005 albums I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on June 6th but were unable to make it past the first album.
The weather, which took a drastic turn for the worse, didn’t just impact Bright Eyes’ set; the storm also impacted New York’s Governors Ball, which subsequently saw sets from Kali Uchis, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Blood Orange axed.
Bright Eyes’ online statement, penned by vocalist Conor Oberst, began, “We’re still reeling and devastated about the severe weather cancellation at Forest Hills this past weekend. After over a year of planning, it’s been difficult to process our disappointment while also working through next steps.”
The band then initially clarified that full refunds will be issued automatically. Once that score was settled, the statement moved towards “a clearer picture of what happened.”
They wrote, “The storm on June 6 moved in fast and hit hard. It didn’t just affect us – it shut down multiple outdoor shows across the city, including Governors Ball and an event at Under the K Bridge. These kinds of decisions are made in constant real-time contact with meteorologists and city officials, and this one ended up being the worst-case scenario.”
The band had separated their show out uniquely, playing the first album, after which the support acts would play, and then returning for their second album.
Their clarification went on, “We were cleared to play our ‘Wide Awake’ set, with the understanding that conditions could change rapidly. And that’s exactly what happened. As we walked off stage, we were told by the promoter and venue that the show had to be shut down immediately due to extreme weather risk for the safety of all.”
The ensuing evacuation focused only on “getting everyone out safely before conditions got worse.”
This isn’t the first weather-related issue the special anniversary shows experienced; their Red Rocks show was also postponed because of the weather.
As a caveat, the ‘First Day of My Life’ musicians added, “For the record, we worked really hard for many months getting these 3 shows together and 2 of the 3 were affected by severe weather completely out of our control. Needless to say, we are feeling extremely sad, unlucky, maybe even cursed.”
They concluded, “We lost money on the whole endeavour and worst of all didn’t get to complete what we set out to do. Life isn’t fair.”
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