The Ocean had their performance in Auckland, New Zealand shut down early by …. a vape pen?!
The group, who are notorious for their smoke-filled performances, had actually made a compromise to go without their smoggy effects due to venue policies. But smoke still got them in the end as an audience member’s vaping managed to trigger fire alarms causing a visit from local firefighters and leading to an early ending to their performance.
It’s a bit ironic that The Ocean’s performance got tripped up by a vaping audience member as most of their performances are quite smoggy with their production value.
The band recounted the chaotic scene in an Instagram post that shows the venue being cleared by firefighters and details exactly what happened to bring an abrupt end to their evening.
The Ocean Reveal How Their Show Was Shut Down Early
In the Instagram post, the group writes, “The firefighter shut down our Auckland show tonight, because somebody blew a vape in the room . No kidding. A sudden end to an epic night.”
The group recalled, “When the smoke alarm came off during ‘Triassic’ it was perfectly in tune with the music, so we kept playing until everybody had to leave the building … Venue staff tried to blame that person who was just trying to be fun and actually nice to us, since an Ocean show without smoke or even haze is a big deal type of compromise.”
The band elaborated, “Haze simply serves to make lighting beams visible and create a vibe. Without haze, shit will look dull and bland. Shows without haze suck, plain and simple and with all respect due to local policies in heritage buildings.”
About The Ocean’s Auckland Performance
While firefighters eventually shut down the show, fans did get a pretty solid performance prior to the interruption. As the band revealed, they only had two more songs to play in their set after the alarms went off.
“Sorry to the ppl of Auckland for not being able to perform the last 2 songs of our set for you tonight. Come to Wellington tomorrow, we’ll make it worth your while,” they added.
READ MORE: The Ocean’s Robin Staps Plays His Favorite Riffs
The Ocean in 2024
The Ocean are currently promoting their 2023 album, Holocene. The group is in the midst of a string of shows down under, playing both New Zealand and Australia with the current leg wrapping June 16 in Adelaide.
From there, it’s off to the United Arab Emeriates and Turkey for two more June stops before returning to North America in July and kicking off a new tour leg July 23 in Montreal. All cities, dates, venues and ticketing info can be found through The Ocean’s website.
The History of Prog Metal in 21 Albums
Dive into the diverse and hypnotic history of progressive metal!
Gallery Credit: Jordan Blum