I think we’re a pretty smart group here. So, I’m thinking none of you actually planned a trip to Las Vegas primarily to see one of the four Morrissey shows booked there next week. I mean, it’s Morrissey. Even if you love him – I do not, though I did have a pretty contentious/fun time interviewing him back in the day – you know his history. So there is nothing, nothing at all shocking about this announcement:
Jim Sullivan on FB
Morrissey canceled his four-show Las Vegas residency at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas scheduled for August 14, 15, 18, and 19, 2026. His team cited “unforeseen logistical challenges” for the sudden cancellation.
Those darn, “unforeseen logistical challenges” rear their ugly head again. Could be he’s tired. Could be the venue wouldn’t stop serving meat. Could be Johnny Marr was rumored to be lurking in the area … no one knows.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the knucklehead who was thrown off a BA LHR-Las Vegas flight and arrested for ‘disruptive behaviour’ yesterday?
Lack of sleep is the latest report. He has cancelled previously blaming this.
Lack of ticket sales a more likely culprit.
Most likely. We had hoped to see a local act on Friday just gone, a superb singer and mainstay of the local drag scene. It was only a small venue and we kept an eye in ticket sales once we noticed how few had been sold. The day before the show only a handful had been taken so we were not surprised to get an email saying the show had been cancelled, not postponed, due to ‘artist illness’.
You wouldn’t have thought Las Vegas would be a great locale for him. And 4 nights.
Had no-one to sing him to sleep, obviously.
Genuine question: Why do promoters still book him? Wouldn’t they lose out when shows are cancelled for venue fees etc that are not refundable?
Genuine answer: like it or not, he’s still hugely popular in the US, and this would have been a decent payday for a promoter, though it’s arguable whether 4 nights in Vegas was a suitable choice for the Moz audience… and I suspect insurance would have been in place to minimise the (increasingly likely) possibility of cancellation…
What about the punters who have booked flights/hotels on the back of break to go and see their hero?
Not for me – I think he is a complete twat even though he made some half decent records many moons ago.
Who would take a flight to see him? I wouldn’t see him for free if he was on round the corner but I guess there’s no accounting for taste.
He really doesn’t seem to care one iota about his fans or have any empathy whatsoever does he? However I suppose it’s hard to rustle up much sympathy for anyone willing to still indulge him given his regular stupid comments and his dreadful reputation for cancelling gigs for no good reason.
Time was when cancelling gig in Las Vegas for no particular reason would have got him kneecapped, but maybe things are different now.
People on social media with tix say they were close to sold out concerts.
His health seems ropey these days (not just his mental health).
Yep. I think he actually is very unwell.
I recently took a dive into his solo career, having only bought Vauxhall & I at the time. He’s done some amazing stuff and is surely not truly himself these days. He’s empathetic in the way that Randy Newman is, based on my listening.
I saw an interview with Noel Gallagher, who said that Morrissey is one of the funniest people he knows. On one occasion, Morrissey cancelled a gig due to pneumonia. On the same night he arranged to meet up with Gallagher. Quite reasonably, Gallagher asks “I thought you were ill with pneumonia?”. Morrissey responded “And yet…here we are!”
I can certainly believe that Morrissey is one of the funniest people Noel Gallagher knows.
I think Morrissey is partly responsible for some of the most astonishing music as part of The Smiths. Literate, humorous, exciting rock and roll with a side order of sarcasm. The Smiths were hugely influential.
Morrissey now seems to still think those things give him tremendous currency and credibility. I don’t think they do – he is nothing more than a grumpy heritage act who behaves poorly because he thinks he can. He could well be right but he is about as essential now as a (faux) fur coat in a heatwave.
‘Fur coat in a heatwave I know, I know, it’s serious…’
(Applause)
Oh well done.
Chapeau!
Social media comments from thwarted attendees suggests gigs were close to sold out.
You can say that again…
“Social media comments from thwarted attendees suggests gigs were close to sold out.”
Yes, very good – but look upthread.
so that’s where it went.
I think these are the first gigs he cancelled in a while. Last year he seemed to be running at about 50%. I managed to get to see him at CityFolk festival in Ottawa almost a year ago and despite my low expectations he was very good. He actually wanted to play longer but was told he had reached his time allotment. Band was fine and his vocals were excellent
He did cancel a big gig in Valencia back in March, quoting an inability to sleep the night before due to constant fireworks… for which I would blame the promoter, who should have known full well that was likely to happen during the annual Fallas festival, which genuinely is wall-to-wall fireworks for a fortnight…
You’d think he’d like the fact that there are lights that never go out.