After Friday’s concert ‘chaos,’ will same ‘traumatic experience’ greet Lady Gaga?

An enormous tent-like structure that was touted as “the premiere entertainment experience” for Super Bowl VIPs and thousands of excited Harry Styles fans turned out be a soggy mess kind of experience.

A severe thunderstorm forced Miami Fire Rescue to cancel Styles’ Friday night concert. The event, one of many piggybacking on Super Bowl 54 exposure, was hosted by Pepsi Zero at Meridian at Island Gardens at Watson Island in Miami, which is permitted to operate as a temporary structure. Opening acts Lizzo and DJ Mark Ronson were able to perform. Styles wasn’t scheduled to hit the stage until 10:30 p.m. but was running late.

Once Miami’s Division of Emergency Management sent out two notifications warning of pending severe wind gusts, Miami Fire Rescue had no choice but to cancel the concert and enforce an evacuation order, said Capt. Ignatius Carroll Jr.

If the weather situation repeats for tonight’s — Saturday’s — scheduled Lady Gaga concert at Meridian, and if Emergency Management declares a severe thunderstorm warning, Miami Fire Rescue would be forced to cancel the concert, Carroll said.

On Saturday, a publicist for Meridian released a statement to say all was a go.

“Lady Gaga’s performance at AT&T TV’s Super Saturday Night will be held tonight as scheduled at Meridian at Island Gardens. General Admission patrons are reminded that there is no parking on the island. Please use ride share services. “

Meantime, the National Weather Service in Miami said that while it “can’t rule out strong or severe storms” dousing the Gaga show, “it’s a little different setup than yesterday.”

“We are expecting a cold front to move through and the majority of [storm] activity would be ahead of that,” meteorologist Robert Garcia said Saturday afternoon.

If that happens most of the nasty weather, like the storms that caused Friday’s cancellation, would be out over Atlantic waters by the time Gaga takes the stage after 8:30 p.m. But “we will continue to monitor this this afternoon, especially with all of these things going on,” Garcia said.

“Most people think this is the dry season but it’s not unusual to have this kind of mid-latitude weather systems,” Garcia added.

Meridian issued a statement about Friday’s cancellation to the Miami Herald on Saturday.

“We recognize that last night’s circumstances and the mandatory action taken were very disappointing to those in attendance and we sincerely apologize,” the statement began.

“The City of Miami Division of Emergency Management ordered the mandatory cancellation of all special events in temporary structures due to reports from the National Weather Service warning of the potential for strong winds, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The mandatory evacuation came prior to Harry Styles taking the stage. Event personnel, in coordination with fire and police resources, managed the evacuation of guests onsite,” Meridian said.

“The event venue, Meridian, is approved for permit as a temporary structure and met all City of Miami building code requirements. As a temporary structure, the venue was subject to the following directive from Robert Hevia of the City of Miami Division of Emergency Management.”

Meridian is referring to the second of two notifications that went out Friday night.

The first was issued after 9 p.m. when the National Weather Service declared a severe thunderstorm watch for Miami that forecast possible wind gusts in excess of 58 mph along with the possibility of tornadoes, lightning and flooding.

“Winds at these speeds could cause a collapse of temporary structures and injure occupants,” the notification read. “Given the recent severe thunderstorm watch provided by the NWS, we are recommending that all outdoor events and events taking place near or in temporary structures consider canceling their events.”

Event organizers were given the notice in person by Fire Rescue Life Safety inspectors who were on site. By 9:45 p.m. a follow-up email and phone call were sent, Carroll said.

Soon after, Emergency Management upgraded the storm watch to a warning after the weather service said that wind gusts could hit 70 mph and include “tornadic weather.”

A warning automatically kicks in the enforcement of “a mandatory cancellation of all outdoor special events and special events occurring in temporary structures.”

The notice of cancellation was sent to the event organizers by 11:27 p.m., Carroll said. Styles was late and hadn’t yet hit the stage. Meridian could no longer hold the event.

Miami Fire Rescue had to act, Carroll said.

The added problem: people had already arrived hours earlier at a venue for which no parking was allowed and rideshares or taxis were the only way on and off the island. The fans were thus cast outside through ankle-deep water onto muddy grounds to hail rides home. It was a chaotic situation exacerbated by the fact fans were not allowed to bring phone chargers inside mandated clear plastic bags.

Jordan Remson, 22, a University of Florida student, traveled from Gainesville with five others to see Styles, she told the Herald Saturday while she was on Florida’s Turnpike for the ride home.

She arrived at Watson Island at 7:30 p.m. with a fully charged phone, she said. It took her an hour just to get into Meridian. Near midnight, Styles’ birthday, announcers were still rousing the crowd by saying Styles was about to perform. The stage was set after Lizzo had performed. Fans sang “Happy Birthday,” Remson said.

At 12:05 a.m., a severe weather warning flashed on a screen. Everyone had to leave, Remson said.

“A traumatic experience. We were told it wasn’t safe. They were pushing us out into the pouring rain. People were throwing up from dehydration. They refused to give us water. Everyone was crying and screaming. Every single Uber was canceling on us,” Remson said.

“The Meridian staff was so rude. They said they had a shuttle bus and it was a school bus and they charged us $10 each to take us downtown. We go on this bus and ask for our money back. They threw the money at us and said ‘you need to get out of the tent and can’t stay here’ and it’s 2 a.m. and we have no transportation. We were there from 7:30 to 2 a.m. and most people didn’t have a charged phone to call Uber or Lyft.”

Eventually, Remson said she and her group hailed a taxi and made it back to the mainland after 8 a.m.

Emily Offenkrantz tells a similar story.

“Fans waited for hours without access to tap water and were forced to pay $9 for a bottle of water or $10 for a can of Pepsi. Fans in general admission were fainting due to a lack of water, and some security guards began tossing water bottles into the packed crowd, resulting in the injury of several attendees,” Offenkrantz said in an email to the Herald.

When the announcement to clear the venue was given shortly after midnight — hours after Styles was supposed to have started his set — the evacuation order was given, she said. “I, along with many others, were verbally and physically assaulted by security guards following the cancellation of the event. Security continued inching barricades closer to the exit and physically pushed fans out of the structure and toward the storm, jeopardizing their safety due to nearby lightning strikes. The venue began to flood and fans were told to exit, as security claimed that it was unsafe because it was a ‘temporary building.’”

A few frustrated concertgoers left critical reviews on Google Maps, tanking the venue’s rating.

“The security did nothing when people were BEGGING for water & passing out in the pit. They let us wait in the hot pit for FOUR hours before letting us know that the main act was canceled. They also shoved us out into the pouring rain and storm, handing us plastic bags to ‘protect’ ourselves,” wrote reviewer Anne Terra.

“The venue flooded, pieces of the roof were coming apart, and there was no fresh water within the building. Do not come to concerts here, you will be disappointed. I would not wish anyone a concert experience inside this venue.”