Power outage at Concord Pavilion pulls plug on Styx, Foreigner concert

A power outage Saturday night silenced a classic rock concert at the Toyota Pavilion in Concord that was headlined by Styx and Foreigner for a crowd of about 9,500 before they had the chance to rock out.

The outage was reported to Pacific Gas & Electric at 6:39 p.m. According to PG&E, the outage affected more than 1,500 people in the area. Several areas of Concord and northern Clayton were affected, including numerous areas around Kirker Pass Road, Concord Boulevard and Bailey Road.

PG&E estimated that the power will be restored at 4:45 a.m. Sunday. The cause of the outage is still under investigation.

The show was scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m. with an opener by John Waite, but the show was paused before anyone went on. By 8 p.m., the concert was cancelled with no word on if the concert would be rescheduled or if refunds would be given to any concertgoers. Since there was no power and no PA system, word spread very slowly through the venue.

Aaron Hawkins, manager of the venue, announced the outage to the audience amid a scattering of boos. He stated the original intent is to try to still put on the show.

“We will ride this out as long as we can. Let’s all cross our fingers. Please be patient,” Hawkins said.

Dan Yorke from Walnut Creek said he came out to enjoy the music he grew up on.

“I’m a big 80s rock fan. I used to love Foreigner — Styx too,” Yorke said.

Yorke said he wasn’t too optimistic that the issue would be resolved quickly due to the time the outage occurred, saying that “a skeleton crew” at PG&E might be working to resolve the issue.

Jim Service, of Pleasant Hill, who attended the concert with his wife, Michelle, said he wondered why there wasn’t better preparation for a potential power outage.

“You would think that a venue like this would have backup generators for something like this,” Service said.