New Order respond to fan queries about “extreme weather” that cancelled Cardiff show

23 August, 2024

New Order's Bernard Sumner

New Order have responded to fans’ comments after having to cancel their Cardiff Bay show on Thursday due to “extreme weather”.

Yesterday (August 22), it was announced that the band’s gig at Cardiff Bay had been cancelled on “health and safety grounds”.

The show was due to mark New Order’s first UK performance of the year, but was called off due to “extreme weather” conditions in the area. No plans have been shared about rescheduling the show.

Some disappointed fans pointed out to the band that by the time the show would have started, the storm had largely cleared from the Cardiff area, and now the band have responded to the comments on their social media accounts.

“Further to our announcement that the gig has been cancelled tonight, we’d like to make it clear that the extreme weather that caused the cancellation of the event was earlier this morning,” they wrote.

“Independent Health & Safety officials determined that the site was unsafe for staff to work during this period, which meant staff were unable to do the essential works to make the site safe or to install New Order’s production.”

“It was not a decision taken lightly and New Order are very sorry that this was out of their control,” they added.

“All tickets will be refunded automatically, we have been told that you should allow 10 business days for the refund to appear in your account.”

Storm Lilian has been raging through England and Wales over the last 48 hours, with campers at this weekend’s Leeds Festival being warned on Friday morning to secure their tents amid possible 60mph winds.

After news of the cancellation broke on Thursday, New Order wrote: “We are sorry to say that our show tonight in Cardiff is cancelled due to high winds on site. There will be an official statement in due course regarding tickets. We are disappointed to not be performing for you all tonight, but safety of our fans & crew always comes first.”

As a means of consolation, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, whose band were meant to be opening for New Order at the gig, announced that ticketholders would be able to claim free drinks at a bar in Cardiff last night.

Another New Order show at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on Saturday (August 24) is still scheduled to go ahead, with support from Johnny Marr and Róisín Murphy.

Last year, New Order celebrated the 40th anniversary of their seminal track ‘Blue Monday’, and announced reissued editions of their classic compilation ‘Substance 1987’ to mark the milestone – the band’s biggest-selling album to date.

Around the same time, Sumner spoke to NME about his collaboration with Mella Dee, ‘Riptide’.

“It was all about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and I was just seeing that all of the time,” he said, recalling the political inspiration for the lyrics. “I’d been in a vacuum so I wrote it about politics, really, and the war. I wanted to write it about something that meant a lot to me.”

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