Unruly Fans Force Rock N' Roll Circus Show To Close Early
NEW YORK (AP/CBS New York) -- Organizers of a free New York City punk-rock concert say they shut down the show early after some fans rushed the stage.
Director of concessions Jim Roper says the band Japanther played only three songs during the Rock N' Roll Circus Monday night before the show was stopped.
The concert was held in Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center under a tent that's normally used by the Big Apple Circus, which helped produce the event.
Event co-producer Jessica Resler said that about 1,000 people were at the show when about 100 Japanther fans rushed the stage. She said they were crowd-surfing and jumping on each other.
They were removed by security about 20 minutes later.
Roper said the show had been orderly up to that point.
According to their website, Japanther is an art project established circa 2001 by Ian Vanek and Matt Reilly while attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. They are known for performing in unusual venues such as atop the Williamsburg Bridge and out of the back of a moving truck in SoHo.
