Rotterdam rock concert canceled on terror tip from Spanish police

A concert in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam by American rock group Allah-Las was cancelled Wednesday night because of a "terror threat," police said in a statement.

"Police took this information seriously enough that after discussion with organizers it was decided to cancel the event," the Rotterdam police statement said.

A bus with Spanish licence plates and containing gas bottles was found near the concert hall where earlier a rock concert was cancelled due to a threat, Rotterdam's mayor said.

Ahmed Aboutaleb told a news conference it wasn't clear whether the threat and the bus were connected. The bus driver was taken into police custody for questioning, he said.

Concert organizer Rotown announced earlier on Twitter that the concert venue, a former grain silo called Maassilo, was being evacuated because of the unspecified threat and concertgoers would get their money back.

The show hadn't yet started when the decision to cancel it was made.

Dutch television showed officers in body armor outside Maassilo and what appeared to be members of the band leaving the venue in a white van with a police escort. The band did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Allah-Las is a four-piece band from Los Angeles.

In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian last year, band members said they chose the word All, Arabic for God, because they were seeking a "holy sounding" name and did not realize it might cause offense.

"We get emails from Muslims, here in the U.S. and around the world, saying they're offended, but that absolutely wasn't our intention," lead singer Miles Michaud told the newspaper. "We email back and explain why we chose the name, and mainly they understand."