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Fu Manchu were forced to play an abridged set in BELFAST on Monday night (July 3) when rioting close to their venue led police to order a shut-down, nme.com can reveal.

The American west coast rockers were 35 minutes into their set at the Limelight Club on Belfast's Ormeau Avenue when trouble flared in the nearby Donegall Pass area. When a petrol bomb exploded several yards from the band's tourbus, parked just outside the venue, riot police decided it was time to move in.

A spokesperson for the Limelight told nme.com:"The police told us they were fearful for the safety of everyone inside and suggested the band stop and the venue be cleared. The band didn't seem too unhappy about it - just a bit bewildered at what was going on.

"We were close to capacity, around four or five hundred people, but managed to clear in no time."

The rioting was linked to ongoing loyalist disquiet at refusal to allow them to march through a nationalist area near Drumcree, Portadown.

The spokesperson for the Limelight, which in the past paid host to acts like Oasis, Blur and The Stone Roses on their first trips to Ireland, said that despite the incident they intended to remain open throughout the present period of unrest.

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Date/Time	Venue	Town/City	Seetickets	Viagogo
Sep 14, 2012 19:30	Ruby Lounge	Manchester	Buy Fu Manchu Tickets	Buy Fu Manchu Tickets
Sep 15, 2012 18:00	O2 Academy Islington	London	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Fu Manchu Tickets from £56
Sep 16, 2012 19:00	O2 Academy Birmingham	Birmingham	Tickets not currently available.	Buy Fu Manchu Tickets