Rema's Tel Aviv concert canceled an hour before start amid safety concerns

Many of the 3,000 fans set to attend gig by Afrobeats star arrive at the venue after they weren’t told by producers that show was called off

A Tel Aviv concert by Rema was canceled Friday due to safety concerns, an hour before the Nigerian rapper and singer was set to go on stage.

Ticket-holders told Hebrew-language media that they weren’t informed of the cancellation, with many of them finding out only when they arrived at the Expo venue in the city’s north for the concert by the Afrobeats star.

According to reports, the show’s producers said the performance was canceled because “according to the Israel Police, there are safety deficiencies in Pavilion 2 at Expo Tel Aviv, and police won’t allow the show.”

The announcement said that fans would get full refunds for their tickets.

In a statement to Channel 12 news, police said an engineer had decided the event could not go ahead due to safety issues.

“The producer was given many opportunities to try to correct the deficiencies until late this evening. In addition, the business owner did not comply with the required security conditions,” the statement read, without giving further details.

Some 3,000 fans had bought tickets for the concert.

“We found out that the show was canceled only when we arrived, from people who were there,” a fan named Efrat who had traveled for the concert from the Haifa area, told the Ynet news site.

“No one from the production team spoke to us or informed us even when we were there. It’s very embarrassing, but from what I understand the singer is not to blame,” she said.

The concert had originally been set to take place on Thursday but was postponed.

Rema rose to international fame with the song “Calm Down,” a collaboration with Selena Gomez.