“Is this 1968 or 2017?”
On Saturday night, U2 were set to perform at St. Louis’ Dome on Saturday night, but they were forced to cancel the performance in light of the violent protests that are occurring around the city, after former local police officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty of murder in the 2011 shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.
The band made a full statement at the time via Live Nation on the cancellation:
Live Nation and U2 regrettably announce their St. Louis show scheduled for tonight, September 16, 2017 has been cancelled. We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size. We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity. In light of this information, we cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert. As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment.
Afterwards, Bono took to Instagram to further express his upset at the situation, and quoted Doctor Martin Luther King Jnr in the post:
Deeply saddened at what has happened in St. Louis and having to cancel our show tonight… I found myself reading Dr. King’s speech from the National Cathedral and asking myself is this 1968 or 2017? – Bono. “Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability… we are coming to ask America to be true to the huge promissory note that it signed years ago. And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfillment; to make the invisible visible.
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