Victoria and Albert museum cancels Napalm Death gig

The Victoria and Albert museum has cancelled an experimental performance by metal band Napalm Death over fears that their extremely loud music could damage priceless artefacts in the building.

The performance, scheduled to take place this Friday, was supposed to be a collaboration with the V&A's ceramic artist in residence, Keith Harrison, and the band were to play through a clay PA system, which was to "explode" due to the noise, the Telegraph reported.

But in a statement, V&A said that they feared the vibrations could hurt the historic building and its collection.

"It is with regret that we have taken the decision to cancel the one-off Napalm Death performance. This was due to take place in the Europe Galleries which are currently being refurbished and a further safety inspection has revealed concerns that the high level of decibels generated by the concert would damage the historic fabric of the building," the statement said.
 

Napalm Death lead singer Mark Greenway admitted that the decision to cancel the gig was not a surprise, due to the band's "cripplingly loud" sound.

"(The museum) had been making noises. They started asking the sound guy fairly nervously: 'What will the volume be like?' He was like, 'What can I tell you? They make a lot of noise. He didn't know what would happen to the plates." Greenway added that the museum was particularly worried about a hanging china sculpture coming crashing down.

"Apparently there was some suspended china thing around the stage. Obviously if we cranked out and it detached from the ceiling, that would be embarrassing.