Genesis Owusu’s sold-out show at the Enmore on Thursday night was literally groundbreaking (sorry) as the floor partially collapsed under the crowd’s feet.
Videos on social media showed the carpeted floor buckled under foot but the crowd remained pretty unfazed and just kept dancing.
When the boards fell out from underneath the floor, the suspended carpet ended up like a bit of a trampoline, one witness told the ABC.
A Sydney Morning Herald reporter who attended the event confirmed no one was injured.
The audience actually did its best to keep the show going, bless them, but once Owusu’s team realised manager Andrew Klippel said they “moved swiftly” to end the show.
“There’s a real deep drop after that, so this is actually dangerous … we’re going to have to reschedule the show,” Owusu told the audience.
“We’re going to have reschedule the show, unfortunately.”
No one hurt @Enmore_Theatre
Too much excitement, jumping:
massive crack…
good on crowd for letting @genesisowusu know & credit to him 4 stopping & thinking of everyone’s safety. Asked crowd 2 clear 2 side & let venue mgt asses.
Tots sucks but also fkn legendary 💪🤘🔥@triplej https://t.co/EOirXkukWi pic.twitter.com/v6VwkRYOeJ— CarlitosM (@CarlitosM) March 3, 2022
Security guards then came in and moved people to the edges of the dancefloor. They used wheelie bins to cordon off the collapsed area before the damage could be assessed.
BREAKING: The floor of the Enmore Theatre has just collapsed. No injuries reported, the event occured just two songs into tonight’s Genesis Owusu gig. pic.twitter.com/14TrjoC0zH
— Honi Soit (@honi_soit) March 3, 2022
Well tonight’s @genesisowusu show certainly took a turn as the floor of the Enmore caved in 2 songs in. Extremely on brand with 2022 so far. pic.twitter.com/IIFah3N7Lz
— Katie Rynne (@katierynne) March 3, 2022
It was Owusu’s first show in close to nine months and the Enmore had only just reopened after two years closed due to COVID.
It reopened last month after NSW’s singing and dancing ban was lifted.
Two years of virtually no gigs, @Enmore_Theatre dark for the bulk of it, gigs return, the show is sold out … then the floor collapses. This venue, this industry, just can’t take a trick.
— Bernard Zuel (@BernardZuel) March 3, 2022
The Canberra artist had posted on Instagram earlier that day that it was the longest break he’d ever had from performing and that he was nervous and excited.
A few hours before arriving at the Enmore he also won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize.
But the show was cancelled halfway through his second song for the night about five minutes in.
After the show he posted an Instagram Story that read: “LMAO WTF love u all see u soon”.
He later posted: “All silliness aside, everyone is safe and in good spirits. It was nice to feel for things to feel like it was getting back to normal for a second there. Round two sometime soon?”
The cause of the collapse has yet to be confirmed but it comes after a hell of a lot of rain in Sydney.
