Nobody likes it when a show gets cancelled, just ask anyone who had tickets to Frank Ocean’s Splendour In The Grass sideshows or the leagues of Aussie hip hop fans who’ve missed countless canned events.
Though despite the perception that cancelled shows are often due to the temperaments of diva-like artists (and sometimes they are), its not always just ticket-holders that get bummed out when a gig hits the skids.
One high-profile band that certainly knows that’s the case is synthpop collective Passion Pit, who were last in Australia to play Splendour In The Grass, headline Adelaide’s Spinoff Festival, and play a series of sideshows.
The frothy, Michael Angelakos-fronted outfit have certainly had their fair share of experiences with show cancellations, having to pull the plug on tour dates last year following Angelakos’ troubles with mental illness, and the band have now publicly addressed the issues surrounding cancelled shows, as Pitchfork reports.
In an online blog post, simply titled ‘Why Bands Cancel Shows (And Why It Sucks For Everyone)’, Angelakos writes a heartfelt open letter to their fans discussing four main reasons why bands are forced to axe their concerts.
“It’s been hard to sit back and realize that people really don’t understand how complicated it can be canceling a show, or how detrimental, even,” reads the band’s forthright post, before listing four main reasons Passion Pit have had to scrub out tour dates: general illness (“sometimes it’s absolutely necessary to take a night off”), mental illness (as mentioned), weather, (the band’s gear was wrecked in a Chicago storm recently, as Pitchfork point out), and conflicting schedules.
Of this last point, the Passion Pit frontman elaborates, “there are many things that happen on the road that are scheduled that are not made public because it is no one’s business.”
Love Eminem?
Get the latest Eminem news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Going someway to explaining press releases that announce vagaries like “unforeseen circumstances” or “personal reasons,” Angelakos writes, “we’re sorry, but we are entitled to our privacy to a certain degree.”
Writing further about the band’s string of cancellations through 2012, Angelakos points to the band ‘making up’ for lost shows when and where possible while being “forced to take losses in these situations as we moving [sic] towards finally getting real time off and prepping a new record,” the follow-up to last year’s sophomore effort, Gossamer.
In conclusion, and perhaps speaking for a number of bands put in the same position, the Passion Pit frontman writes of show cancellations:
We lose the most. We lose the trust of our fans because of innocent naiveté, an ignorance in regards to how these things are done. WE lose the trust of those who don’t understand how many people are involved in our show, from our touring crew to local crew, how much planning goes on for months and months to prep, how much money is spent to keep the tour rolling, and how much we need to tour to make sure we can afford to put on the show we want to do and still end up being able to pay our bills and continue to do this for a living.
The moral of the story? When a band cancels a show, there’s often more to things than first appear – or in the words of Passion Pit it’s “canceling a show for a damn serious reason, and we’re not messing around with our fans. We’re trying our hardest and we are so sorry for the inconvenience. There’s only so much we can do.”
The tough life of a touring band was the central focus of Hello Everywhere, the recent Passion Pit documentary made by Taco Bell (yes, the Mexican restaurant chain).
Directed by Sam Jones (who made the excellent 2002 Wilco doco I Am Trying To Break Your Heart), the 50 minute feature covers Passion Pit’s performance at the Taco Bell-hosted Feed The Beat program at SXSW, with LA band Wildcat! Wildcat!, including live footage, fan interactions, and plenty of interviews with frontman Michael Angelakos, who says in the movie’s opening minutes: “I have a job… and although it comes with a lot of baggage – literally and figuratively – I’m very lucky to say that I get to make music for a living.”
Check out Passion Pit’s Tone Deaf mixtape.
