Backstreet Boys' Chicago gig cut short
The Backstreet Boys' Chicago, Illinois concert on Friday night (02Aug12) was shut down by venue bosses before the band could complete their set.
Singer Kevin Richardson claims he and his bandmates were five minutes from completing the show at the FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island when the power was cut and the group was asked to conclude its set.
In a video posted on the band's Facebook.com page on Saturday
(03Aug13), he said, "We got shut down five minutes shy of the
finish line, so we're so frustrated, and we're going to figure out
how to make this right."
Venue bosses have since released a statement attempting to explain
their actions which reads, "As has always been the case, the
Backstreet Boys production is unlike anything else on the road.
Getting this new, state of the art show ready, however, caused the
doors to be delayed and the beginning of the show to be pushed
back.
"FirstMerit Bank Pavilion has a strict curfew of 11:00 PM. Given
the artist was running behind on setting their production up, the
show had to end before the set could be finished.
"Venue management worked with the artist to complete their show
within the allotted time and, when the show exceeded the curfew,
the artist was asked to conclude the show."