Musicians often give a variety of reasons for cancelling shows, be it to record a new album, personal reasons, or issues behind the scenes.
Rarely however, are they as frank as Elvis Costello’s admission that poor ticket sales have led to the scrapping of one of his two headline shows Down Under this April.
The UK songwriting veteran and his band, The Imposters, have pulled the plug on their concert at Adelaide’s Thebarton Theatre, announcing the news in a post to the Elvis Costello Facebook page last night, as FasterLouder points out.
Openly expressing that the 17th April show had been cancelled owing to sluggish ticket sales, the post begins: “To all our friends in Adelaide. It seems you are too few in number for our show at the Thebarton Theatre to go ahead.”
Adding that, “we regret any inconvenience and disappointment caused” for scrapping the show at the 2,000 capacity Adelaide venue – hinting it could’ve been the last chance to catch the band in South Australia for some time.
“We are sorry not to be visiting your fair city and state, as the opportunities to do so in the future may not be numerous. So long, it’s been good to know you. Elvis Costello and The Imposters” “To all our friends in Adelaide. It seems you are too few in number for our show at the Thebarton Theatre to go ahead.”
But Adelaide’s loss is Melbourne’s gain.
No sooner had Adelaide fans woken up to the news that the 59-year-old musician had scrubbed the City of Churches from his tour itinerary, than promoters Chugg Entertainment had announced the addition of a new Melbourne date from Elvis Costello & The Imposters.
Hardly a coincidence considering that the new show takes place on Thursday 17th April – the same day that the Adelaide show was originally scheduled for.
A press statement describes the addition of the Melbourne show at The Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall as owing to “a public outcry that a headline performance for the city was left off his upcoming Australian tour schedule.” Elvis Costello’s Sydney show at the State Theatre will go ahead as planned.
Angry commenters on the original Elvis Costello post claim they didn’t even know about the Adelaide show to begin with, linking the low ticket sales to poor promotion and a lack of advertising.
While in Australia, Costello and his band – keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas, and bassist Davey Faragher – will also be performing as part of the massive Bluesfest 2014 lineup for the festival’s 25th Silver Anniversary Edition, as well as topping the bill at the Deni Blues & Roots Festival in regional NSW.
Elvis Costello was in Australia this time last year for a run of outdoor dates and theatre shows flaunting his Spectacular Singing Songbook show, “the centerpiece of which is an 18 foot upright spinning prize wheel filled with song titles from throughout his considerable catalogue,” as our Tone Deaf reviewer explained of the Palais theatre show. A vaudevillian night with “history’s most affable rock n’ roll veteran.”
Elvis Costello & The Imposters Australian Tour 2014
w/ support from Thelma Plum
Thu 17 April – Thebarton Theatre, AdelaideVenueTix | 08 8225 8888
Thu 17 April – Hamer Hall, Melbourne – JUST ANNOUNCED
TicketMaster | 136 100 or Arts Centre Box Office | 1300 182 183
Wed 23 April – State Theatre, Sydney
TicketMaster | 136 100
TICKETS FOR HEADLINE SHOWS GO ON SALE
THURSDAY 28TH NOVEMBER, 9am
Also performing at:
Bluesfest 2014 Dates & Tickets
25th Annual Byron Bay Bluesfest
Thursday 17th – Monday 21st April, 2014
www.bluesfest.com.au
More info here.
Deni Blues & Roots Festival 2014 Dates, Tickets
Conargo Road, Deniliquin, NSW
Saturday, 19 April & Sunday, 20 April 2014
www.denibluesfestival.com
More info here.
