Christopher BarrettFollowing the tragic death of 156 people in a Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, South Korea, organisers of a 20 November K-pop show at London’s The O2 (cap. 20,000) have cancelled the event.
Promoted by Live Company Group (LVCG), the K-FLEX show was to see peformances by hit K-pop acts including Winner, AB6IX, Pentagon, Weeekly, Viviz, Billlie and Younite.
LVCG said it has decided to cancel the show due to the incident in Itaewon and the period of national mourning across South Korea. It said ticket buyers would receive a refund and be given early access to tickets to its three-day event at The O2 in September 2023.
Following an inaugural European KPOP.FLEX festival in Frankfurt, which was attended by 65,000, the 22-24 September 2023 show in London will take place across the AEG-owned campus including The O2 arena and indigo at The O2 (2,750). AEG said a “Fan Fest” will offer attendees a range of activities to immerse themselves in Korean culture.
In a statement, LVCG said, “We know our fans will be disappointed, as are we, but we truly feel it’s the right decision, and our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected.”
A live events and entertainment group, LVCG was founded by former banker and barrister David Ciclitira who has a long history in sports events and broadcasting. His involvement with live music includes creating a joint venture with Live Nation to form Live Nation Marketing Partnership Asia Limited (LNMPA), which helped create Tokyo’s annual Electronic Daisy Carnival festival. He has been involved in promoting K-Pop concerts and art shows throughout Asia for the past 10 years.