A few days ago, singer Imelda May posted on Facebook that she was going to have to cancel a performance at a music festival for a “once in a lifetime opportunity” which turned out to be singing the Irish national anthem at the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight. A lot of people were upset with the issue compounded by the fact that this was a music festival she was a major act at – if it was just a show, they could reschedule but festival goers were now stuck with tickets that were worthless to them as they only bought to see Imelda May. May apologized but defended her choice with a mixture of patriotism and exposure.
I live on the other side of an ocean from the festival so the whole thing doesn’t affect me any. I’ve seen May live (albeit before she radically changed styles) and it was one of the best shows I’ve seen. I’d buy tickets again but, once again, that would be for an actual Imelda May show where a cancellation would result in a rescheduling or refund. But I tend to agree with the people left in a lurch that it was a shitty move. I believe she’s trying to work out a solution, etc.
Aside from medical concerns or major things like hurricanes or terrorist attacks, would there be a good enough excuse for a musician to irrevocably cancel on you? Would you give their next show a chance? Write them off live but continue to buy/listen to tracks? Set all your MP3s on fire in the driveway? Any interesting gig cancellation stories out there?
The Drive-By Truckers did this to me once. They were going to play a free show at a ski resort, but checked out when they got picked up to open for some huge act in stadiums and such.
I couldn’t be too pissed. It’s not like I had to buy a ticket or anything. But it would have been a fun show. Spring, great weather, great place, skiing in the morning followed by an afternoon of day-drinking.
Blues guitarist Coco Montoya was scheduled to play a small blues club in Pittsburgh years ago. For some reason he was in a shitty mood that night. During his soundcheck (which sounded fine) he threw a hissy fit about his monitor and he stormed out. A band that played the night before was happy with their sound, as was the band that played the following weekend.
I and a bunch of friends present that night have boycotted his shows since.
tis is tangential, I saved my money to see Sugar Babies as a live performance because I had always wanted to see Ann Miller perform. I ate peanut butter and crackers for lunch for weeks to get a nosebleed ticket. She had to cancel and her understudy performed and I am still disappointed after 35 years.
Patriotism? If she were singing for a government event I could see that, but for a boxing match? Nonsense. She can sing the national anthem any time she pleases. As for exposure, she’d best hope the benefits of same of same outweigh the ill will generated by her reneging.
This one time, my friend and I decided to go see The Rev. Horton Heat on South Beach (FL). There was a tropical storm going on at the time, but we are hard-core music fans and love that band, so we persevered and drove from Ft. Lauderdale down to SoBe for this show, listening to the radio for cancellations the entire trip. We get there and there’s a sign on the door that the band couldn’t make it because of the storm. I was pissed off because we made it, so what’s with the band? I forgave them though and saw them again a few years later in another city.
Another time, same friend and I got tickets to a one-day metal music festival in Miami. I can’t remember who all played, but I’m pretty sure that bill included Social Distortion, Corrosion of Conformity, and Alice in Chains. AiC pulled out at the last minute and I never got to see them. Presumably the reason was Layne Staley’s addiction problem – this would have been around 1995, right around the time they stopped touring because he couldn’t. The rest of the bands were okay, but the crowd was insane and that was the one and only time I’ve ever feared for my life at a rock show. In fact, it was so out of hand that the vendors stopped selling beer at 6pm, despite the bands playing until about 10pm that night. That just seemed to piss off the crowd even more and I think we skedaddled early because it smelled like a riot getting ready to happen.
A few years later, I visited this friend in Chicago. It was my last night there and our agenda was wide open, so we decided to go see a bunch of punk bands that were playing in some bowling alley. We got there to find a sign on the door, “Closed. Due to stuff.” Instead, we went over to Halstead Blvd. and checked out some of the best Chicago blues I’ve ever heard. Fuck those punk bands. LOL
They almost never admit a show is canceled due to low ticket sales. It’s always something else - sickness, scheduling mixup, etc.
Once in 80s in Knoxville they had 3 metal shows scheduled in 1 month. The 2nd one was canceled due to the singer being “sick”. (but he was fine the next night somewhere else) It was pretty obvious they could not sell enough for all 3 shows so the least popular band got canceled. I cannot recall the name of the 3 bands now.
I went to see one of the Jazz Festival’s, ‘Night of the Blues’ events in the late 90’s, and the main performer couldn’t make it because she had a heart attack. I’m pretty sure it was Koko Taylor, though I can’t swear to it.
That’s the only concert I ever went to where the headliner didn’t show up. The got a couple local blues singers to fill in. Since one of them was Shari Richards, I wasn’t too disappointed.
I went to see the Dixie Dregs one time, and the band that was supposed to open canceled. They were a fairly popular local band I wanted to see, and I think they broke up immediately after.
I (vaguely) remember that. I’m meeting Norm Nardini for drinks later this week, I’ll have to remember to ask him about it.
Meanwhile, last month I saw Pokey LaFarge in Pittsburgh. He almost cancelled due to food poisoning he contracted in The Land of Cleves. He soldiered on, taking a couple of breaks and returning to the stage a bit paler after each.
I was supposed to see Deep Purple in like '93, they were touring as the millionth reformation of the classic lineup of Gillan, Blackmore, Lord, Glover, and Paice in support of their Battle Rages On album. About a month before the show word got out that it (and the rest of the tour) was canceled because the band had broken up for the millionth-and-oneth time.
AFAIK talented as he is, Ritchie Blackmore is an absolute c-word to get along with.
