Lightning and high winds were to blame
Kid Rock fans in North Dakota did not trash a venue, as originally reported, on Friday (July 22nd) after his sold out show was canceled due to severe weather. Rock was slated to perform at 9:30 pm at the North Dakota State Fair when his performance was canceled due to high winds and lightning in the area.
We spoke with Renae Korslien of the North Dakota State Fair who clears up all of the rumors. She tells us that the big storm missed the area but winds were gusting up to 55 mph, causing unsafe conditions on stage as the speaker rig and video screens were swinging.
She spent two hours on the phone with The National Weather Service which expected the winds to die down, but they didn’t. That ultimately forced the show to be canceled.
The crowd was 17,000 strong, a near sell out for the 18,000 seat state fair grandstand. Korslien also says nobody trashed the venue, though some beers were thrown at the stage. There was no damage, despite previous reports.
She also confirms that opening act Night Ranger performed an hour set, despite TMZ‘s report that they played an extended two and a half hour set. The Ward County Sheriff’s Department walked on stage and addressed the crowd at around 11 pm, an hour and a half after Rock was scheduled to perform. Video shows irate fans throwing bottles and cans onto the stage with one fan being arrested after climbing onto the stage.
Rock addressed the cancelation on Twitter.
“SO PISSED OFF we could not play for a sold out crowd tonight in Minot, ND (because of high winds) – I know it sucks but none of us can control mother nature. Please be safe leaving and take care of each other,” he tweets.
Fair organizers said they’d be refunding everyone in attendance.
“Due to the safety concerns of the high winds, lighting and severe weather in the area, the Kid Rock concert had to be canceled,” the share on Facebook. “The North Dakota State Fair will be issuing refunds to all ticket purchasers.”
The Ward County Sheriff’s Department also addressed the cancelation on social media.
“The Sheriff’s Department would like to clarify to tonight’s concert fans that the decision to cancel the Kid Rock concert was not made by the Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff simply announced the cancellation,” the department shares on Facebook. “We did not cancel the show.”
Rock will resume the Bad Reputation Tour with Grand Funk Railroad, Foreigner, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening and Trey Lewis next month. Dates are scheduled through mid-September.
Matt Bailey contributed to this report.
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