Concerts

The Weeknd’s show at the Rogers Centre Friday night was canceled because of Rogers. Twitter wasn’t happy.

A big chunk of Canada was paralyzed for much yesterday because of the Rogers outage caused by…well, we’re not sure, really. (Tech heads believe it was an insanely bad BGP error, but that’s above my IT grade.) If you live in the country, you know how bad it was. No internet or wireless service. ATMs down. Debit machines down. The ability to call 911 impaired. Business impacted everywhere. It was a huge hit to the GDP.

Among the many casualties was The Weeknd’s big homecoming show in front of tens of thousands at–wait for it–the Rogers Centre.

A twice-postponed date (blame COVID) was canceled yet again, this time with less than an hour’s notice.

Here’s the statement: “We regret to announce that The Weeknd tour stop at Rogers Centre has been postponed to a later date due to service outages impacting venue operations. Information on a new show date will be shared as soon as possible. All tickets will be honoured for the new date. We understand how disappointing this is and apologize for the inconvenience.”

Meanwhile, the Roger Waters show next door at the Scotiabank went off without a hitch. So did the Keith Urban gig at the Budweiser Stage. But the concert at the Rogers Centre couldn’t happen because of Rogers.

Imagine being some of the many Weeknd fans who traveled far to attend a show they’ve been wanting to see for a couple of years. Twitter wasn’t happy. Well, at least for those who could tweet because they weren’t Rogers customers.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39325 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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