There were a ton of  concert goers sitting around in a thunderstorm last night in Atlanta waiting to see Jay-Z, Ciara and Fabolous. Unfortunately, the storm caused a delay in Jay-Z’s arrival, which in turn prompted concert officials to cancel the show. If you’ve been in Atlanta for a while, I’m sure you’ve been witness to many a rainstorm during concerts at Chastain. Well, normally the open-air venue has a “no-raincheck” policy, but since it was their decision to cancel, refunds will be issued and I’ve heard that the concert has been rescheduled for August 13th.

Yes, I was one of the people bitching last night, particularly about the choice of venue. Now…don’t get me wrong, Chastain has always been a friend of mine and I’ve had many a romantic concert experience, but umm…Jay-Z by candlelight was not a well thought out move in my opinion.  Also, there are noise ordinances in place since Chastain is smack dabb in the center of a residential area. Concerts have to end by 11pm and officials have made no qualms about shutting the sound system off at 10:59.

With all that being said, I would hope that the rescheduled date includes a new venue (although it’s highly doubtful).

Check out what Jay-Z had to say about it all when he called into DJ Drama moments after the melee. Audio and a few photos of Ciara backstage under the cut:

Ciara was spotted backstage ready to roll…

and so was Memphis Bleek.

FreddyO was backstage with Ciara and her crew and watched it all unfold while everyone else was out front getting drenched:

This was the first time the concert venue ever canceled a concert one of the managers said, “We can’t have it, because of all the lightening “. Although I didn’t to see them do there thing I did get the chance to go back stage and talk to my girl CiCi. Ciara told me how she was just getting over the flu when Jay-Z walked in, he had just got off a private jet. I have to say that he was so cool and laid back, I would have gotten pictures but I didn’t have my camera at the time. Jay tried to speak to everyone that was in the room. CiCi was the opening act and Jay Z was going to be joined by Memphis Bleek and Freeway.

Photos via FreddyO