2000/07/01 London, UK

This concert was scheduled at the London Arena in London as part of the Lost Weekend. It was famously cancelled at the last minute due to "band illness."

The Official Story

Originally, the reason for the cancellation was because Jerome Dillon had come down with a case of the stomach flu. Many people were furious about the cancellation, even asking why the band couldn't get Josh Freese, who was playing in A Perfect Circle at the time, to fill in, as A Perfect Circle was the opening act on the Fragility 2.0 tour.

Dillon's statment about the cancellation is as follows:

..to everyone on the boards for their concern about my illness.....i tried to ignore a stomach virus that eventually kicked my ass. unfortunately, 
the show in london was cancelled and we all still feel shitty about it- but there was no alternative. my apologies to anyone/everyone who travelled 
to see the show and/or refunded their tickets........................jerome.

Some who saw concerts around the time of this cancelled performance, however, noted that Dillon looked to be in great health.

As for the anger from the fans, Trent Reznor apologized for the cancellation and also explained that the reason they did not have Freese fill in was because of Reznor's doubts over whether or not Freese could play along to the click track Dillon used.

The Real Reason?

In recent years, the official reason for the cancellation has been cast into doubt, mostly because Freese has since become the official drummer in Nine Inch Nails and Reznor has disclosed his history of drug and alcohol abuse. There is also the fact the stomach viruses are known to be highly contagious yet no one else on the tour seemed to have been affected by it. In interviews in 2005, Reznor disclosed that he had been hospitalized for a heroin overdose in London around the time this concert was supposed to take place. So was the official story of Dillon having a stomach flu really a cover-up to conceal Reznor's drug and alcohol problems?

According to reports and interviews, during an alcohol-induced stupor, Reznor consumed a massive amount of what he thought was cocaine. When someone on the tour crew went to his hotel room he was unresponsive. Paramedics were called and ushered in through the back of the hotel, and Reznor was loaded onto a stretcher and brought out through the hotel laundry room to the ambulance waiting in the back of the building. This was done to protect his privacy and to prevent a media feeding frenzy. Reznor awoke in the hospital emergency room with a tube going down his throat and no memory of how he got there. He was informed of what had happened and was shocked: he had never used heroin before. This incident and subsequent concert cancellation served as a much-needed wake-up call to Reznor to come to terms with his drug and alcohol addictions.

External Links

• NAILS BOMB! (NME)
• At War With NIN (Kerrang!)
• The Lost Weekend: Reznor Says Sorry! (Kerrang!)
• Reznor Resurrected (Metal Hammer)