Punk trio Green Day have scrapped a secret gig in California scheduled for Friday night over security fears.

The "massive free show" was set up to give fans the chance to hear the group perform new material live, and arrangements for the event were well underway when the permits needed were denied by city officials due to crowd control concerns.

A spokesman for the band tells WENN, "The anticipated turnout was well into the thousands, and after monitoring the situation, fears were the number would dramatically swell and pose serious concern for the safety of concertgoers once the location was made public."