Rock am Ring festival evacuated in terror alert

Germany's Rock am Ring, has been evacuated over a "terrorist threat", the organisers have announced. Fans waiting for German rock giants Rammstein streamed out of the Nuerburg arena after organisers asked them to leave in a "calm and controlled" way. "Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival," they said. The organisers said in a Facebook post they hoped the festival would resume on Saturday.

"Because of the last attack on a concert in Manchester, the security concept for Rock am Ring was modified in advance and the number of security officers was significantly increased to around 1,200. ... Since a threat could not be ruled out, all necessary measures were taken immediately," Koblenz police said in a statement.

Lighting strikes Rock am Ring - again

At least 51 people were injured, eight seriously, when lightning struck the Rock am Ring festival in western Germany early on Saturday. Organisers of the festival, headlined by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Black Sabbath, said lightning hit at 00:30 local time. Police told German media two people had to be resuscitated. Central Europe has been hit by severe storms and rain over the past few weeks, leading to 11 deaths in Germany. The festival also suffered lightning strikes last year, when 33 people were taken to hospital.

Rock am Ring hit by lightning strikes

33 people were injured after lightning bolts struck the Rock Am Ring festival in Western Germany. The incidents took place at approximately 1:00 am on Saturday morning, an hour after Marilyn Manson's set, Lightning struck the event in the town of Mendig during thunderstorms, and the injured included eight people from the festival's production team when a bolt struck backstage, and this forced the cancellation of German singer Fritz Kalkbrenner's 1.35am performance. The second bolt at 04.00 hit a camping area. Medical staff on site confirmed that no one was struck directly by either of the lightning bolts. 

Photo of the lightning strike backstage by Lars Baumeister

FESTIVAL NEWS

The 80,000-capacity Rock am Ring in Germany has been forced to move from Nurburgring, where the festival has been held since 1985, after organisers failed to agree terms with new site owners Capricorn Automotive. Not only has promoter Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK) to find a new site for RaR, which is twinned with its Rock im Park (cap. 70,000) in Nurnberg, it will face competition from a new DEAG backed festival to be launched at Nurburgring.

Live music charity Attitude Is Everything has launched a new campaign this morning, calling on more venues and festivals to sign up to its Charter Of Best Practice for providing better access to deaf and disabled music fans.  The Music Without Barriers campaign is backed by musicians including Robert Smith, Alex Kapranos, Frank Turner, Tom Odell, Alt-J, Slow Club, Anna Calvi, Enter Shikari, and Stealing Sheep, who will be promoting it on their social media accounts via the hashtag #MusicWithoutBarriers and 90 venues ad events have already signed up for the campaign,

Scottish festival T In The Park is set to move to a new site for its 2015 edition. T's present base in Balado, Kinross, where the event has taken place every year since 1997, sits above a major oil pipeline which The Scotsman says has caused some problems for organisers DF Concerts and "substantial concern" from health and safety executives. 

One Love. The reggae-weekender-with-camping-facilities, which is happening between 15-17 August , is setting off for a new, bigger address at Springfield Farm in Milton Keynes, only ten mins drive away from its old post at Stockwell Farm. A confirmation on the One Love website states: "At Stockwell Farm (our old venue) we were really struggling with where to put everything and everybody! So we came to the conclusion that a change of site would be necessary to see the festival grow and protect the future of the genre".

Big Day Out, the troubled Australasian touring festival, will not return in 2015, and its long-term future seems far from assured. The news follows a deal that seemingly makes US-based Lollapalooza promoter C3 Presents the sole owner of Big Day Out, it having bought out co-owner AJ Maddah (and having already acquired half the event from Vivian Lees back in 2011). Following much speculation about the future of the festival, it put out a statement yesterday saying: "While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015".

Marilyn Manson has had two shows in Russia and Ukraine cancelled - both part of the twin-sited Park Live festival. A rally in Russia against "Western anti-culture" - and specifically Manson - kickstarted problems two weeks ahead of the first show - but it was a late bomb threat  that sealed the cancellation. The performance in Ukraine was  cancelled a week ahead of its scheduled date on the 29th June, when the entire edition of the festival was scaled down, with organisers saying that "today's political and economic conditions created insurmountable obstacles for large-scale outdoor events".

Michael Eavis has told the Guardian was that Glastonbury's 50th anniversary might be the right time to personally retire from active involvement in the enterprise. He told the newspaper "I think I can run on another six years, which would take me up to 50 years, then [I'll] see what happens after that" adding "Every single person here last night wanted to shake my hand and say it's the best thing in their life. It really is quite phenomenal that appreciation of the event - 44 years and people love it more than ever". Eavis also told the paper that 2017 would be the festival's next fallow year, and that the Pyramid Stage headliners for 2015 were already booked, although he said the much rumoured Prince wasn't in the frame saying "We're always having a go at [getting] Prince", he admitted, talks seemingly getting further this year than most. "Most of the people in the world want to play here, so I did ask him to hop on the train and come down to Castle Cary station and I'll show him around the farm some time. [That offer] hasn't been taken up yet though".  Eavis's daughter Emily Eavis said that her father had been enjoying the event, saying on the Monday "He got back at 4am last night! I think he got caught up in a singalong in the Underground Piano Bar, or something. But I think he’s thrilled with how this year went. He still absolutely loves it" and confirming that she and husband Nick Dewey "are already pretty far along with next year’s line-up" adding  "we’ve nearly confirmed all three headliners. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s shaping up" and added on the future of the Festival "We’ve got an incredible wave of young people who are now heavily involved with this festival, along with all our fantastic long-term team. It’s an amazing position to be working alongside so many great creative minds, spending an entire year planning these hugely ambitious shows that exist for one weekend! So, yes, I’m very excited about the future. And not just for next year, but for many, many years to come."