Bad NYC 'Vibe' Scares John Hinckley Jr. Off Concert, Organizer Says

NEW YORK CITY — Aspiring musician and one-time would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley Jr. isn't feeling the New York City groove.

Hinckley announced Monday that his upcoming, New York City concert at a mystery venue has been canceled.

The abrupt cancelation announcement left ticket holders for the scheduled June 7 show — including this Patch writer — with few answers until they received an eventbrite email from the concert's anonymous organizer.

The organizer wrote they were unsure why Hinckley backed out, given tickets were selling and "everything was going to plan."

"A few days ago he got cold feet about the whole operation," the email states.

"He said that New York is 'a dangerous mess' and 'had a bad vibe' and was being advised not to do the show. He wouldn't say who was advising him. I guess we will never know."

Hinckley previously tried to play a concert in New York City during 2022, shortly after he achieved full freedom after decades in a mental hospital for shooting former President Ronald Reagan.

His venue hosts canceled that show, and subsequent concerts elsewhere have been either scrapped or postponed.

The June 7 show in New York City had somewhat of an air of mystery.

Hinckley tweeted last week that the concert's venue would only be known to ticket holders — a promise that prompted a Patch reporter to buy a $50 ticket in order to find out the location.

But the eventbrite ticket offered no details, other than a QR code that (presumably mistakenly) linked to a cedar-scented antiperspirant.

The cancelation email stated that Hinckley will reimburse organizers with paintings "worth the same amount of money that we sunk into the event."

"We are all disheartened on how this went down and we wish John well, and hope someday we can do an actual event at the same 'Mystery Venue,'" the email states.

"I know this sounds like a joke but sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction."