Noel Gallagher Concert Evacuated Due to Bomb Threat
Noel Gallagher's Saturday night concert in New York was evacuated so police could respond to a bomb threat at the venue.
Gallagher was set to perform with his band, High Flying Birds, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, alongside co-headliner Garbage and opening act Metric. But following the first two sets, a message appeared onscreen that read (via The Daily Gazette): "ATTENTION! At this time, we will need to evacuate the venue. We ask that you calmly proceed to the nearest EXIT. Please follow directions of staff and police officers. For the safety of everyone, please do NOT rush or push. Thank you for your cooperation."
New York State Park Police issued a statement on Sunday morning saying: "On July 8, 2023, the New York State Park Police, New York State Police, Saratoga Springs Police Department, Troy Police Department and Saratoga County Sheriff's Office responded to a bomb threat at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Out of an abundance of caution, the concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was suspended at 9:40 p.m. and concert attendees were evacuated without incident. K9s completed a sweep of the venue after the crowd exited, with negative results.
"This incident is under investigation," the statement concluded. "This case will be investigated as 'Making a Terroristic Threat,' a Class D Felony."
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center has not yet commented on the situation at the time of this writing, instead promoting the Kidz Bop Never Stop Live Tour on Facebook on Sunday morning.
Garbage addressed the evacuation in a series of tweets on Saturday night. "Our love and concern to all the fans at our show in Saratoga Springs tonight," they wrote. "We pray you are all safe and sound. This is fucking insane."
The band added in a follow-up tweet, "We have no idea what happened tonight. We were just all evacuated and we were concerned for everyone!!! I'm sorry we have no real information. We were just told there was an emergency evacuation!!!!"
Gallagher, Garbage and Metric have a few more dates left on their joint tour, which is scheduled to end on July 15 in Boston.