The Lost Weekend, 2000: Nine Inch Nails cancelled and Ash faced the crowd
Nine Inch Nails pulled out on the afternoon of the show, nearly 4,000 people took their £20 back, and Ash headlined a half-empty London Arena. It was also Pride.
On Saturday 1 July 2000 I went to the first day of the Lost Weekend at the London Arena in Docklands. Nine Inch Nails were headlining.
What I remember
Nine Inch Nails cancelled, and at the door you could take your money back or go in anyway. Ash were moved up to headline and walked out in front of the angriest crowd in history.
It was Pride the same day, so the Docklands train out was a mixture of goths in black and men in bright colours, some of them in assless chaps. Quite the sight.
What’s on record
- The cancellation came that afternoon. NME reported that Nine Inch Nails pulled out mid-afternoon. The band blamed illness: their drummer, Jerome Dillon. Fans who saw him around then said he looked fine, and the real reason is still argued over.
- Nearly 4,000 of about 9,000 ticket holders took their £20 back.
- Ash headlined. Start times were pushed back, and Ash played about 50 minutes to an arena less than half full.
- Trent Reznor apologised in Kerrang! afterwards, and promised a UK show to make up for it.
- It was Pride. London Pride went by the name Mardi Gras for a few years, and Mardi Gras 2000 was held on 1 July 2000, the same Saturday.
What I can’t prove
The train. Nobody wrote down who was on the Docklands Light Railway that evening.