Disclosure’s Boiler Room set cancelled over crowd surge

Disclosure’s performance at a London festival was cancelled five minutes into their set following a crowd surge.

The English electronic duo were scheduled to deliver a surprise set at Boiler Room’s World Tour at Lee Valley Showgrounds on Sunday (25 August).

The performance at the Waltham Cross site was announced just three days prior and promptly sold out. Other artists on the line-up included Giggs, Sara Landry, Flowdan, and Rosey Gold.

However, the set was cancelled just five minutes in due to crowd surges posing a health and safety risk.

In a statement, Boiler Room said that it “became clear five minutes into their set that a big proportion of festivalgoers wanted to get into the tent to see them, so as a safety precaution, the set was halted”. No one has been reported as injured.

The performance was cancelled entirely, to which Disclosure responded: “Unfortunately it’s out of our control, but the festival has deemed it unsafe for us to play due to crowd surges.”

The duo – comprised of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence – also told fans on Instagram that they had worked “really hard” on their set, and flew to London from LA to perform.

“Unfortunately it’s out of our control, but the festival has deemed it unsafe for us to play due to crowd surges”

The incident comes just a month after Peggy Gou’s Seoul Boiler Room set was shut down by police over fears of crowd-crushing.

The event, held at Seoul’s SFactory on 27 July, was evacuated before the South Korean DJ was due to headline the stage.

According to a report by Korea Times, emergency services received reports of overcrowding during the event, resulting in 11 fire engines and 42 firefighters being sent to the venue.

Five people were reportedly treated for breathing difficulties, but no casualties or serious injuries have been recorded.

At the time, Boiler Room also added in a separate statement that it takes safety “extremely seriously”, with “detailed measures in place at every event to ensure a situation like this doesn’t occur”.

“We are reviewing our systems internally to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” they continued. “To our fans in Seoul, you and your city are incredibly important to us, and we’re devastated that we couldn’t deliver you an event to the standards we hold ourselves to.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Read More Like This

News|20 Mar 2024

Touring power players enjoy stock market surge

CTS Eventim's share price has reached an all-time high this week, while Live Nation's is up 27% on six months ago

News|04 Apr 2024

Jay-Z’s Made In America cancelled again

Launched in 2012, the annual two-day event traditionally takes place every Labor Day weekend on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia

News|23 May 2024

More than 40 UK festivals cancelled for 2024

"We are witnessing the steady erosion of one of the UK’s most successful and culturally significant industries"

News|11 Jun 2024

40+ UK festivals cancelled: What’s going on?

Association of Independent Festivals chief John Rostron speaks to IQ about the issues at the heart of the sector's summer of discontent

News|16 Jul 2024

Tenacious D tour cancelled after Trump comment

Jack Black says he has put "all future creative plans" on hold following the controversial onstage joke by bandmate Kyle Gass