NORFOLK, Va. — Indie pop band AJR has announced a new concert date at Norfolk Scope Arena after abruptly cancelling their tour kick show there last week.
The band posted on social media Thursday morning: "Norfolk - we’re excited to announce we are coming back to the Scope Arena on June 23rd!"
The band had planned to start The Maybe Man Tour — which is their first national arena tour — with the April 2 show in Norfolk. However, in a social media post around 1 a.m. that day, the band cancelled the concert, saying the venue was too small for "the scale of the show."
However, on Thursday, the band clarified "what exactly happened" to cause the cancellation.
"With any arena tour, each room is a little different and with a show as complicated as ours, some rooms require a little more advance work to build the show in the way it was intended to be experienced. We came to find out that our original production team was aware of challenges to get the show stood up in Norfolk and didn’t take the necessary steps to prepare for this show."
In a press release Thursday from SevenVenues, the entertainment bureau for the city of Norfolk, the performance was described as having "state-of-the-art production and multiple larger-than-life 3D optical illusions."
At the time of the initial cancellation, the Norfolk said the city was "disappointed" by the band's decision to postpone the show, "which was booked with Scope Arena a year ago." The city also cited past music and entertainment productions that Norfolk Scope has hosted, "showcasing the venue’s capabilities to provide awe-inspiring and memorable experiences."
On Thursday, the band said it was working with the team at Scope Arena to meet the tour's performance needs.
"We are so bummed this happened but we’ve been working closely with the team at Scope Arena who’ve been amazing in helping us work out a solution and are ready to bring The Maybe Man back to Norfolk!"
"Thanks for your patience and we’ll see ya this summer! All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date and ticketholders will receive more info via email. Any remaining tickets will go on sale today at 1pm ET."
AJR's tour kicked off in Philadelphia on April 3 and will stop at about two dozen cities across the U.S. before returning to Norfolk in June.