Noel Gallagher forced to cancel Wisconsin show due to poor air quality

Blazing Canadian wildfires have resulted in appalling air quality in several US states

Noel Gallagher has cancelled his Wisconsin concert due to the poor air quality brought on by the ongoing Canadian wildfires.

Originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening (28 June) at Breese Stevens Field, the 56-year-old British rocker’s High Flying Birds and Garage concert has been axed.

Concert promoter FPC Live shared the announcement across social media on Wednesday morning, noting the decision was “based on the Public Health Madison & Dane County’s Air Quality Advisory”.

“Refunds will be available at your point of purchase. Ticketholders will receive an email with refund information,” it stated.

The former Oasis songwriter is currently on tour in North America, and is scheduled to return to the UK at the end of July for shows in Buckinghamshire, Nottingham, London, Brighton and Bournemouth.

The cancellation comes as a result of more than 450 wildfires continuing to blaze across Canadian provinces, which have brought heavy smoke to several US cities.

At the moment, Chicago is experiencing “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” air quality conditions. On Tuesday (27 June), the midwest metropolis had the worst air quality in the world.

Meanwhile, New York City and other East Coast cities were warned of worsening air quality conditions throughout the week.

Canada is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons on record. More than 250 of the country’s wildfires are considered “out of control”, with more igniting each day, in part due to dry heat conditions.

The fires are so extreme that some smokey conditions have even crossed the Atlantic Ocean and into Europe.

Follow The Independent’s live blog here for timely air quality alerts.

Gallagher’s concert isn’t the only event to have been affected by the air quality. Earlier this month, when New York City was experiencing the worst of it, Jodie Comer was forced to end her award-winning Broadway performance after 10 minutes.

The Killing Eve star, 30, who leads the one-woman play, Prima Facie, appeared on stage 10 minutes late before walking off stage a few minutes later, reportedly telling the stage manager: “I can’t breathe.”

Comer’s understudy, Dani Arlington, later filled in and completed the performance.