Emergency Evacuation
The show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was canceled after both openers, Metric and Garbage, had already performed
The audience attending Noel Gallagher‘s High Flying Birds concert at Saratoga Performing Afters Center in New York over the weekend was only able to catch performances from the two opening acts, Metric and Garbage. Before Gallagher could hit the stage for his headlining performance, the venue was evacuated in response to a bomb threat.
At around 10 p.m., an announcement canceling the rest of the show was shared through digital monitors at the venue. “At this time, we will need to evacuate the venue. We ask you to calmly proceed to the nearest exit. Please follow directions of staff and police officers. For the safety of everyone, please do not rush or push,” it read. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
On Sunday evening, the New York State Park Police provided an update via Facebook, confirming that the event was shut down due to a bomb threat. “Out of an abundance of caution, the concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was suspended at 9:40 pm and concert attendees were evacuated without incident. K9s completed a sweep of the venue after the crowd exited, with negative results,” the department’s post read. “This incident is under investigation. This case will be investigated as, Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony.”
Likely for safety reasons, the true nature of the threat was not revealed until after the audience was evacuated. On Twitter that same night, Garbage tweeted: “We have no idea what happened tonight. We were just all evacuated and we were concerned for everyone !!! I’m sorry we have no real information. We were just told there was an emergency evacuation!!!!”
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ next show, with Garbage co-headlining and Metric appearing as a special guest, is scheduled for July 13 in Columbia, Maryland. Their North American run will conclude on July 15 in Boston, Massachusetts.