INDIANAPOLIS – Questions surrounded a concert that was scheduled to take place at White River State Park all day long on Friday until the show was ultimately postponed late in the evening.
Everwise Ampitheater at White River State Park had posted on social media throughout Friday afternoon advising fans that the Yacht Rock Revue show would still go on despite remnants of Hurricane Helene reaching central Indiana.
In the middle of the afternoon, the venue posted on social media that gates would be delayed opening until 8 p.m. Many fans took their concerns to social media condemning the venue for not postponing the show or just canceling it altogether and issuing refunds.
“It’s not just rain,” described ticket holder Lorie Ritchie. “I get that. We’ve been to concerts in the rain before. But when we have a hurricane that has done significant damage, we have downpours and strong winds that even the National Weather Service is warning us about, I feel like it’s their duty.”
Lorie Ritchie was one of hundreds of people who just decided to stay home Friday night. With wind speeds reaching 50 miles an hour throughout the day, Ritchie said she could not help but think of the 2011 State Fair stage collapse where seven people died. She said this was ultimately why she felt safer staying home even if the show took place.
“I mean that happened in our own backyard,” Ritchie said. “I mean it was here. It’s not like this was in Florida or happened in another state. It was in our backyard. So, you think we’d be more in tune to making sure things are safe and fans are safe.”
Dozens of fans did show up for the show though, albeit far fewer than the anticipated crowd. Those fans said if the show was not going to be canceled, they at least wanted to get their money’s worth.
After following online updates all day long, many were frustrated to learn they arrived only to turn back around.
“We stayed on Twitter and we watched everything,” said ticket holder Susan Schluge.” With the high winds, we said you got to cancel, you got to cancel. ‘Oh we’ll get back with you in an hour.’ And they didn’t. So we go to dinner. We Uber all the way here. Nothing on our phone. Then we pull up and they just canceled it four minutes ago. Look at all these people. Ridiculous. Ridiculous.”
Fans like Susan Schluge and her husband said they have no problem with the show getting pushed back, but they said it should have been an easy decision made far earlier in the day.
“Everything got canceled tonight,” Schluge described. “It’s just greed. Greed is what it is. To wait this late; why would you wait this late?”
FOX59/CBS4 spoke to a Live Nation representative over the phone to get clarification on Friday’s decision-making process. Our reporters were told they would get a call back later with details but never heard back.
The concert is now scheduled for Aug. 16, 2025.
