Freak Hail Storm During Louis Tomlinson’s Red Rocks Show Hospitalizes 7, Injures Dozens
Fans at Louis Tomlinson‘s show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Wednesday (June 21) were sent scrambling for cover when a freak hail storm struck during the former One Director singer’s solo show. According to Denver’s 9 News, seven people were transported to a local hospital for injuries and dozens more were treated at the scene when hail up to the size of tennis balls rained down on the crowd at the Morrison, CO open-air venue.
“Devastated about the show tonight, hope everyone’s ok, I’ll be back!,” Tomlinson tweeted several hours after the incident that initially delayed the start of the show twice before organizers postponed it following a long delay. “Even though we didn’t play the show I felt all of your passion! Send you all love!”
The West Metro Fire Department reported in a tweet that officers were responding to the historic venue after reports of several people hit by hail and injured at the concert, with the extent of injuries unclear at first. A follow-up tweet a short time later confirmed that seven people were hospitalized with non life-threatening injures, with a total of 80-90 more treated on scene with injuries reportedly including cuts, bumps, bruises, welts and broken bones amid scary social media posts showing attendees screaming and fleeing from the punishing ice storm.
A Red Rocks spokesperson told Denver’s Fox 31 that “several inches of hail” had fallen in the seating area, with one concertgoer saying she and her friends had taken shelter in a bathroom stall for more than an hour to avoid hail she described as “golf-ball” sized.
9 News reported that surprised concertgoers were sent scrambling for cover as the severe thunderstorm passed through around 9 p.m., with venue officials delaying the gig and asking fans to take cover and seek shelter around 8 p.m. The all-clear was given a short time later, but then a second delay was announced around 9:15 p.m.; the venue officially postponed the show at 10:25 p.m. due to a storm that reportedly spawned at least one confirmed tornado in the area. At press time there was no information on a make-up date for the gig.
Tomlinson’s next scheduled tour date is at the Wamu Theater in Seattle on Saturday (June 24).
Check out tweets about the hail storm below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
