After his super successful shows in New York, New Jersy, Washington DC and Chicago, Rahman, who is on a world tour, has been forced to cancel his show after the unfortunate Detroit incident on June 19.The stage erected at the Pontiac Silverdome fell apart injuring 10 people, crashing all the hopes of thousands of fans to see his performance.
The incident occurred during stage construction prior to the show and no one was seriously injured. But Rahman has decided to re-schedule the North American leg of his concerts.
After initially postponing dates in Detroit and Toronto, Rahman made the decision Tuesday evening to cancel his remaining North American tour stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Houston.
A spokeswoman for Rahman said there was no plan to cancel the tour's European and UK dates; North American 'Jai Ho Concert' dates most likely will be rescheduled for September.
"As you may know, members of our tour miraculously escaped a big disaster in Detroit this past Saturday, when part of the Pontiac Silverdome infrastructure collapsed on our set," Rahman said in a statement."All the artists, singers, musicians, dancers, technicians (myself included) have been almost given a second life. We are working to recoup all that has been lost (the lights, the sets) which will take us over three weeks to complete," he said.
"The vision for the show includes beautiful choreography and circus acts and it feels less than, not to include them. All the world over, the show has received a very positive response from those who have seen it, which makes it absolutely necessary for us to present a complete show and feature all the components that were lost due to the incident," Rahman said.
"With that, we have decided to postpone the remaining dates of the North American leg of this tour and will reschedule them at a later date. We will go ahead with the concerts scheduled in Europe and UK. That is the best option we have, considering the circumstances," he added.
The composer also had a word of consolation for his fans in US and Canada who have been eagerly waiting to see him perform live."While I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our friends in the US and Canada, maybe it's a blessing in disguise, as we will have the opportunity to perform for you with even more energy and perfection. Once again, let us all pray that we are alive and thank you in advance for your understanding, love and cooperation," Rahman said.
Rahman's world tour will now resume in Zurich on July 16 followed by a string of concerts across UK and Europe. According to artistic director Amy Tinkham, the infrastructure at the Motor City's Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit was not strong enough to support a lighting rig and buckled beneath its weight.
The apparatus came crashing down, destroying part of the stage. The equipment and sets specially designed for the tour were rendered unusable."We are working to recoup all that has been lost (the lights, the sets) which will take us over three weeks to complete. The vision for the show includes beautiful choreography and circus acts and it feels less than, not to include them," Tinkham said.
"All the world over, the show has received a very positive response from those who have seen it, which makes it absolutely necessary for us to present a complete show and feature all the components that were lost due to the incident," he added.