The Irish rock band and entertainment firm Live Nation announced the Saturday show’s cancellation in a statement citing concerns about fans’ security.

“We have been informed by the St Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size,” they said.

“We cannot in good conscience risk our fans’ safety by proceeding with tonight’s concert. As much as we regret having to cancel, we feel it is the only acceptable course of action in the current environment.”

And Briton Sheeran announced he was pulling the plug on his show, set for a different St Louis venue Sunday, amid the protests.

File photo: Ed Sheeran performs onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. // AFP PHOTO

A judge in the Missouri city Friday found a white former police officer, Jason Stockley, not guilty of murdering Anthony Lamar Smith, a suspected drug dealer, following a high-speed chase in 2011.

The case has drawn a lot of attention in St Louis, where racial tensions have been high since the 2014 killing of a black man in the city’s suburb of Ferguson by a white police officer.

In an interview with the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Stockley said he understands how the video of him fatally shooting Smith looks bad to investigators and the public.

“I can feel for and I understand what the family is going through, and I know everyone wants someone to blame, but I’m just not the guy,” he said.

Hundreds of people turned out for initially peaceful protests after the verdict, but the situation turned violent Friday night, leading police to break up the crowd with tear gas.

Ten officers were injured in the standoff with rock-throwing protesters, according to St. Louis police who made at least 23 arrests.

On Saturday, protesters gathered at a park and then marched through two St Louis shopping malls, chanting “the whole damn system is guilty as hell.”

“I can feel for and I understand what the family is going through, and I know everyone wants someone to blame, but I’m just not the guy,” Stockley told the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Stockley, 36, shot Smith, 24, five times December 20, 2011 after a car chase that followed a suspected drug deal.

He was caught on an in-car camera video telling his partner, Brian Bianchi, “Going to kill this (expletive) don’t you know it.

Prosecutors brought first degree murder charges in 2016, alleging that Stockley’s comments to his partner showed premeditation and alleging he planted a gun in Smith’s car after the shooting.

On Friday, Judge Timothy Wilson acquitted Stockley, concluding there was no evidence he had planted the gun and that his video-taped comment lacked context because the portions before and after were inaudible.

Mutmee greeted fans with a chat about the song’s inspiration, which stemmed from her personal growth in the way she thinks and understands herself. She wanted to share that experience through the music.

The new pocketbook comes four years after the first and like that one is full of stories about people demonstrating goodwill.

On hand for the launch were her family and her friends from show business, including Sopitnapa Choompanee, Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, Dan Hetrakul, Sorawis “Gunn” Saengvanich from “The Face Men”, Manapat “Bonne” Techakumphu, Getsunova’s Prakarn “Name” Raiva, Pijika “Lukwa” Jittaputta and Znowball.

Name, Lukwa, Znowball and the 10th Saturday put on a mini-concert, and then Mutmee entertained, singing “Mek Fon Nai Jai” in an indie-folk style that’s new for her.

The single is on YouTube, FiveFourRecords, streamingat Joox, Apple Music, iTunes and Spotify.

Keep up with Mutmee at @mutmeepimdao.

The tour celebrates Mars’ latest chart-topping album of the same name and marks his first full-length tour since 2013’s hugely successful “Moonshine Jungle” that sold two million tickets worldwide across 155 sold-out dates.

The tour began in Antwerp, Belgium in March and has travelled throughout Europe and North America, visiting 45 cities across the US and Canada. Mars will play 17 arenas in Australia prior to kicking off his Southeast Asia dates.

One of the best-selling artists of all time, Mars recently dominated charts with the worldwide smash single, “Uptown Funk”, which won a number of honours, among them three 2016 Grammy Awards, including the coveted “Record of the Year” award. In addition, “Uptown Funk” companion video received the 2016 MTV Video Music Award for “Best Male Video.”

Mars’ first ever show in Bangkok in 2014 sold out fast. Tickets for the April concert will start at Bt3,500 and go on sale at 10am on November 4 at Thai Ticket Major counters and http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com. For updates, go to http://www.BecTero.com.

Moon Tae-Il, Seo “Johnny” Youngho, Lee Taeyong, Kim Dongyoung, Jung “Jaehyun” Yoonoh, Lee “Mark” Minhyung, Lee “Haechan” Donghyuck, Nakamoto Yuta and Dong Si “WinWin” Cheng met the press before the show.

Then it was the fans’ turn to roar when the lads took the stage and sang “Limitless”, the title track from their second mini-album.

A round of friendly hellos followed, and then the band answered fans’ questions submitted to the SM True Facebook page.

Doyoung surprised everyone with a brief rendition of Stamp Apiwat’s hit “Man Pen Kwam Rak” – sung in Thai, to the thrill of the mostly female audience.

The event featured several games, such as “It’s Him!” and “Let’s Study 127”, which involved a quiz for the boys about Thailand.

The band performed “Angel” as fans held up a banner reading “We’ll be your angels”; “Cherry Bomb”, with its catchy hook “I’m the biggest hit, I’m the biggest hit on this stage”; and the very danceable “0 Mile”.

The crowd had the last word, holding up more signs, including one in Korean that translated as “Very close to our hearts”.

Cat Expo, which claims to be the biggest music market in the Asean Economic Community, returns in November for a fourth edition on the theme “Khon Lek Pleng To” (“Small Artist, Great Song”).

Taking place at its usual venue –Wonder World Amusement Park on RamIndra Road KM10 – it aims to draw even bigger crowds than in previous years.

“It has been growing every year,” confirms Pongnarin “Jong” Ulice, programme director of Cat Radio as online radio station. “Last year some of the stages drew audiences of more than 5,000 fans eager to catch sets by Greasy Cafe, Jelly Rocket and Soul After Six, amongst others.

“For this year, I’ve chosen a theme that I think reflects musical works. Most of us have our favourite artists and songs and these usually are an indication of our lifestyle. An artist is a small person doing the work he or she loves and believes in. And if his or her music is successful, it will inspire others, hence the ‘great song’,” he continues.

“We have 120 bands contributing to the expo this year and we will again support their music in the physical format of a compact disc. I believe people are still willing to pay for music. We saw this at the second expo where even unknown acts were able to sell 1,500 copies of their CDs for Bt500, while music labels went home with more than Bt1 million. And Pongnarin is urging music lovers to do the same thing this year.

“If you are a loyal fan of your favourite artist, please support him or her by buying the CD. Don’t worry that other people will consider you old-fashioned. Cat Expo is really a reflection of Thailand’s music industry from popular to indie artists and it offers a variety of music from little known artists like Inspirative and My Life As Ali Thomas to easy-listening pop by the likes of POP and BNK48.”

The event will feature five stages which will be shared by more than 100 artists including Stamp, Tattoo Colour, Armchair, Paradox, Scrubb, Lomosonic, Hugo, POP, V Violette, The Toys, Noi Pru, Flure, T-Bone, Greasy Cafe, Pae Arak and the Pisat Band, Wan Thanakrit, Saliva Bastards, The Richman Toy, Boy Trai, Brandnew Sunset, Yellow Fang, Yokee Playboy, Desktop Error, Soundlanding, Ink Waruntorn, Jelly Rocket, My Life as Ali Thomas, Temp, X0809, SOLE, Image Suthita, Chanudom, Telex Telexs, Superbaker, Monomania, Inspirative, Bomb At Track, Moving and Cut, Lukpeach, Mean, Nap A Lean, Seal Pillow, Summer Dress, Electric.Neon.Lamp, Max Jenmana, Yada “Petite” Gomez, Slojoe, Helmetheads, Summer Stop, The Jukks, Phum Viphurit, Dead Flowers, Penny Time, Zero Hero, Two Pills After Meal, De Flamingo, Brown Flying, Hers, Whal & Dolph, Tabasco, Chart Suchart and many more including some international acts.

“Cat Expo is special because it brings more than 100 bands playing a variety of genres to a single event. It’s also a music market and gives an idea of what’s going on in the music circle. This year we are introducing an art zone. We’ve also invited writers and illustrators to take part in our handmade book segment. Above all, this upcoming music festival will make people happy,” Pongnarin says.

“Cat Expo is like a supermarket that sells a variety of products. One of them is bound to draw your attention.”

In addition to the shows, Cat Expo 4 is a great place to snap up a few bargains as bands and solo artists sell new and rare musical works in cassette tape, CD and vinyl format.

– “Cat Expo” takes place on November 25 and 26. It runs from 5 to 11.30pm on both days.

– Tickets costing Bt1,500 for two days are now available at Thai Ticket Major outlets and at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

– Find out more at Facebook.com/thisiscatradio and http://www.ThisIsCat.com

It was the first concert presented by the musical community and online platform Fungjai and had as its celestial theme “Songs among the Stars”.

Five indie artists and groups performed five separate shows, each one involving more than 40 songs.

Rising retro-pop band Temp, playing for the first time in Bangkok, kicked the show off with great tunes like “Moonshine”, “Mrs Cold”, “Baby, I’m Yours” and the “Hotel California” parody “Motel California”.

Lookpeach had more pop in store, heartfelt offerings such as “Someone that Loves You”, “Too Far” and “High”.

Ink Waruntorn’s synth pop featured tricks including “Ngao Ngao” (“Insomnia”), “Stereo” and “We Could Be Together”.

The all-female trio Jelly Rocket got folks singing along with “How Long”, “Im Jai”, “Stay” and “This is Real”.

Popular hip-hop trio River Rhyme – Blacksheeprr, Maiyarap and John Takashi – took the concert to the next level with “Survive”, “Noi Kern Pai” and “Try to Say”.

Maiyarap went solo with “How are You” and “Khong Ja Dee” before the trio reassembled and invited Uma to join them for “Night” and his own hit “Kham Wan”.

The DJ-producer has performed at Glastonbury, the Global Gathering and Outlook, having originally blazed the trail for funk’s return to the clubs.

He continues to push the sound into the future, drawing on wider influences, via his genre-blurring label Roska Kicks & Snares (RKS).

His “Roska Presents” brand has seen him assemble lineups across Britain for the last five years and culminated with a 2916 tour of Asia that included gigs in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul.

Armed with a series of fresh remixes for artists including Matthew Herbert, grimerap star CasIsDead, DJ Fresh and Diplo, Roska is also prepping releases for Low Steppa’s Simma Red, Form & Function and Pinch’s crucial label hub, Tectonic.

His signature sound mixes garage, dubstep and grime.

DJ Pichy from Quay Records will be warming up the Bangkok crowd for Roska’s Beam performance in the main room, while the Dalmation Lounge will have Noxro and DJ Sweed.

Get the details at (02) 392 7750.

Lucas de Wert and Steven Jansen, purveyors of all things house, got together in 2010 and were signed to Spinnin’ Records in 2014, releasing a string of singles on sublabel Spinnin’ Deep.

They’ve remixed tracks for Felix Jaehn and Lost Frequencies, Showtek and Laurent Wolf.

They released “Summer on You” with Sam Feldt, featuring Wulf, and “Feel Alive” with Pep & Rash. Their song “Calling on You” featuring Jake Reese debuted on the Billboard Dance/Mix chart at No 40.

Lucas & Steve are arriving in Thailand with perhaps their most-anticipated single ever. “Up Till Dawn (On the Move)” has become a summer anthem, featuring smooth guitar licks, poppy vocals and a sundrenched hook.

The track borrows its chords from the world-famous Barthezz dance classic “On the Move”, reshaping the sound into a cool, innovative new record.

Find out more at (082) 308 3246 from 2 to 9pm or (095) 248 3897 after 9pm.

The US superstar, who revealed Tuesday that she suffers from the chronic disease fibromyalgia, had been due to open the festival on Friday in Rio de Janeiro.

“I was taken to hospital its not simply hip pain or wear & tear from tour, I’m in severe pain. I’m in good hands w/ the very best doctors,” she tweeted.

“Brazil, I’m devastated that I’m not well enough 2 come to Rock in Rio. I would do anything 4 u but I have to take care of my body right now,” she tweeted.

A statement from Rock in Rio, which is to be staged in the barely used Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, said Lady Gaga “is undergoing treatment by medical specialists.”

“Rock in Rio regrets to announce the cancellation of her show,” the statement said.

The singer of hits like “Million Reasons” and “Perfect Illusion” had been due in Rio as part of her Joanne World Tour, which ends in December.

Gaga had already announced that due to her disease, which causes pain and fatigue, she was planning a break after the tour. In September she also abruptly canceled a concert in Montreal.

Running for seven days in all — Friday through Sunday and then September 21 to 24 — Rock in Rio is being welcomed by the city as a chance to put the huge facilities built for the 2016 Olympic Games back in use. They have hosted only sporadic events since the Olympics ended in August of that year.

Joining the lineup are rock concert stalwarts including Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses and The Who, as well as the more alternative bands Incubus and The Kills.

Brazilian music lovers will be treated to the likes of legendary diva Elza Soares and rapper Rael. Adding to the star power will be supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who plans to use the occasion to campaign against destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

While Brazil is only starting to emerge from a painful recession, the 700,000 tickets to the event sold out months ago and city hotels are hoping to be nearly full, reversing a prolonged post-Olympic slump.