Residents of Washington, D.C. and Metro New York City who were looking forward to seeing some of their favorite hip-hop acts perform at Rock The Bells will surely be disappointed by news that the tour dates in their areas have been cancelled.

Local D.C. newspapers The Washington Post and Washington City Paper, along with the official Tickmaster wesbsite, were able to confirm the news, citing sources that stated that the event, scheduled to emanate D.C.’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, was no longer going to be held.

Rock The Bells, which is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary, overcame a rocky West Coast stretch plagued by technical difficulties, no-shows by anticipated performers and late performance start times. Nonetheless, the cancelling of the September 28th and 29th shows in D.C. and the October 4th and 5th shows in New York are an unexpected development, with the internet being a buzz about the cancellations hours before the official word got out.

Rock The Bells has given an official statement on the cancellation and plans to refund the tickets that have been purchased. The following statement from Chang Weisberg, the founder and owner of Guerilla Union, states:

“First and foremost, it is with great sadness and disappointment that we must cancel the Washington, DC and New York City Rock the Bells dates due to lack of ticket sales. I, along with our staff, the artists, and all of the sponsors, media partners, local promoters, and radio stations involved are thankful for our supporters and the fans that planned on attending. It’s extremely unfortunate that we can’t complete the last half of the 10 Bells tour. We did everything in our power to save the show. Unfortunately, the financial loss would have been devastating. I am truly sorry we could not produce the show for all the fans who did buy their ticket in support of.”