Hard rockers Nonpoint cut there Jan. 12 show in Louisville short following a medical scare involving drummer Robb Rivera. The drummer’s heart rate apparently elevated to a dangerous level, and he was rushed to a local hospital.
Fans speculated that drugs or alcohol may have been the catalyst for the emergency, but Rivera insisted that’s not the case. “What’s up? Robb here, sitting here on the riser here at Hangar 1819 in Greensboro, North Carolina,” he said. “We’re about to load in because we’re playing tonight. I want to thank everybody at the George Hospital in Louisville that took care of me, and they just looked out after me. It was a very stressful 24 hours — overwhelming and emotional, 24 hours — and scary, and I never want to go through that again.”
“I had an elevated heart rate, they were able to bring it down within five seconds, which is crazy. Did a bunch of tests, everything was clear. And I’m here to rock out and continue the Painful Statements Tour, but I do have something that I need to get off my chest: To the people that said that this was due to drugs. Shame on you. If anybody knows me out there, they know that I do not use drugs at all or drink alcohol.”
He continued: “Back in the day, I used to drink little sips. I never been alcoholic, never been a drug addict. To those people that said that, I could easily go off on you, I’m not stopping down to your level. So anyway, to the people that have reached out to me. I love you tonight, Painful Statements. Greensboro, North Carolina, Florida, coming home to you, see ya.”
In an interview with Outlander Media, the band’s singer, Elias Soriano, offered another explanation blaming it on too much coffee.
“Robb’s good,” Soriano said. “Robb’s 100%. He’s fine. It was a little spell. It was a perfect storm, a mix of a couple of different things. He normally doesn’t drink caffeinated coffee, and that day he had gone down to the local coffee shop and had a couple of cups of coffee that were not decaf, because they did not have decaf at the time. And then that mixed with just the stress, the stress of the show, and blood sugar. The doctor said he was low on magnesium and potassium, so he’s just gotta hydrate right, make sure he doesn’t drink caffeine before a show. And he performed last night, no problems, no issues. You’re getting older, and the older you get, your body doesn’t work the same. So, normally, two cups of coffee and a little stress normally would have done it, but…”
