Hurricane Irene Forces Music Closings

Some events postponed until later, others cancelled outright.

By Fred Mills

From as far south as Wilmington, NC, to as far north (and possibly farther) as Cohasset, MA, outdoor music concerts, festivals and related events have been dropping like flies in the anticipated wake of Hurricane Irene, which as of this writing (Sat. 10 am) continues to track up the east coast and prompt millions of people to evacuate. Some of the cancellations were due to concert promoters' preemptive decisions, due in no small part to the recent spate of outdoor concert tragedies. Others were dictated from on high: on Friday New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg revoked all outdoor-event permits in the city for the weekend.

Among the cancellations:

*Gillian Welch was to play the Winoca Festival in Wilmington tonight; with that event cancelled, she moved her show a couple hundred miles inland to Saxapahaw, also tonight. (One imagines most ticketholders were already on the move westward from the NC coast so it might not be such a burden after all.)

*Mary Chapin Carpenter postponed her show at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach until Oct. 6.

*The Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn this weekend - possibly one of the most hotly anticipated shows as it featured Cee-Lo Green, Santigold, Janelle Monáe, Das Racist, Toro Y Moi, Ninjasonik, Gordon Voidwell, Reggie Watts and others - is cancelled. No replacement date has been set. Scores of other NYC area shows, including indoor club events, have also been cancelled or postponed.

*The Silopanna Music Festival in Crownsville, MD, is cancelled and has not been rescheduled. Slated to appear were Matt & Kim, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Fitz & the Tantrums and more.

*Styx (yep, Styx...) had a show at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA, that is cancelled.

Here are some links that will list more cancellations and postponements. While we are also advised that much of Brooklyn, in particular the music mecca enclave of Williamsburg, is being evacuated, there is no truth to the rumors that hipster-aspiring squatters have been descending upon the area en masse...

Billboard.com

RollingStone.com

Pitchfork