MCR falls ill after concert
Pennsylvania show canceled due to food poisoning
Last weekend did not end romantically for rock band My Chemical Romance.
The group was forced to cancel their Sunday night show at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania, after 16 crew and band members fell ill, according to the BJC’s Director of Public Relations Bernie Punt.
Punt told Penn State’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, that members from the opening band Muse also fell ill late Saturday night.
Jonathan Seiden - The Flat Hat. Muse lead singer Matthew Bellamy performs for an almost sold-out audience at William and Mary Hall April 28 before headliner My Chemical Romance took the stage.
He said that both crew and band members were stricken by “severe food poisoning.”
“We had a doctor in here all day,” Punt told the Collegian Sunday. “They’re not getting any better.”
Punt also said that chicken wraps served at the College Saturday had caused the illness. The Green Leafe, located on Scotland Street, was the sole caterer of the event, and they also served chicken wraps, Glen Gormley, the owner of the restaurant, said.
Gormley also said that no one from the band has contacted the Green Leafe, and that he could not confirm if the wraps had caused the illnesses.
“I have no idea, I’m not a doctor,” Gormley said. “I know they had to cancel the show. No one contacted me about this.”
Joe Lowder, the College’s assistant director for student affairs, said that the band had informed him of the cancelation and the illnesses, but he could not confirm that they suffered food poisoning. He also noted that the band and crew members travel in a confined tour bus, which is prone to viruses and contagious diseases.
Lowder said that both the band and crew ate other food on Saturday, including pizza and a $200 order of Hooters.
He said that contacted an epidemiologist after hearing of the illnesses, and was informed that many factors could have caused sickness, including the Norovirus.
The Norovirus, which is highly contagious and causes flu-like symptoms, infected dozens of College students last October.
“Food poisoning, from what [doctors] say, is very hard to pinpoint,” Lowder said.”
Lowder noted that the band and crew members travel in a confined tour bus, which is prone to viruses and contagious diseases.
No students reported any illnesses. The Green Leafe catered only to the bands and their crew.
According to the BJC’s blog on community.centredaily.com, stage crews were assembling sound and lighting when they were informed of the band’s illness.
“We received word that several of the band members of My Chemical Romance and Muse had taken ill from some food they had eaten hours earlier in Williamsburg, VA,” the blog said.
“Fans from around the northeast were already in line … waiting anxiously for their favorite band to take the stage.”
The blog also said that a promoter of the concert had e-mailed the crew of the BJC thanking them for their cooperation and assistance, specifically that of Dr. Doug Aukerman, a physician at Penn State.
The promoter said that Aukerman was “in effect, running triage” at the venue.
