AC/DC's show at Rogers Stadium still in question; City orders engineer assessment
· Toronto Sun
Talk about being Thunderstruck.
The jury appears to still be out on whether Aussie rock vets AC/DC will play the Rogers Stadium in Toronto on Sept. 16 following “significant” damage from Wednesday’s ferocious storm.
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Venue owners-operators Live Nation Canada said Friday – just 12 days out from what is supposed to be the final show of the Downsview venue’s second summer concert season – it continues to look at the damage caused by this week’s powerful storm.
TV crew aerial footage by CP24/CTV News shows the back grandstand section of the temporary seating crumbled accordion-style.
“Our teams are continuing to assess the extent of the damage,” a Live Nation spokesperson told the Toronto Sun on Friday. “We will provide more information as it becomes available.”
No entry currently allowed
Area City Councillor Harley Pasternak told CTV on Friday that the City of Toronto issued an “order to remedy an unsafe building” to the owners of Rogers Stadium, meaning there is no entry currently allowed on the property.
Pasternak, who couldn’t rule out whether the stadium could be fixed in time for AC/DC, said Live Nation must get a third-party engineer to report back by Sept. 8 on measures being taken to make the building safe for occupancy.
“The damage to the north stands is quite significant,” Pasternak told CTV News . “They have collapsed. And it is a major operation to clear the rubble and restore it. And they haven’t got much time. And then at that point there’s recommendations for further actions.”
The TV footage shows seats ripped up at the stadium, a temporary open-air venue that can hold 50,000 people and was opened last year to host mega acts – Oasis played in 2025 and BTS this year – when the downtown Rogers Centre could not due to Toronto Blue Jays games.
The most recent performer was Chris Stapleton on Tuesday night.
Wednesday’s storm aftermath show bleachers ripped from the ground, leaving behind crumpled seats and blank rows and the floor section was littered with debris while tents and temporary structures were completely stripped of cloth.
On Thursday, Live Nation Canada said: “As a result of yesterday’s extreme weather, Rogers Stadium sustained significant damage.”
The startling photos and TV footage of the storm’s destruction at the stadium have gone viral with even the New York Times filing a report.
AC/DC’s next Canadian date is Sept. 12 in Montreal and following Toronto they are scheduled to play their last two North American dates in East Rutherford on Sept. 25 and Philadelphia on Sept. 29.
Postponement, cancellation likely, says expert
One live event expert says it’s still doable for Toronto, but he predicts a postponement or a cancellation is more likely.
“So my guess is what will happen is that the show will be postponed,” said Scott Friedman, the Cleveland-based founder of the two-year-old tickettalknetwork.com, which covers the biggest live events in North America daily.
“I would assume Live Nation would try to make it up probably next spring-summer is my best guess. But it is a pop-up venue, so they can obviously fix those stands fairly quickly and have it ready to go, but it’s obviously a huge time crunch. I think two options – they’ll either postpone it or cancel it – are the two most likely scenarios that will happen. I’m not sure if they can bring in new bleachers or have it all ready to go on the logistics-side. It’s possible. Maybe they’ll have it ready to fix in time. I think they’re still analyzing those (decisions) now and I’m sure Live Nation and AC/DC will come out with a statement very, very soon.”
AC/DC, who currently don’t have any 2027 dates, can’t switch to Rogers Arena on Sept. 16 as the Toronto Blue Jays have a game against the Detroit Tigers that day.
Fans set to see them in Toronto obviously want to hear the Highway To Hell hitmakers on what could be their last ever tour.
On Reddit, Zealousideal_Nail667 wrote: “God I hope this is gonna be going ahead, I’m coming from Dublin for This show man and it’ll be my first seeing the band, f— this could kill my year.”
Added g1344304: “I’m coming in from belfast/london, maybe see you there dude.”