Amy Winehouse comeback gig cut short

Blame the heavy rain. Blame her shambolic performance. Either way, the singer's concert at the St Lucia Jazz festival was a washout
Amy Winehouse at Bestival 2008
Amy Winehouse at Bestival 2008 ... which was pretty much a washout as well. Photograph: Samir Hussein/Getty

Sometimes it doesn't just it rain, it pours. Amy Winehouse's shambolic live return was cut short this weekend, when a headlinining gig at the St Lucia Jazz festival was interrupted by bad weather.

Winehouse abandoned her set and did not come back because rain created insurmountable "technical difficulties", her spokesman claims. "The set started well, but as the heavens opened, a number technical difficulties occurred on stage, culminating with the lighting rig failing for two songs," he explained.

"In addition, rain began to flood the technical wings at the side of the stage, which caused sound problems. Amy and the band tried to soldier on but the set had to be cut short."

Winehouse has spent much of the past six months holidaying on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, and is understood to be recording there. "Since I first came to the island, I have been greeted with nothing but kindness and friendship," she said before the gig. Allan Chastanet, St Lucia's minister for tourism, echoed her enthusiasm. "Even given her past, people have not judged Amy here," he told reporters.

Unfortunately, concert-goers were not so lenient on the weekend. Despite the talk of technical problems, many in the crowd blamed Winehouse's "painful" performance for the aborted gig. "It's very sad to see that [Amy] obviously wasn't fit to be on stage," Cathy, an island resident, told BBC 6 Music. "I can't understand how the crowd put up with it."

This was the 25-year-old singer's first gig since September 2008, and apparently it showed. After forgetting the lyrics to a song, she told the crowd, "sorry, I'm bored".

"Anywhere else," Cathy complained, "and she would have been booed off stage long ago."

Most popular