BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A severe downpour with lightning ended country music group Old Dominion's sold-out headline concert on Musikfest's main Steel Stage after just a half hour of music Tuesday.
Old Dominion singer Matthew Ramsey told the audience after five songs that Musikfest was shutting down the show.
It was just the fourth time in Musikfest's 41-year history that a headline show has been ended because of weather.
"As stated in the language of the Musikfest ticket policy, all performances are rain or shine events, with no refunds unless the show would be canceled."ArtsQuest spokeswoman Jennifer LoConte
ArtsQuest spokeswoman Jennifer LoConte said shortly after the concert there would be no refunds for the more than 6,200 tickets sold.
"As stated in the language of the Musikfest ticket policy, all performances are rain or shine events, with no refunds unless the show would be canceled," LoConte said in an email.
"To create the best experience possible, the concert was moved up with doors opening at 4 p.m. [instead of 6 p.m.] and the opening act beginning at 4:15 p.m., followed by Old Dominion at 5 p.m.
"They played a great seven song set and after reviewing all weather scenarios to possibly continue, it was deemed, in the best interests of safety for the performers, patrons, staff, volunteers and vendors, to conclude the show for the evening."
A short show
Old Dominion took the stage early to try to beat the severe weather, and under dark gray clouds, wasted no time getting to the hits.
It started off with "No Hard Feelings,” from its fourth studio album, "Time, Tequila & Therapy."
Other songs the group from Nashville, Tennessee, played included favorites such as “Break Up With Him,” Coming Home,” and "Snapback."
"Everyone should head to safety as we temporarily suspend the rest of the festival."Musikfest Facebook post
A half hour into the show, right after the song “Hotel Key,” as rain began hammering the crowd, lead singer Ramsey informed fans of the end of the show.
He said they were told to “call it” and that the show was postponed. He reassured the crowd by saying, “Don’t worry, we will be back.”
Musikfest posted on its Facebook page that, "The Old Dominion concert has concluded for the evening and will not resume.
"Everyone should head to safety as we temporarily suspend the rest of the festival. Safe structures include your vehicles, the ArtsQuest Center if you’re on the SouthSide or local businesses. (Under tents or bridges are not safe structures)."
First canceled concert in 22 years
It was only the first time since 2012 that Musikfest ended a headline show because of weather.
That year, Musikfest stopped rock group Jane's Addiction from continuing after just 33 minutes because of lightning.
Musikfest did not offer refunds for that show, but Jane's Addiction offered everyone tickets to the band's show a few nights later at the Mann Center in Philadelphia.
In 2011, Nick Jonas played an hour in the pouring rain before the festival finally stopped it, citing a threat of lightning. No refunds were offered then, either.
A concert by Steve Miller in 2005 also was cut short by lightning.
In more recent years, Musikfest had taken to evacuating the Steel Stage arena when it was threatened by rain, then letting patrons back in and letting the concert continue after the lightning threat passed.
That happened with country act Lady Antebellum in 2013, when the group stopped early in the show, then returned to play a full show.
For rock band Shinedown's headline show on Saturday, Musikfest delayed the start of the concert 2 1/2 hours while waiting for the storm to pass. The group then played a full 97-minute show.
More of Musikfest moved, closed
With inclement weather forecast for Tuesday night, ArtsQuest announced earlier Tuesday that there would be an early start for Old Dominion show.
"The safety of our patrons, performers, volunteers, vendors and staff is of the utmost importance to our organization."Musikfest, in a statement
In addition, Musikfest said that because of the forecast "and in an abundance of caution," the festival areas in Familienplatz and Handwerkplatz would be closed to the public Tuesday.
Also, all Community Stage shows (including Saxsquatch) were moved inside the ArtsQuest Center to the Palette & Pour restaurant/bar area.
The Amish Outlaws were scheduled to play from 9:30-11 p.m. inside Musikfest Cafe, instead of outside at Americaplatz, or Levitt Pavilion.
The rest of Musikfest would be open and continue to operate as usual after the suspension of activities, the festival said.
"The safety of our patrons, performers, volunteers, vendors and staff is of the utmost importance to our organization," Musikfest said in a release.
