RICHMOND, Va. -- Soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician Peter Frampton shed some light, perhaps, on the recent cancellation of his tour stop in Richmond, Virginia.
Fans expecting to attend Frampton's September 17 concert at Virginia Credit Union Live! in Henrico County were told a few hours before the concert that it had been canceled and they would be getting a refund.
That cancellation happened just two days after a Megadeth concert at the same venue was canceled a mere two hours before the doors were set to open.
Despite multiple attempts to help fans get their concert questions answered, officials at the venue would not comment on the cancellations.
When announcing those cancellations to their fans on social media, both Megadeth and Frampton's posts used phrases like "unforeseen circumstances" and "unexpected and unpredictable circumstances."
But at a Thursday night concert in Philadelphia, Frampton shared a story with fans from the stage about what may have led to the shows being called off.
"We had a show canceled the other day because of weather and also Megadeth did a soundcheck, I think a couple of days before our show and after they finished their soundcheck there was structural damage to the stage," Frampton told his audience in between songs.
A video of Frampton was recorded during the show and posted on YouTube.
"I'm not blaming them," Frampton said as his fans began to laugh. "It could have been another band. But it looks pretty likely. So, sorry Megadeth. I had to rat on you."
Following Frampton's statement, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine offered his side of the story.
“It seems Frampton was misinformed about our show being cancelled,” Mustaine said in a statement. “The decision was purely based on safety. It's disappointing when someone you admire talks out their ass about you.”
Megadeth's statement said the band "did not even get a chance to sound check" before the Richmond show.
"MEGADETH's rigger was in the venue's steel grid system above the stage getting ready to hang the lights when he noticed there was damage to the venue's grid," the statement read. "He pointed this out immediately to the promoters and the venue. It was determined that it was unsafe for MEGADETH to hang their production or put the band on stage at the risk of in-house grid failure to support the weight of the touring lighting and sound which could fall on the band, crew members, or audience, as it could cause serious injury or death. Therefore, MEGADETH, the local promoter, the venue, and booking agents had no other option than to cancel the show."
Upon hearing Megadeth's statement, Frampton apologized.
"It was a joke. I made it up in the moment! I’m so sorry people took me seriously," he said in a statement. "This was a critical situation. My humble apologies to Megadeth, their crew and their audience.”
Amid the back and forth between Frampton and Megadeth, Virginia Credit Union Live issued a statement about the situation:
"The scheduled Megadeth concert was impacted due to a suspected production issue that required cancellation. Upon further inspection, there were no safety concerns or damage found to the venue’s grid, but we are grateful to Megadeth for reporting a suspected issue out of an abundance of caution. The Peter Frampton concert was canceled due to the time to properly inspect the grid and expected inclement weather. We look forward to welcoming fans back as we complete our concert season next month with two stellar concerts."
Henrico County inspects Virginia Credit Union Live annually, a county official confirmed to CBS 6.
The 2024 inspection took place in early Spring, that person said, and nothing unusual was noted.
The next concerts at the venue, located next to Richmond Raceway, are Brandon Lake on October 18 and Benson Boone on October 19.
A Nothing More concert scheduled at Virginia Credit Union Live for Friday, September 20 was moved to the National in downtown Richmond before the Megadeth cancellation.
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