Soggy Meatloaf not on the menu at Summer in the Park

The August long weekend concert series for Summer in the Park was off to a great start for concert goers as hot and humid temperatures seemed to prevail.

However, Saturday evening took an unfortunate turn as some of the heaviest thunderstorms in recent memory descended upon the city.

Friday evening saw an almost overwhelming throng of 7000 teens and young adults as they turn up to the new concert location to see scheduled performances by notable musical artists, The Stereos, followed by Marianas Trench (pictured in a photo provided to BayToday).

Event organizer Jacques Lacourse was enthusiastic, albeit a little taken aback at seeing so many people appearing so quickly at the gates and filling the location to a point of near capacity.

Lacourse, by mid Saturday afternoon, was reporting he could no longer supply any bracelets for the evening’s event as they have been all sold but the group was going to resell some of the surplus bands from last year.

This was because they expected only 60-70 percent of Friday night's participants to return Saturday so by watching the concert area closely and monitoring the hundreds and thousands that went through the gate, they would be able to continue to sell until the facility reached capacity.

Unfortunately, Saturday evening saw much disappointment as winds picked up and rains came crashing in during the Legendary DownChild Blues Band's scheduled set.

The extremely hot and humid weather brought forth torrential rains and high wind gusts, up to 50 miles per hour, thunder clouds racing across the sky with lightning and thunder, causing the rest of the concert to be canceled.

Initially, no one knew for sure the severity of the storms and what impact they would have but as the hour's past, it became clear it would not be possible to reopen the stage, never mind the grounds for the concert, which had to be abandoned.

It was hoped that the first downpour would pass and allow concert goers to reconvene in the area but storms continued on and off throughout the evening, sending down dangerous lightening and nearly flooding the grounds as the rains caused nearly zero visibility to even people on foot.

In an emergency meeting, the concert committee decided the safety of artists and concert goers was far too risky to chance, not to mention no one could have withstood the elements being unleashed in the numerous storms that followed in an all-night lightning storm.

The stage thankfully stood as the structure itself was solid but severe damage to the awning was clearly noticeable.

Stage crews also reported damage from the rain to the electronic lighting and sound equipment as understandably it's not safe to pass electrical voltages through equipment, soaked to this point.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with comments by people upset and frustrated they had missed out on such a great concert.

The weekend concert tickets, costing 30-40 dollars apiece, were sold with a 'no refund' condition.

Although clearly visible under the Concert Ground Rules in the Musical Lineup Section of the Summer in the Park website, those who weren't able to catch the headlining act felt understandably upset.

Meatloaf, issued the following statement on his Facebook page:

"To all of you who came to North Bay tonight, we are SO disappointed to not have been able to play. The rain fried our sound and lighting boards and the wind and lightning left the stage unsafe!

WE came to rock you guys but alas the weather had other plans....."

He is scheduled for a show Sunday in Florida.