The Blackout Of 2003 That Cancelled Aerosmith And Kiss At Comerica Park
The 21st anniversary of the Northeast Blackout That Canceled A Huge Rock Concert at Comerica Park is coming up. A little after 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 14th, a widespread power outage hit parts…
21 Years since the Northeastern Blackout
Getty ImagesThe 21st anniversary of the Northeast Blackout That Canceled A Huge Rock Concert at Comerica Park is coming up. A little after 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 14th, a widespread power outage hit parts of the Northeast and Midwest United States and parts of Canada (Ontario).
It took 7 hours for most people to get the power back on, and for some people, it took four days. The outage affected more than 55 million people in 8 States, including 6 million people in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The problem was traced down to a software bug in Ohio.
The Impact Was Huge As People Found Ways To Get By
It was also one of the hottest Summers in Michigan, with triple-digit records being set. Can you imagine no air conditioning? Not able to get gas to power generators?
The Blackout didn't affect me at all when I worked at WRIF, as we had backup generators. However, I must tell you that the ride to and from the radio station on I-696 was so dark and creepy.
What Was The Cause Of The Blackout?
Peter Boer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Before, the finger pointed to DTE, but after years of research, the blackout had nothing to do with DTE, the power company.
A high-power transmission line combined with a tree branch in Akron Ohio caused a computer glitch and created a domino effect which led to a huge power outage.
The Blackout also ruined the evening for 1,000 Fans at Comerica Park for a huge concert.
The Blackout also ruined one of the biggest concerts of the summer. Comerica Park was SOLD OUT! Aerosmith, Kiss, Ted Nugent, and special guest Saliva. KISS
Gene Simmons wrote on his website, “My apologies to all of you if the recent power blackout has inconvenienced you.” “KISS and AEROSMITH had a packed STADIUM full of fans waiting for the Detroit concert—unfortunately, there was no power, so we canceled. Likewise, I had to cancel my Detroit book signing. I promise to come back. So will KISS and AEROSMITH.”
It didn’t take long to reschedule the show, as they set it up on September 7th, 2003, for another try. The concert lineup was the same as the Blackout show. Saliva opened, followed by Ted Nugent, Kiss, and finally Aerosmith.
Check out Aerosmith's and Kiss's set list for the evening, thanks to musicbrains.org
