Instead of warming up for their much-anticipated album release concert Friday, the Ladies in Red were in Talley Student Center without a venue to perform in.

At about 4:45 p.m. building operators told the female acapella ensemble their concert, which had been scheduled to be held in Stewart Theatre, would have to be moved.

Alyson Boswell, a senior in animal science, said the troupe had been forewarned about the possible cancellation about 4 p.m., but said her group was told to warm up and set up anyway before the news came.

But, according to Boswell, the Ladies, who had sold tickets for the concert, didn’t let the cancellation bring them down.

“We were all really shocked, but we stayed positive,” she said. “We were instantly upset and angry but we knew we had to think fast. We were like ‘we’ve had this date forever and we’re going to find somewhere to sing.’ “

Boswell said one parent had ridden a bus three hours just to see the performance, and with so many relatives and friends expecting a concert, the Ladies were convinced they would find somewhere to perform.

But another concert in a similar predicament beat the Ladies to the next viable venue, as WKNC’s Fridays on the Lawn concert series, which had already been relocated to the Wolves Den because of rain, was setting up at the north entrance of Talley.

General Manager of WKNC Mike Alston said he, too, got official word at 4:45 p.m. that the concert would have to relocate.

“We started setting up fo rthe concert at 2:30 p.m. and at 4:30 p.m. i heard either second or third-hand that he building might close,” he said.

Alston said he was told the sewage leak had led to the bathrooms being unusable, which meant no one could be in the public building. Alston and his team set the concert up on the north side of Talley and he said the location may have even been better than in the Den.

“It was about the best location we could have had,” Alston said of being forced back outside. “We can’t normally have it there because it blocks the entrance.”

But this still left the Ladies in Red without a venue, so at about 6:15 p.m. after calling several venues including a few bars, the Ladies began contemplating canceling the public concert.

“We just brainstormed forever and we wanted to have it outside but there was another concert there,” Boswell said. “We were about to call it quits and just give the parents a personal show.”

But the choir director came through shortly after 6 p.m., finding a nearby church where his choir had performed before, where the Ladies relocated, bringing parents, friends and fans for a free concert.

“We still had a great turnout,” Boswell said, estimating more than 150 spectators took in the performance at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. “We just got lucky with being able to use the Lutheran church.”

The Ladies also brought in about $250 in donations to replace the ticketing revenue lost when the concert was moved from Stewart, according to Boswell.

“It went really great despite the circumstances,” she said.