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Los Angeles-based garage rock quartet the Allah-Las had their recent Rotterdam, Netherlands concert canceled when European authorities were tipped off to a possible terror plot at the venue.
According to the New York Times, Spanish authorities tipped their Dutch counterparts off to a potential threat aimed at Wednesday night's concert. In response, Dutch authorities arrested two men within five hours of each other. One of the men, a Spanish citizen, was driving a van with Spanish registration carrying gas canisters. According to NPR, the man provided a "logical explanation" for the gas canisters, and a search of his home turned up nothing.
The gas canisters were suspicious because a man associated with the terror cell responsible for last week's attack in Spain was discovered with some 100 similar gas canisters in his home.
The second man arrested, a 22-year-old detained in the early hours of Thursday morning, "is in custody and will be questioned about the threat in Rotterdam," according to Dutch police, as noted in The Guardian.
Authorities have found no apparent connection between the suspects detained in the Netherlands and the attacks or terror cell in Spain.
“Due to a potential terror threat at The Maassilo in Rotterdam, the Allah-Las show was cancelled tonight," a representative of the band wrote in a prepared statement emailed to LAist. “Details are not available at this time as the incident is still under investigation. The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam Police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt.”
Rotown, which organized Wednesday's concert, took to Facebook with their own statement.
"Together with the band, we are looking for a new [concert] date, though it’s not yet clear whether this will be accomplished in short term. For now, we ensure that all ticket buyers get their money back as quickly as possible," notes the statement. "We hope to see you very soon at one of our concerts. Unaccompanied by fear, bound together in solidarity and love for music."
The band, formed in 2008, traces its roots back to Amoeba Music in Hollywood, where three of the four members worked at the time. The group chose its "holy sounding" name (Allah being Arabic for God) in homage to '80s group The Jesus and Mary Chain. “We get emails from Muslims, here in the U.S. and around the world, saying they’re offended, but that absolutely wasn’t our intention,” Miles Michaud told The Guardian, notes the New York Times. “We email back and explain why we chose the name, and mainly they understand.”
The band is scheduled to perform in Warsaw, Poland Thursday night.
