Radiohead’s rain-drenched May 11 sellout at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va., has resulted in an Internet-driven firestorm, with messageboards and the blogosphere lighting up amid fan frustration.
The D.C. market was faced with monsoon-like conditions around the show, with an estimated four inches of rain and flooding forcing road closures and maddening traffic conditions. Apparently a significant number of fans — hundreds or thousands, depending on who is estimating — were extremely late or unable to get into the show for a variety of reasons.
In the wake of this, many fans have taken to the Internet to vent their dissatisfaction, with neither the venue, the promoter nor the band being spared.
One area blogger offers this headline: “Radiohead @ Nissan: You Both Suck.”
Radiohead’s site offers the following comment: “Due to Sunday night’s torrential rain storm and consequential multiple road closures, many fans were unable to reach the Nissan Pavilion. While acknowledging a lack of control over the ensuing flooding and detours, the members of Radiohead are nevertheless disappointed regarding this turn of events. For further inquiries, ticketholders who didn’t get in are urged to contact: customerservice@nissanpavilion.com.”
Nissan Pavilion owner/operator Live Nation has offered fans that were turned away tickets to an Aug. 12 show at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. (near Philadelphia), or tickets to a show of their choice at Nissan Pavilion (subject to availability).
“Due Sunday night’s torrential rain storm, multiple road closures and a late-arriving crowd led to delays for some music fans entering the parking lot at Nissan Pavilion,” says Live Nation spokesman John Vlautin. “While we have no control over Mother Nature, we certainly are disappointed that some fans did not make it to the venue. We take customer service very seriously and urge ticketholders to contact customerservice@nissanpavilion.com where we will resolve their issues on a case by case basis.”
That may not be enough to pacify some fans. One online petition with more than 350 signers calls for another Radiohead show in the market, with such comments as, “I would ABSOLUTELY want to attend another DC/Baltimore show – as long as its not at Nissan!! The offer that Nissan provided me of free lawn tickets to the Camden, NJ show is insulting! For one, I had pavilion seats. Two – its Camden, NJ!!”
Adding fuel to this fire is Radiohead’s self-stated intention of making their summer tour as environmentally-friendly as possible. According to one fan post, “One-third of the concert-goers that night were driving around in circles, burning fossil fuels all the while. This is your save the Earth tour…and yet you play in the middle of nowhere with no public transportation leading there….you owe us!”
And from another, “If you gave even one tiny llama turd about environmental impact, you would never have scheduled a show at a venue 40 miles away from downtown DC, nowhere near public transportation of any kind.”
