Festival producers Danny Wimmer Presents were reluctantly forced to cancel the second day of the Houston Open Air festival at NRG Park in Houston on Sunday, September 25 due to dangerous storm systems in the area. On the advice of Weather Decision Technologies, some of the top meteorologists in the country, the promoters called off the event soon after the show began. Festival headliners AVENGED SEVENFOLD, firm believers in the old adage "the show must go on," refused to bow to Mother Nature. They posted a "Houston Standby" message on their Instagram page and immediately began working to arrange a performance off-site. They secured the White Oak Music Hall, a local Houston venue roughly 15 miles from the festival and posted a second note announcing the show, which was first-come-first-served for all fans with a Houston Open Air ticket. Fans packed the 1200-capacity venue and experienced an electrifying 70-minute performance in an intimate setting from an arena rock act. A number of great photos of the show — courtesy of Rafa Alcantara of TWENTYFOURCORE — can be seen below. The band recapped the event in a social media post. They wrote: "When the Houston Open Air festival made the decision to cancel due to weather concerns, we were so bummed to have to end the first round of tour on a sour note. "We know our fans don't give up easily, and neither do we, so we scrambled to make last minute arrangements to play for as many of our Houston fans as we could. "In the course of one hour, our entire A7X crew was able to pack and transport all of our gear, find and rent out a venue, wrangle up a security team and put together a show for as many of our Houston fans as we could fit. "Nearly every promoter and agent in the area said it was impossible. Thanks to our crew and the staff at the White Oak Music Hall, we did the impossible and the show went on. "We want to thank the spirited fans who showed up in Houston and helped end the first batch of shows on an amazing note! To those who traveled to see us and were not able to, or those under the age of 18, we are really sorry about the situation. We tried to make the best out of a shitty situation for as many fans as we could." AVENGED SEVENFOLD opened for METALLICA in Minneapolis last month and has a string of headlining and festival dates on tap for this fall. The band has been working on its seventh studio album, its first with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. But the group has not set a release date for the disc and has not indicated how far along it is in recording. Photo credit: Rafa Alcantara of TWENTYFOURCORE
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