Firefighters shut down prog metal show because someone was vaping

New Zealand firefighters shut down a metal concert Friday night (May 31), as a fan’s vape pen set off the venue smoke alarm.

German prog metal band The Ocean, who are currently touring Oceania, revealed via Instagram the mishap forced their show to end two songs early, but that they continued to play as fans filed out the Galatos club in Auckland.

“the firefighters shut down our Auckland show tonight, because somebody blew a vape in the room. No kidding,” the band commented.

“A sudden end to an epic night. When the smoke alarm came off during Triassic it was perfectly in tune with the music, so we kept playing until everybody had to leave the building.”

They continue: “Venue staff tried to blame that person who was just trying to be fun and actually nice to us, since an Ocean show without smoke or even haze is a big deal type of compromise.

“Haze simply serves to make lighting beams visible and create a vibe. Without haze, shit will look dull and bland. Shows without haze suck, plain and simple and with all respect due to local policies in heritage buildings…”

The band finished: “Sorry to the ppl of Auckland for not being able to perform the last 2 songs of our set for you tonight. Come to Wellington tomorrow, we’ll make it worth your while 🤘🏻”

The Ocean are touring to promote their 2023 album Holocene , which was released last year to positive reviews.

The album is an epilogue to a series – also composed of 2007's Precambrian , 2018’s Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic and 2020’s Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic – that narrates the entire history of Earth through lyrics.

The band will next play at The Triffid in Brisbane, Australia, on June 5 and shall continue touring through Australia, Asia, North America and Europe until mid-September.

See the full list of The Ocean’s concert and buy tickets via their website .