Canadian electro and house artist Deadmau5 was forced to end his performance at UCD’s Student Bar early due to his concerns for the safety of concertgoers amid fears of overcrowding at the venue.
The DJ posted his concerns on microblogging site Twitter first saying, “Dear ireland: CALM DOWN!!!! […] Think about safety guys!” A few minutes later he added, “Promoter oversold it.. Wayy too dangerous in there”.

However, the DJ’s promoters, MCD Promotions, stated that as far as they were aware, the performer had not had any problems with his appearance at the UCD venue.

Doors for the DJ, real name Joel Zimmerman, opened for his Friday 16th October performance at 9pm, and as the main act, Deadmau5 was billed to play for approximately an hour.

According to UCD Students’ Union Entertainments Officer, Mike Pat O’Donoghue, the crowd seemed larger than it actually was because the stage needed to be pushed forward onto the dance floor in order to accommodate the extensive lighting and sound equipment required for the event.

O’Donoghue told The University Observer that “he [Deadmau5] took to the stage at 10pm, and played over hour and a half of a live set, more than his scheduled and usual set time.” Deadmau5 was playing as part of a festival of techno gigs called ‘Ibiza in UCD’, which had also included performances by Boys Noize and Felix da Housecat, both of which were well attended. O’Donoghue explained that “the capacity of the Student Club is 750, so 566 tickets were put on sale, as 184 festival tickets were already sold.”

O’Donoghue was quick to emphasise that he felt the event was both successful and safe, and said that “there were no arrests and very little hassle during the event… no complaints were received directly from either Deadmau5 himself or anyone else from his production crew.”

Students who attended the gig were quick to disagree with the performer. Third year Civil Engineering student, James O’Connor, enjoyed the concert and didn’t feel there were any real safety concerns. He said that “I’ve been to much more packed gigs over the last few years… couldn’t complain about this one.”