Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour Hits Pause After Extreme Weather Damages Gear
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key TakeawaysThe July 1 stop on the Outlaw Music Festival Tour, featuring Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, was canceled after rains damaged the tour's equipment. - Credit: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Outlaw Music Festival tour’s June 29th stop in Ridgedale, Missouri, was cut short on Sunday after extreme weather brought heavy rains and winds to the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena. Now, the fallout from the sudden storm has caused the tour to cancel a July 1 date in El Reno, Oklahoma, at the Lucky Star Amphitheater.
According to a post on the Outlaw Music Festival’s social media, some of the tour’s equipment and gear was damaged, necessitating the cancellation of Tuesday’s planned show.
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“An extreme weather event on the evening of June 29th in Ridgedale, MO at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena produced heavy rains and high winds forcing the crowd to evacuate,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, much of the Outlaw Music Festival’s equipment and artists’ instruments were damaged and waterlogged, making their condition difficult to assess in time to accurately and safely use for tomorrow’s show. The potential damage has halted the festival production as they recover and replace what’s necessary for the tour to resume.”
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Roekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R18ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframeThe tour is expected to continue on July 4 in Austin, Texas, a stop that doubles as headliner Willie Nelson’s annual 4th of July Picnic. Bob Dylan, the Avett Brothers, the Mavericks, Asleep at the Wheel, and Tami Neilson are all on the bill, set for Austin’s Germania Insurance Amphitheater. Refunds for the canceled July 1 Oklahoma date will be issued to point of purchase, according to organizers Blackbird Presents.
In a video posted on Neilson’s Instagram, a storm can be seen approaching the Thunder Ridge venue in Ridgedale, Missouri, on Sunday evening. According to her Instagram Story, Neilson was able to perform, but Dylan and Nelson’s sets were nixed. “We are all safe, but these tents ended up wrapped around this flag pole,” she captioned an image of the stage. “The sound desk was cooked and much of the gear on the left side of the stage was damaged in the winds and heavy rain.”
Extreme weather is increasingly becoming an issue for the live music industry, especially during peak summer touring season. Last week, during a dangerous heat wave in the United States, an outdoor K-pop concert for Stray Kids in Washington, D.C., resulted in five concertgoers being hospitalized for heat stroke. Earlier in June, the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, canceled after just one day of live music after rains flooded the campgrounds.
The Outlaw Music Festival tour is currently celebrating its 10th year. Last week, at a stop outside Nashville, Dylan took the opportunity to sing “The Times They Are a-Changin'” for the first time in 15 years, while headliner Nelson prefaced his performance with a seemingly pro-immigrant message by showing the 1986 music video for “Living in the Promiseland” on the venue’s video screens.
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