SINGAPORE: American pop-punk band All Time Low ended their concert at Fort Canning Park early on Sunday (May 5) after their lead singer fell ill with food poisoning, leaving fans in the lurch less than an hour into the show.
The band's lead singer, Alex Gaskarth, was "sent to the hospital after the show and was released early this morning", the concert's promoter LAMC Productions said in an Instagram post on Monday.
Concertgoers will not receive refunds.
All Time Low was slated to perform at 8pm after local opening act Iman's League, and they took the stage at about 8.15pm. They performed about four songs before Gaskarth rushed off stage.
The four-member band's lead guitarist Jack Barakat explained that Gaskarth was feeling unwell due to a bout of food poisoning but was doing his best to perform.
Without their lead singer, the band's other members decided to perform a cover of a Blink-182 song while waiting for Gaskarth to return.
Upon his return, Gaskarth apologised and said it was a musician's worst nightmare to have a great audience but to have his body failing.
Barakat then joked that he knew about five Blink-182 songs if the singer needed to rush off the stage again.
After performing two more songs, Gaskarth left the stage once more without saying anything to the crowd. The band performed another cover before deciding to perform one of their own songs without him.
The remaining members then said they would take a quick break to check on Gaskarth as he had been gone for some time.
Barakat subsequently returned to the stage and announced that they would have to end the concert as Gaskarth could not stand.
The show ended at about 9pm, less than 50 minutes after it started.
After the last song, members of the band handed out guitar picks and drumsticks to the crowd before leaving the stage without a final bow.
All Time Low performed about 10 songs in total, two of them Blink-182 covers. This was less than half of the number of songs they performed at earlier shows on their current tour in Indonesia and the Philippines.
"The band did their best even though their lead singer Alex Gaskarth became increasingly unwell during the show," LAMC said.
"We apologise for the delay in clarifying the situation as it was a shock to us as well," they added.
"We were not made aware of the severity of his condition and it was beyond our control."
Fans of All Time Low took to LAMC's Instagram page to ask for refunds, however, the promoter said that there would be none.
Instead, they offered each ticket-holder "a S$30 unique promo code redeemable on any LAMC show over the next year".
This was met with complaints from attendees, with some saying that this was not sufficient.
"We paid for a full concert experience with the expectation of some standard of crisis management," commented a fan on LAMC's Instagram post.
Fans CNA spoke to after the concert on Sunday expressed their disappointment at what had happened.
One fan, 27-year-old Scott, had travelled to Singapore from the United States to watch the show.
"We're kind of sad, we came all the way from San Diego," he said.
"We love the band and … had a great time while they were playing, but it's unfortunate."
Scott, who said he was on his first trip to Singapore, added that he and a friend paid at least US$10,000 for the whole trip.
Despite their disappointment, fans also wished Gaskarth well and said that the situation was not the band's fault.
"We are sad but it can't be helped. If you're sick, you're sick," said 24-year-old Mercury J Alice.
"He's done more than enough for the band and I wish him a speedy recovery."
Continue reading...
The band's lead singer, Alex Gaskarth, was "sent to the hospital after the show and was released early this morning", the concert's promoter LAMC Productions said in an Instagram post on Monday.
Concertgoers will not receive refunds.
All Time Low was slated to perform at 8pm after local opening act Iman's League, and they took the stage at about 8.15pm. They performed about four songs before Gaskarth rushed off stage.
The four-member band's lead guitarist Jack Barakat explained that Gaskarth was feeling unwell due to a bout of food poisoning but was doing his best to perform.
Without their lead singer, the band's other members decided to perform a cover of a Blink-182 song while waiting for Gaskarth to return.
Upon his return, Gaskarth apologised and said it was a musician's worst nightmare to have a great audience but to have his body failing.
Barakat then joked that he knew about five Blink-182 songs if the singer needed to rush off the stage again.
After performing two more songs, Gaskarth left the stage once more without saying anything to the crowd. The band performed another cover before deciding to perform one of their own songs without him.
The remaining members then said they would take a quick break to check on Gaskarth as he had been gone for some time.
Barakat subsequently returned to the stage and announced that they would have to end the concert as Gaskarth could not stand.
The show ended at about 9pm, less than 50 minutes after it started.
After the last song, members of the band handed out guitar picks and drumsticks to the crowd before leaving the stage without a final bow.
NO REFUNDS
All Time Low performed about 10 songs in total, two of them Blink-182 covers. This was less than half of the number of songs they performed at earlier shows on their current tour in Indonesia and the Philippines.
"The band did their best even though their lead singer Alex Gaskarth became increasingly unwell during the show," LAMC said.
"We apologise for the delay in clarifying the situation as it was a shock to us as well," they added.
"We were not made aware of the severity of his condition and it was beyond our control."
Fans of All Time Low took to LAMC's Instagram page to ask for refunds, however, the promoter said that there would be none.
Instead, they offered each ticket-holder "a S$30 unique promo code redeemable on any LAMC show over the next year".
This was met with complaints from attendees, with some saying that this was not sufficient.
"We paid for a full concert experience with the expectation of some standard of crisis management," commented a fan on LAMC's Instagram post.
"CAN'T BE HELPED"
Fans CNA spoke to after the concert on Sunday expressed their disappointment at what had happened.
One fan, 27-year-old Scott, had travelled to Singapore from the United States to watch the show.
"We're kind of sad, we came all the way from San Diego," he said.
"We love the band and … had a great time while they were playing, but it's unfortunate."
Scott, who said he was on his first trip to Singapore, added that he and a friend paid at least US$10,000 for the whole trip.
Despite their disappointment, fans also wished Gaskarth well and said that the situation was not the band's fault.
"We are sad but it can't be helped. If you're sick, you're sick," said 24-year-old Mercury J Alice.
"He's done more than enough for the band and I wish him a speedy recovery."
Continue reading...