English indie rock band The Courteeners were forced to pull out of a gig last minute on December 4th due to “serious structural damage” at the London Venue Shepherd’s Bush Empire which was shut on the night they were supposed to perform. Fans have been told to keep and retain their tickets for future use.
The Shepherds Bush Empire is an iconic London venue that first opened in 1903 and has hosted bands ranging from Deerhunter, Beach House, Brandon Flowers, Jack Garratt and Leon Bridges to Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Fifth Harmony, PiL and Yo La Tengo in 2015 therefore safety is a priority when it comes to structural damage as these gigs can host up to thousands of people.
Frontman Liam Fray tweeted “We’ve just been told it’s ‘serious structural damage’. They checked a problem and it was a lot worse than they first thought,”
— Liam Fray (@What_Liam_Said) December 4, 2015
He added: “I know you’re all disappointed. But if something happened to one of those balconies with all you guys inside it does not bear even thinking about.”Unfortunately there has been no updated information regarding the venues status, news is expected later on in the day on December 7th. A tweet from the venue itself reads: “Afraid we won’t have news about our structural works until Monday, sorry we can’t reply to all individual tweets until we have more info,”.
Afraid we won't have news about our structural works until Monday, sorry we can't reply to all individual tweets until we have more info.
— O2 Shep Bush Empire (@o2sbe) December 6, 2015
The Courteeners gig is not the only gig that has been postponed, a number of gigs scheduled to take place at Shepherds Bush Empire have been either postponed or alternative venues have been used instead. Rock band Hawkwind have moved their December 20 gig to The Coronet in Elephant and Castle.
The band explained the move on Facebook: “As some of you may have heard, it seems Shepherd’s Bush Empire has been declared structurally unsafe and we have been told that they have had to cancel the rest of their shows this year. We are just so thankful that their H&S checks uncovered the danger and prevented a potential disaster….”
