Tour Announcements & Upcoming Gigs

[Hugh Jass]

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

Yet more dampening of the sleep quarters

 

As someone who has lost a loved one to Covid can I just say you sound like an utter twat with your sarcasm.

[zahidf]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

As someone who has lost a loved one to Covid can I just say you sound like an utter twat with your sarcasm.

ah, sorry for your loss. Ill think more before posting in the future

[jannybruck]

27 minutes ago, zahidf said:

ah, sorry for your loss. Ill think more before posting in the future

I think it's good to keep in mind the bone-dry cynical "what a bunch of bedwetters" eye rolling tone that permeates the Covid thread does not necessarily work elsewhere.

[efcfanwirral]

1 hour ago, zahidf said:

Yet more dampening of the sleep quarters

 

Now that's interesting moving to Feb - it doesn't sound too realistic.

I'm hoping to get to Sam Fender in Liverpool in March - that'll probably be my next gig as wolf alice and Frank turner are both off!! 

[zahidf]

11 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Now that's interesting moving to Feb - it doesn't sound too realistic.

I'm hoping to get to Sam Fender in Liverpool in March - that'll probably be my next gig as wolf alice and Frank turner are both off!! 

Its possibly just the expectation it will be slightly better rather than massively so

[sisco]

51 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Now that's interesting moving to Feb - it doesn't sound too realistic.

I'm hoping to get to Sam Fender in Liverpool in March - that'll probably be my next gig as wolf alice and Frank turner are both off!! 

What i don’t get is there are no restrictions, football crowds of 60k are going ahead so why can’t a gig?!

I appreciate that it’s down to the band to decide how much of a conscious they have I guess 

[zahidf]

15 minutes ago, sisco said:

What i don’t get is there are no restrictions, football crowds of 60k are going ahead so why can’t a gig?!

I appreciate that it’s down to the band to decide how much of a conscious they have I guess 

Its 100% a bands choice as it stands in England. No restrictions at the moment and looking less and less likely

[efcfanwirral]

32 minutes ago, sisco said:

What i don’t get is there are no restrictions, football crowds of 60k are going ahead so why can’t a gig?!

I appreciate that it’s down to the band to decide how much of a conscious they have I guess 

I'm interested to see how far that goes. When is it realistically morally OK to put a gig on? Anything indoors is "putting people in danger" at any time of the year now 

In theory outdoors should be generally ok when we get there 

Edited January 5, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

41 minutes ago, sisco said:

What i don’t get is there are no restrictions, football crowds of 60k are going ahead so why can’t a gig?!

I appreciate that it’s down to the band to decide how much of a conscious they have I guess 

I think it's also likely down to the management of key band members and touring staff being unable to work for ten days with no notice (not to mention venue staff). Must be a logistical nightmare, trying to manage everything and everyone, travelling around the UK at the moment, attempting to dodge a virus that statistically 1-in-26 people have 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Supernintendo Chalmers

[jannybruck]

5 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm interested to see how far that goes. When is it realistically morally OK to put a gig on? Anything indoors is "putting people in danger" at any time of the year now 

In theory outdoors should be generally ok when we get there 

I think generally a lot of these postponements are less about the audience being "in danger", although they're often framed that way, and more about crew. If someone falls positive – which is pretty likely, with something like Omicron, given crew are having to deal with multiple new people every day – it basically ruins the whole tour. Jessie Ware recently had to pull the final third of a big Academy tour because it happened, for instance. That risk just isn't worth the reward right now.

[efcfanwirral]

1 minute ago, jannybruck said:

I think generally a lot of these postponements are less about the audience being "in danger", although they're often framed that way, and more about crew. If someone falls positive – which is pretty likely, with something like Omicron, given crew are having to deal with multiple new people every day – it basically ruins the whole tour. Jessie Ware recently had to pull the final third of a big Academy tour because it happened, for instance. That risk just isn't worth the reward right now.

Yeah that does make sense. Them framing it as a moral thing isnt a great idea long term I don't think because of the precedent it sets, both for the coming months and future years. 

[sisco]

4 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

I think it's also likely down to the management of key band members and touring staff being unable to work for ten days with no notice (not to mention venue staff). Must be a logistical nightmare, trying to manage everything and everyone, travelling around the UK at the moment, attempting to dodge a virus that statistically 1-in-26 people have 

Yeah that makes much more sense.  Cheers, just couldn’t get my head around it

Edited January 5, 2022 by sisco

[gfa]

12 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm interested to see how far that goes. When is it realistically morally OK to put a gig on? Anything indoors is "putting people in danger" at any time of the year now 

In theory outdoors should be generally ok when we get there 

Even outdoors to some extent has issues, huge amounts of people got infected at Boardmasters last year (5,000+). Saying that I am very much for everything going ahead.

[foolee]

2 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Yeah that does make sense. Them framing it as a moral thing isnt a great idea long term I don't think because of the precedent it sets, both for the coming months and future years. 

Yeah if that’s the way they’re going I think bands need to seriously think of the implications as it could mean months without any indoor gigs (remember when we locked down last year gigs and festivals didn’t return until July) this year and for years to come with new variants which would effectively shut down most venues I’d imagine. Especially smaller venues therefore making it a struggle for bands to ever break through unless they go viral online. 

[Chapple12345]

2 minutes ago, jannybruck said:

I think generally a lot of these postponements are less about the audience being "in danger", although they're often framed that way, and more about crew. If someone falls positive – which is pretty likely, with something like Omicron, given crew are having to deal with multiple new people every day – it basically ruins the whole tour. Jessie Ware recently had to pull the final third of a big Academy tour because it happened, for instance. That risk just isn't worth the reward right now.

4 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

I think it's also likely down to the management of key band members and touring staff being unable to work for ten days with no notice (not to mention venue staff). Must be a logistical nightmare, trying to manage everything and everyone, travelling around the UK at the moment, attempting to dodge a virus that statistically 1-in-26 people have 

Yeah this is definitely part of it, I was thinking also could another issue actually be audience's themselves not being able to attend? Wolf Alice mentioned something in their statement about people not being able to access the gig which I read as people having to isolate. I get people have to miss gigs last minute all the time but the sheer amount of people isolating at the moment might mean sold out shows being rather empty  

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

It's interesting how the bands seem to be the ones seizing the initiative on this. Has anyone heard of a venue or promoter postponing/cancelling?

[jannybruck]

5 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Yeah that does make sense. Them framing it as a moral thing isnt a great idea long term I don't think because of the precedent it sets, both for the coming months and future years. 

Yes, I'm definitely in agreement with this. The more gigs are pushed as dangerous spaces the less people are going to want to commit to them in future, if they're wary about variants or infections or whatever, which is going to impact an already fragile ecosystem that's already had two years of economic misery.

Everyone understands the inherent risk with them now but saying "we as artists don't think these are safe spaces for anyone right now" I'm not really sure helps things long term. I'd rather they were honest about the implications of an infection within the touring party.

[gfa]

1 minute ago, Chapple12345 said:

Yeah this is definitely part of it, I was thinking also could another issue actually be audience's themselves not being able to attend? Wolf Alice mentioned something in their statement about people not being able to access the gig which I read as people having to isolate. I get people have to miss gigs last minute all the time but the sheer amount of people isolating at the moment might mean sold out shows being rather empty  

This is a really good point, 1/25 people isolating means 200 people less at a show in Brixton, then maybe friends won't come too which means a lot of missed alcohol sales + if its not sold out that means nobody will be able to resell them so it would be a decent amount missing on top of a non sold-out show. If its not sold out too that means people who are cautious and choose not to go due to high cases will also not be able to resell them. Thats a good few hundred people.

[jannybruck]

3 minutes ago, Chapple12345 said:

Yeah this is definitely part of it, I was thinking also could another issue actually be audience's themselves not being able to attend? Wolf Alice mentioned something in their statement about people not being able to access the gig which I read as people having to isolate. I get people have to miss gigs last minute all the time but the sheer amount of people isolating at the moment might mean sold out shows being rather empty  

Yeah, this is also an issue (and it has economic knock on effects in terms of a venue's bar take, bands merch sales, and so on). It's basically shit for everyone trying to work in or participate in live entertainment right now because of all these variables.

[gfa]

1 minute ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

It's interesting how the bands seem to be the ones seizing the initiative on this. Has anyone heard of a venue or promoter postponing/cancelling?

O2 academies weren't open last summer, while its less busy for them due to festivals i think it was mostly done on covid grounds due to the uncertainty.

NASS Festival also cancelled in September because they thought new restrictions would come in which I guess also counts?

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

2 minutes ago, Chapple12345 said:

Yeah this is definitely part of it, I was thinking also could another issue actually be audience's themselves not being able to attend? Wolf Alice mentioned something in their statement about people not being able to access the gig which I read as people having to isolate. I get people have to miss gigs last minute all the time but the sheer amount of people isolating at the moment might mean sold out shows being rather empty  

An act like Wolf Alice might not find themselves playing to a half empty venue, as they've been sold out for weeks and demand is still high, despite the obvious. However, less popular bands will probably want to wait until they can maximise ticket sales, and arguably, rightly so

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

1 minute ago, gfa said:

O2 academies weren't open last summer, while its less busy for them due to festivals i think it was mostly done on covid grounds due to the uncertainty.

NASS Festival also cancelled in September because they thought new restrictions would come in which I guess also counts?

That NASS fest one was a strange one. Didn't they pull the plug days before the insurance thing was announced? It seemed premature, IIRC

[efcfanwirral]

23 minutes ago, gfa said:

Even outdoors to some extent has issues, huge amounts of people got infected at Boardmasters last year (5,000+). Saying that I am very much for everything going ahead.

I always assumed that one was down to the rave tents at night, which I saw in limited numbers at other festivals but if its packed it's practically an indoor venue. Plus a lot more "in your face" stuff where everyone's dancing with people rather than looking forward. 

I'd imagine a festival with a couple of outdoor stages and outdoor bars etc (like This Is Tomorrow, which I enjoyed!), or just a park gig like the Sam Fender Finsbury one is about as low risk as we're going to get (though not zero of course - transport etc). Maybe even the likes of Latitude where the tent was big and airy would be ok too - im sure they found at that Blossoms gig that they were happy with the airflow in those things when a regular gig was happening. 

Indoor is going to be a struggle for a while though. 

[Chapple12345]

2 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I always assumed that one was down to the rave tents at night, which I saw in limited numbers at other festivals but if its packed it's practically an indoor venue. Plus a lot more "in your face" stuff where everyone's dancing with people rather than looking forward. 

I'd imagine a festival with a couple of outdoor stages and outdoor bars etc (like This Is Tomorrow, which I enjoyed!), or just a park gig like the Sam Fender Finsbury one is about as low risk as we're going to get (though not zero of course - transport etc). Maybe even the likes of Latitude where the tent was big and airy would be ok too 

I think another issue here is simply people sleeping in crowded tents with poor ventilation while at the festival. Consider this and the demographics of people attending who were unlikely to have had 2 jabs at that point and you probably have a perfect storm. 

27 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

An act like Wolf Alice might not find themselves playing to a half empty venue, as they've been sold out for weeks and demand is still high, despite the obvious. However, less popular bands will probably want to wait until they can maximise ticket sales, and arguably, rightly so

Yeah this is a good point too, it's just a bit of a shit show for everyone involved in the sector and for the punters too

[jump]

30 minutes ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

An act like Wolf Alice might not find themselves playing to a half empty venue, as they've been sold out for weeks and demand is still high, despite the obvious. However, less popular bands will probably want to wait until they can maximise ticket sales, and arguably, rightly so

I've seen loads of people just start accusing bands of cancelling because shows to low tix sales rather than it being genuinely covid concern related. It reminds of when people on here start saying a band's tour is selling badly because it's not sold out even though not sold out can be anything between 0-99.9% of the tickets sold and it always comes off to me a lazy speculation.