S Club singer Jon Lee has cleared up the reason for the sudden cancellation of the band’s reunion tour gig at the M&S Bank Arena last night.
Jon, Bradley McIntosh, Rachel Stevens, Jo O’Meara, and Tina Barrett were due to perform on Friday night – but the show was called off at the last minute. In a statement, the Arena blamed the shock news on “an unforeseen technical issue” impacting the power supply, and reassured fans the show would be rescheduled for October 30.
Now singer Jon, 41, has set the record straight on why they were forced to pull out of their performance in a video he shared on his Instagram.
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He said: “We’re so sorry our Liverpool date has been cancelled tonight. There was a fire in the building which knocked out some of the electrics, which meant it was completely unsafe for us to allow an audience into the arena. It was not our decision, we were fighting to perform right down to the last minute, but it’s health and safety and your safety is paramount to us and we just weren’t allowed to perform tonight.
“We’ve added an extra date to the end of our tour, so we’ll be back in Liverpool, your tickets will be valid then, if you can’t make that date your tickets will be refunded. We know some of you have travelled from all over the world to come and see us and we are absolutely heartbroken, it’s devastating for us, so please accept my sincere apologies and we really hope that we can see you all again soon. We love you so much and we are absolutely gutted.
Tickets to the Friday October 13 show will remain valid for the rescheduled date, M&A Bank Arena said, with refunds available for ticket-holders who cannot make it.
A statement posted to S Club’s Facebook said the band was “beyond devastated” and “absolutely heartbroken” by the cancellation.
Many fans were disappointed to have missed the stars, with several blaming the infamous date for the cancellation. One said: “Should have known from the start when the gig was booked for Friday the 13th.” Another said: “Friday the 13th is real. Now S Club 7 has been cancelled for the show tonight.”
The band’s reunion tour kicked off in Manchester on Thursday, when they paid tribute to their friend and fellow singer Paul Cattermole, who tragically died in April. Following a video montage of the 46-year-old, Bradley said: “That’s our brother right there, man. Gone but you’ll never be forgotten. We miss you every single day. You know what we’ve been through this last year. It’s been so tragic, it’s been so sad.”
Jon said: “Thank you so much, it’s very special for us this evening obviously, we dedicate this performance to Paul.”
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