Barbican Just Jam cancelled on Police advice

The March 1st scheduled Just Jam event, which was supposed to take place at the Barbican arts complex  in London, has been called at the recommendation of the City Of London Police, who raised "public safety concerns" with regards to the event's management. The one-off show was due to feature acts including JME, Mount Kimbie, Loefah, Newham Generals and Omar Souleyman and the sets were to be streamed live via JJ's online channel.

Citing amongst other issues the fact that alcohol would be on sale at the event, despite it being open to ticket-holders aged 16 and over, City of London Police issued a statement yesterday that read "Additionally, there were worries about the lack of adequate measures in place to address potential issues that might arise, including overcrowding if more people decided to attend than the venue could cater for" continuing "after consultation the decision to cancel the event was taken by the Barbican as the venue".​​​​ It seems the Just Jam organisers were unaware of the moves and commented on the cancellation "with great regret" saying "We're struggling to understand why this has happened and will try to start a dialogue with the police so we can discuss whatever issues they have with Just Jam at the Barbican" and "The workshops we've recently ran with the Barbican in Fellows Court in Hackney have shown how the artists we work with can get young people from all backgrounds excited about making art and music, we hope to continue working on this and on other projects, with the Barbican in the future".

The Barbican said the venue "has taken the decision to cancel the Just Jam concert that was scheduled to take place on 1 March 2014 on the grounds of public safety following dialogue with the City of London Police" on its website. "As a responsible public venue we have to take police advice seriously and consider the safety of audience members, artists and our staff."