Cheap Trick cancels B.C. show over stage fright

American rock band Cheap Trick has cancelled a September performance in Vancouver because the stage was to be provided by the same company responsible for a stage that collapsed on the band during a show in Ottawa last month.

In a written release, the band said staging for the concert scheduled for Sept. 1 at the Pacific National Exhibition was to be provided by Mega-Stage.

The band says it will not "as a matter of principle, but more importantly, as a matter of safety," appear on a Mega-Stage in the future.

The band says all possible alternatives for the Vancouver concert have been explored and exhausted by the band and promoter, "leaving Cheap Trick with no other option than to cancel their Sept. 1 engagement."

Tickets are refundable at point-of-purchase.

Members of Cheap Trick narrowly escaped injury when the main stage at the Ottawa Bluesfest collapsed  just moments after the band left the stage during a violent windstorm.

The band has called for a full investigation and accounting  of what went wrong.