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UPDATE: U2 has released a statement following the concert’s cancellation. The announcement said, “We’re so sorry for tonight’s cancellation. Bono was in great form and great voice prior to the show and we were all looking forward to the second night in Berlin, but after a few songs, he suffered a complete loss of voice.
We don’t know what has happened and we’re taking medical advice.
As always, we appreciate our audience’s understanding and all our fans’ support in Berlin and those who travelled from afar. We will update you very soon.
Adam, Larry and Edge”
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U2 cut short an Experience & Innocence 2018 tour concert in Berlin on Saturday after Bonolost his voice onstage.
The 58-year-old frontman had performed a few songs over the course of 20 minutes and was heard struggling to sing “Red Flag Day.” He and the band then stopped the music so he could address the audience. He said speculated that stage smoke in the Mercedes-Benz Arena had affected his voice.
“I can promise you I have not been smoking,” he told the crowd, as seen in videos fans posted online. “But this is like a giant cigar. I’ve lost my voice and I don’t know what to do…it was singing like a bird about 10 minutes ago.”
He asked for the stage smoke machines to be turned off and the air conditioning to be turned on higher. He then tried performing “Beautiful Day” and struggled to sing that song as well.
“I was ready to sing for you,” he said. “Something’s happened and I think we cannot go on. It’s not right for you…I’m sure this is not a big, big problem but I’m gonna have to do something. So either, if people want to go home, that’s fine. We’ll play another show for you some other time. If you want to stay, we’re gonna have to break for, I dunno, ten, 15 minutes. I’ll go find out what’s happening.”
After he left the stage, many in the crowd of about 17,000 people began to sing the U2 track “40 (How Long)”, which contains the lyrics “How long, how long, how long / How long to sing this song.”
After about 40 minutes, the show was canceled. It marked the second time U2 has had to cancel a show mid-concert since 1989, when the band cut short a concert in Amsterdam after Bono experienced voice problems.
A venue official told the crowd in Berlin that the show would be rescheduled and that concertgoers’ tickets would be honored for the new date.
U2 has not commented and it is unclear if the rest of the tour will be affected . The band is set to perform next in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.