Disclosure performance at Boiler Room event called off following crowd surge

Disclosure’s performance at a Boiler Room event was called off over the weekend following a crowd surge.

Disclosure were scheduled to perform a surprise set at Boiler Room’s World Tour stop in London, taking place at Lee Valley Showground in Waltham Cross on August 25. Other artists on the line-up included Giggs, Sara Landry, Flowdan, and Rosey Gold.

The duo’s performance was announced just three days before the event was due to take place on a stage hosted by their friends Club Heartbroken, Boiler Room told Mixmag in a statement.

When their appearance was announced, Boiler Room confirmed that there were just “100 tickets left to be sold”. The event was then listed as sold out.

An eyewitness who attended the event told Mixmag that punters began “queuing to enter the tent half an hour before Disclosure’s set”.

A crowd surge reportedly took place when festivalgoers pushed inside the tent through a forcibly opened gap, the witness said. Their set was then shut down just five minutes in, as security “closed off the tent and barricaded the entrance, moving people back”.

Boiler Room said in a statement that it “became clear five minutes into their set that a big proportion of festivalgoers wanted to get into the tent to see them, so as a safety precaution, the set was halted”. No one was reported as injured.

The performance was cancelled entirely, Disclosure confirmed, although Boiler Room explained that scheduled programming continued on the same stage following the incident.

“Unfortunately it's out of our control, but the festival has deemed it unsafe for us to play due to crowd surges,” Disclosure said in an Instagram story, adding that they had worked “really hard” on their set, and flew to London from LA just to perform.

The incident took place just a month after Boiler Room’s event in Seoul, South Korea, was also called off following similar reports of overcrowding. The show was due to be headlined by Peggy Gou.

The event, which was also part of Boiler Room’s World Tour series, was evacuated just before Peggy Gou was due to appear on stage amidst crowd control issues.

Emergency services were called to Seoul venue SFactory, and five attendees were reportedly treated for breathing difficulties. No casualties or serious injuries were reported.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter