The Enmore Theatre Floor Collapsed During Genesis Owusu’s Set Last Night
"It was like a pit in the middle of the floor, you could see the carpet was holding everything up."
Genesis Owusu literally brought the house down last night, after sections of the floor at the Enmore Theatre collapsed at the AMP winner’s first concert in nine months.
Just two songs into Owusu’s sold-out show last night, punters at the iconic Newtown venue were told to evacuate after a deep hole in the floor in the centre of the venue formed.
Photo Credit: Mick Radojkovic
Owusu recounted his version of event’s on triple j this morning, saying that he first noticed the sinkhole as fans began to form in the centre of the venue.
“I think they’re about to start moshing. Then side of stage hits me in the ear piece ‘Hold the show, hold the show‘. I’m thinking there’s some technical difficulties… I’m thinking he means ‘keep singing’ – hold the song while we figure this out. ‘No, no. Hole. There’s a hole in the floor!’” Owusu told triple j.
One attendee, Myranda told Junkee that she noticed a “thunk” sound as the flooring gave way.
“It was like a pit in the middle of the floor, you could see the carpet was holding everything up,” Myranda told Junkee. Another punter, Sophia described it to Junkee as a “sinking” sensation. “It was kind of just like lower in the middle, in the middle, there were at least twenty or thirty people who were just physically lower than everybody else,” she said.
Others like Lachlan, who were watching the show from the above mezzanine, noticed how quickly Owusu and events staff took control of the situation.
“He took control of the situation, responded in a really mature manner and did the hard thing and looked after his audience,” Lachlan told Junkee.
The Enmore released a statement today, citing “relentless rain and excessive water” as the cause of the uneven floor.
“The floor of the theatre has been assessed and remediation works have commenced. We have isolated the section that was affected by water and are further reinforcing the surrounding areas as a further precaution. We would like to thank Genesis Owusu and his touring party for working with us to ensure the safety of our patrons as a priority.” a spokesperson said.
It’s not clear yet how the damage will affect the scheduling of upcoming shows, such as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and Courtney Barnett.
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Genesis Owusu now joins the pantheon of Australian artists whose audiences have been too much for venue flooring – including Velociraptor, whose audience moshing led to Brisbane venue The Foundry’s floor collapsing in 2015.
Photo Credit: Mick Radojkovic