As a companion to the delightful On Walking Out thread, can we celebrate the non-appearances, flounces and last-minute unexplained cancellations by those who have moved heaven and earth to be in the audience for. Two from me: seeing Altered Images at the Manchester Apollo, support Subway Sect announced ‘Vic’s supposed to be here but he’s not’ – and played their entire set instrumentally. The comic Simon Day in the mid-90s went on a post-match bender following an England football victory at Euro 96 and failed to turn up to Newbury Corn Exchange that evening. Dave Gorman did the longest support act set ever, but eventually management had to come clean, well say he was indisposed at least – we found out what had happened from someone we knew at the venue a few days later.
On The Act Not Turning Up
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Neil Young cancelled at Brixton Academy some years ago because he had a sore throat. If only Bob Dylan had felt the same when he played the same venue some months later.
Ryan Adams cancelled because he broke his arm.
I was at the Neil Young show (same venue) the night before. After about half an hour I was thinking that this could be the best gig ever. It then went quite a bit downhill after that, when I heard he cancelled the following night I wasn’t totally surprised.
I also had tickets for the second night. I was on my way back from a meeting in Bournemouth but had originally intended going to the first night on my way down. I remember walking to the venue before we heard the news and all the touts were desperately trying to flog their tickets. All refunds would have gone to the original purchasers.
I had tickets for that one. Travelled all the way from Plymouth as well…
Not exactly not turning up, but uilleann pipe player Davy Spillane was late on, when I enquired what time he would be on I was told ‘When we sober him up’
Be Bop Deluxe however decided to perform on TOTP rather than appear at Leeds Uni.
According to Mark Ellen. the (very) late appearance of The Stones at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 1999 was in order to sober Ronnie up.
Subset – Pogues at Reading or WOMAD late 80s Shane wore a bobble hat and played the triangle. Not fit for much more, technically present
I saw the Pogues at The Forum/Town and Country Club with Joe Strummer standing in for Shane for the whole tour due to ahem sickness.
I thought the Pogues had sacked Shane, because he was incapable every single night and they just got fed up of him, and replaced him with Joe for a while.
Or was that later on in their history?
I saw them/him on that tour, it was promoted as The Pogues With Joe Strummer. Early 90s IIRC.
Todd Rundgren at the Venue, London, 1978 -ish. The official reason was a sore throat but I found out much later that it happened to be the night that he finished working on the TRB album.
I had booked Generation X to play at Leeds Poly but they cancelled at the last minute to record a Top Of The Pops show. I heard they had their equipment van nicked while in the TOTP studios. Oh how I laughed.
Steve Marriott’s All Stars cancelled at Birmingham University for the Fresher’s Night gig in I think 1976.
Their given reason was that the stage was too small; this despite their management having been supplied with a scale plan of the stage.
I found this ironic about 10 years or so later when I saw Steve Marriott play a gig at the George Robey in Finsbury Park, accompanied by a bassist and drummmer on a tiny stage that only just contained them.
I get the reverse – bands turning up promptly and starting/finishing on time (presumably licensing curfews for small venues or late night club nights to follow?). Even worse I saw Low in Cardiff this year and they started early – unheard of?
I’ve mentioned this before on the blog, but my worst experience of this was travelling 8 hours from Belgium to see the Stones in 1990, by coach, hovercraft and coach again, only to get to Wembley and find it deserted. Keith had ‘cut his finger’ (ahem) and the shows had been postponed. This was before the internet, mind you. I eventually found out what was happening from an Evening Standard news placard about 5pm.
The postponed shows were fantastic, though.
We could have had a drink, Tryp, I had tickets for that too. The reschedule was fine, but only in the sense that all Wembley gigs are various shades of shitebrown, something I diddn’t realise until the next tour, when I caught them at Sheffield.
Witcombe Lodge, near Gloucester, late 70s. Wayne County & the Electric Chairs were supposed to be playing. We waited outside for well over an hour before they told us Wayne would not be playing as s/he’d been arrested that afternoon.
Fairport have a habit of indisposition. Ric Sanders sliced thru’ various forearm tendons ahead of one tour, necessitating Chris Leslie to learn his parts. He clearly did well, as, when Maartin Allcock, guitar and keyboards, left, he was replaced by Leslie, now a 2nd fiddle player, as well as anything strummable or pluckable.
On a recent US tour various calamities ensued, and they asked audiences if they minded a trio. They didn’t.
A couple of years back Peggy was reduced to band introductions and occasional backing vocals because he had sliced a tendon in his hand. His son Matt stood in.
Gary Moore at the Town and Country around 1992/3. I’d gone on the back of a motorbike ridden by an impossibly cute French girl who was a big fan. We were in the venue when it was announced that the gig was cancelled.
Steve Earle at Leicester Uni in about 199early.
I went in the passenger seat of a car (probably an MG Midget) with my mate Phil, who’s not overly “cute” (bless him), but I seem to remember we met the decidedly much cuter Hayley (an old family friend of mine) when we got there.
Steve never made it, though. After an elongated set from Will T Massey, the gig was pulled.
He was in a hotel room, with a needle hanging out of his arm.
It gets a mention in “Hardcore Troubadour”.
I like a punctual gig, and REALLY hate the “let’s go on late, I’m wild, me” thing. Club gigs used to be for people rich enough to buy drinks and not have to get up the following morning (or so it seemed). Public transport is bad enough in the evening, let alone late night. Hanging around waiting for the gig is a real joy-killer. But early starts are disconcerting; I’m used to a headliner coming on after a support around 8.45/ 9.00 pm, and have been wrong-footed on a number of occasions. Mid-summer gigs when you leave and it’s still light is also disconcerting. I left a “Slayer” gig after all that thrash metal mayhem to a cheerful mid-June Brummagem on a Saturday night when it could have been the Costa del Sol. Not very thrash metal.
A lot of pub/club gigs start late because the punters don’t turn up until late. I suppose it’s a vicious circle, because one reason the punters get into the habit of turning up late is because they expect the bands to always start later than advertised.
And if the venue bars are expensive and shite and the toilets are disgusting, people aren’t inclined to hang around in there before the music starts, they’ll be down the road in a more salubrious place.
Those ‘we go on at midnight’ gigs are always a chore. Either the crowd is so pissed from pub next door that it turns into random fights and puking. Or people are just knackered and want to go home.
I remember seeing Primal Scream at Brixton – on at midnight after set from BRMC and as Bobby left the stage at 2.30am – “Stick around for J Marcus and the Ashetons” – sorry son but it’s way past Stooges o’clock
I remember however a George Clinton/Primal Scream double-header on the Don’t Give Out tour at Brixton that was similarly relaxed in time-keeping but utterly ace
We went to see jazz singer Ian Shaw at King’s Place in London. He was performing selections from the Joni Mitchell songbook.
King’s Place is a formal concert venue, so when it says 7:30 start, that is the time it starts.
Ian came on, on the dot. Played a 50 minute set, then took a 20 minute break and started again at 8:40.
Just before 9:00 there was a bit of noise as a few people entered the venue and made their way down the aisle to take their places in the front row. The gig finished at about 9:25.
Keane cancelled an appearance at a Japanese festival I was at, for what later became clear was the singer going into rehab. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that upset, and I was even less upset when Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips, who were on next, came out in what would have been Keane’s slot to sing a couple of acoustic numbers.
R.E.M Sheffield Arena 2005
Got nicely settled in and caught the arse end of the support act
20 mins later Messrs Stipe,Buck and a couple more (none of whom was Mike Mills) came on to explain that Mike wasn’t feeling well and they wouldn’t be performing that night.
They said this was the first time in their career that this had happened
They played 3 acoustic numbers,the first of which was “The One I Love”
I,however,departed with my 4 month pregnant wife as it was snowing and it can be a bit of a bastard to get out of the arena car park
They came back in the summer and played a rescheduled show,the only indoor show of their stadium tour
We didn’t attend as Mrs Nightfly was very close to delivering junior
Fairport Convention, Maidenhead, some years ago.
I turned up at the venue to be accosted on the door by Simon Nicol his actual self explaining to the arriving punters that only 2 of them had turned up. An admin malfunction back at their HQ.
Dave Pegg was apparently in France and had refused to travel back. The others knew fuck all about it. Simon and the violin player would either gladly pay back the ticket price or we could all go in and the both of them (plus what was going to be the solo support act) would team up as trio and do requests.
We chose the latter. They did. They were marvellous.
There were also apparent “other” reasons why Pegg couldn’t rather than wouldn’t that could be either very worrying or very libellous. Uncertain which, friend of a friend of a friend etc etc.
Steely Dan -Birmingham Hippodrome. Very excited as they had been my favourite band for a couple of years. Walking down Hurst Street I noticed people walking opposite direction to the venue. Donald Fagen and his bloody laryngitis.
Drove from Arizona back to San Francisco to see Fela Kuti only to hear on the radio that he had been jailed by the Nigerian govt as he was about to fly out.
Sly and Robbie a stuff up on passports so we got an extraordinary demo of reggae / dub trap drumming sans bass
Tex Perkins did his back – we had the option of seeing the remaining Cruel Sea or taking the money. I did the latter and missed a superb night of dub.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment
Ali FarkaToure for an African music festival in Sydney.
Just never showed. Don’t think he liked travelling let alone all the way to Oz
Earliest I can remember was String Driven Thing cancelling a gig in Cornwall (Truro?) at the last minute. They rushed SALT down from Exeter where they’d just finished a support slot. Then Julian Cope cancelled nottingham twice. Twice! I’ve never listened to his stuff since. Oasis pulled out of supporting REM in Huddersfield because they’d got too big. New Order cancelled a festival in Oxfordshire and tickets were transferred to one day at Reading in which NO played at number two to Garbage. You could tell that Garbage didn’t enjoy following them on stage. Smashing Pumpkins cancelled Manchester. Zwan and White Stripes pulled out of T in the Park and they were the two I went to see. Otherwise the whole T experience was truly awful. At this point I’m wondering why I chose my nickname for this place, on reflection I should be noshowaniser.
Not a household name on The Afterword but I am hoping to get 3rd time lucky and see Girl Band after two cancellations next week- they’re essentially an indie guitar band but they’re quite extreme in comparison to what constitutes ‘Indie’ these days – they have horse-scaring abilities while still being able to make ‘ver kids jump up and down. I’ve no problem with the cancellations – their lead singer has his ups and down and I guess whoever manages the band is putting his welfare before fulfilling gigs which is unusual in the history of rock and pop isn’t it?
Had tickets to see Elvis Costello at Hacienda in October 1983. Having a drink beforehand in Toms Chop House when guy behind bar informed me gig was off as Elvis had a sore throat…..gutted
The Waterboys, Cornbury.
They can’t make it as they’re stuck in an airport in Madrid*.
We did offer to go back on…
*I’m not a professional tour manager, so I don’t know the received wisdom regarding a tour that goes Madrid-Oxfordshire-Belgium.
Amy Winehouse Shepherd’s Bush Empire a few years back. Arrived to find notices on the door saying she was “ill”. The gig was rescheduled, but I somehow forgot to go. I don’t think I’ll bother with her again…
Don’t feel too put out – Gerry Rafferty hasn’t turned up at a gig for years.
I was going to say – at least you know what to expect with Gerry.
Only two I can remember:
The Smiths at Southend Cliffs Pavilion, we arrived to see quiffs walking away from the venue. Morrissey had a cold, or a sore throat, or somesuch.
ATV at some boozer in Deptford, which was a real pig to get to from north London where I lived. Arrived to find a hand-written cancellation note taped to the door of the pub.