Hundreds of the music group's dancing fans caused the floors at Atlanta's century-old building to buckle.
- Feb 9, 2014
AceShowbiz - Panic At the Disco took safety precaution of canceling their performance in Atlanta. The rock band was two songs into their concert at The Tabernacle on Friday, February 7 night when they noticed the floors started to crack.
The incident occurred after fans rushed forward to the stage and danced inside the 100-year-old music venue. The band told the audience that they needed to go outside temporarily so that security could check the floors. "About 300 people rushed forward to the stage and after a few seconds, we felt something buckle," someone in the audience said.
Another concertgoer recalled, "The situation could have been much worse and a large crack developing in a floor with hundreds of people on it is a major problem. As somebody who was on the floor at the time, I am very appreciative that an expert was there doing their job so well, and that helped keep us safe."
In the end the concert had to be canceled because the floors were cracked so badly. "This was going to be a story either way - an evacuation or a collapse," Fire Lt. Ulysses Gladden said as quoted by AJC.com. Building experts were called later to inspect the floors.
"The safety of all at The Tabernacle - fans, performers and crew - is our number one priority and we will always side with caution," venue officials said in the Facebook post. "We were completely impressed with how calmly everyone left the building when directed by the Fire Marshall (sic)."
The band has rescheduled the Atlanta concert and will come visit again this summer. "That was crazy. Glad everyone's ok, even though it still sucks we can't play. We'll see your beautiful faces in the summer," frontman Brandon Urie tweeted.
