A U.S. band with the controversial name Allah-Las was set to play at a Rock Concert in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Wednesday. However the event was canceled over fears of a “Terror threat” after a warning by Spanish police.

Potential ‘terror threat’ leads to concert cancellation

The band Allah-Las was set to play at Maassilo, a local Rotterdam venue, but Rotown, the concert organizer, headed to Twitter to say police had called off the event over a potential “terror threat,” leading to the venue being evacuated. Rotown went on to reassure fans that they would get their money back after the cancellation.

Spanish van filled with gas bottles removed from the scene

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb announced at a news conference that a Spanish van had been stopped near the concert venue and that it contained gas bottles. He also announced that Dutch authorities had received a tip from the Spanish police about a terror attack planned at Maassilo. The venue is a large multi-roomed nightclub which has a capacity of over 5,000 people.

While the mayor did not confirm there was a link between the Spanish van and the terror threat, he did say the vehicle was taken to the Defense Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service.

As noted by the Daily Express, police officers who arrived at the scene were wearing bulletproof vests and an anti-terror unit was present.

When the police arrived at the venue, the band was already present and was escorted out a rear entrance by police. The band’s representative released a statement Wednesday to say they were grateful for the swift and safe handling of the situation by police.

Controversial name Allah-Las has caused problems before

As reported by the New York Daily News, Allah-Las hails from California and is a psychedelic pop-rock band.

Members of the band had previously given an explanation for their controversial name by saying they wanted a name that sounded holy. However in 2016 they did admit that the band has received some backlash from Muslims, who see the name as an insult to their religion. Allah-Las had another show canceled a while back in Turkey, after the name of the band made a promoter “uncomfortable.”

This latest cancellation of a music event comes just months after a festival in Germany saw 80,000 attendees evacuated over a terror threat in June this year. It also follows a week after the brutal Barcelona van attack which killed 14 people and injured dozens more. Following investigations into the Barcelona attack, police uncovered the fact that the ISIS-backed terrorists had been planning to use a van full of gas bottles and explosives to cause even more damage and carnage in the city.
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