The Weeknd was gearing up to kick off his After Hours Til Dawn Tour in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. But he was forced to cancel the July 8 show due to an… internet outage?
We had to double-check our facts as well, but it is true, dear reader. The acclaimed singer The Weeknd postponed his tour opener after the Canadian telecommunications company, Rogers Communications, experienced a nationwide outage. This meant that the majority of phone services and connections, in addition to internet access, were out for several hours across Canada.
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The Weeknd, legal name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was hit by the outage when preparing for his concert at the Rogers Centre. The outage led the singer to postpone the show for safety reasons.
“I’m crushed & heartbroken,” The Weeknd said of the postponement. “Been at the venue all day but it’s out of my hands because of the Rogers outage. Operations and safety are compromised and I tried my absolute best. This one hurts the most, and we will make this show happen, but unfortunately not tonight. I know how long you’ve been waiting and how hard a lot of you worked to make it to the show and experience this special moment with me. I can’t wait to see you all.”
Live Nation Ontario, the event company for the concert, confirmed The Weeknd’s situation: “The Weeknd was onsite and ready to play, but due to the nationwide Rogers network outage, The Weeknd show planned for this evening at Rogers Centre will be postponed as the venue’s operations & infrastructure are not possible until full service is back.”
As of this writing, July 9, Rogers Communications has confirmed that its services are “restored… for the vast majority of our customers.”
The show will, eventually, go on. Check out the rest of The Weeknd’s tour dates HERE.
Photo Courtesy of Republic Records
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