Björk cancels Reykjavík Cornucopia shows
Björk’s three-night stand in her native Iceland has been cancelled due to production issues.
The singer was due to perform at Reykjavík’s Laugardals Palace on 7, 10 and 13 June as part of her Cornucopia European tour. Tickets were priced from 19,990-34,990 ISK (€132-232).
“We are sorry to have to announce that due to circumstances beyond our control, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Björk’s Cornucopia concert in Reykjavík in June,” says a statement from the 57-year-old’s management.
“There have been problems with the production of the concert which we do not expect to be able to resolve in time. We realise that this will disappoint ticket holders and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
“We still hope to find a way to make the concert a reality next year”
The statement continues: “We are determined to do everything we can to prevent this from happening again and will review our work processes with that in mind.
“We still hope to find a way to make the concert a reality next year. However, as it may take some weeks or months to resolve all technical and logistical issues, we are forced at this point to cancel and refund.”
Directed by Argentine film-maker Lucrecia Martel, Cornucopia launched in 2019 and was described as Björk’s “most elaborate stage concert yet”. It is due to resume in Portugal at Lisbon’s Altice Arena on 1 September.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Björk to perform to live audience in August
Björk is performing a series of shows across three consecutive weekends in August in her home country of Iceland, to celebrate the start of the country’s post-coronavirus reopening.
The shows, which are organised in conjunction with showcase festival Iceland Airwaves, will see the singer perform at Reykjavík’s 1,800-capacity Harpa Hall on 9, 15 and 23 August. The performances will be some of the first from a major artist in front of a live audience since the coronavirus shutdown.
“Dear friends, I would like to invite you to some concerts,” reads a statement from Björk. “We are going to celebrate that we are all healthily exiting quarantine together.”
Björk also states the concerts aim to honour “folks who got hit hardest [by] the coronavirus and the black lives matter movement”, as well as acting as a celebration of the Icelandic musicians that Björk has worked with over the years.
“We are going to celebrate that we are all healthily exiting quarantine together”
Each concert will showcase new instrumental arrangements of scores from Björk’s back catalogue. Björk will perform alongside the Hamrahlid Choir on 9 August and will be accompanied by the Icelandic symphony orchestra on the other two dates.
The concerts will also be streamed live online, where there will an option to donate to women’s shelter Kvennaathvarfid. For those attending in person, money raised from food and drink sales will go to the shelter.
Björk had been set to perform special orchestral shows at Moscow’s Crocus Music Hall and Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena this summer, as well as at festivals Waldbühne Open Air in Germany, Siene Musicale in France and Bluedot festival in the UK, before the pandemic put a halt on global touring.
Tickets for the Harpa Hall shows are available for pre-order on 2 July at 10 a.m. GMT, with general sale commencing on 3 July. Tickets will be priced in five tiers, starting at ISK4,990 (€32).
Iceland Airwaves is taking place from 4 to 7 November in Reykjavík, featuring acts including Metronomy, Courtney Barrett, Black Pumas, Squid and Iceland’s Daði Freyr.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
All Points East adds headliners LCD Soundsystem, Björk
Björk and LCD Soundsystem have been confirmed as further headliners for All Points East, joining the xx for the first weekend of Goldenvoice UK’s newly announced ten-day festival in London’s Victoria Park.
All Points East (APE), announced last week, will be staged in the 213-acre east London park from 25 May to 3 June 2018, and combine two weekends of music with a BST-style free-to-access midweek offering. Goldenvoice owner AEG has been awarded exclusive use of the park for events until 2022, forcing Field Day, Lovebox and Citadel to relocate to pastures new, rumoured to be Brockwell Park in south London.
The new additions to the 40,000-a-day-cap. festival were revealed at a launch party at the Approach Tavern in east London last night. They also include Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, Glass Animals, Close, Dixon and George Fitzgerald on the LCD Soundsystem-headlined 25 May event; Lorde, Sampha and Rex Orange County on The xx-headlined 26 May; and Beck, Father John Misty and Flying Lotus 3D on the Björk-headlined 27 May show.
The National, meanwhile, headline a headline show, APE Presents, on 2 June, also featuring the War on Drugs, Future Islands, Warpaint and the Districts.
“LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are two of the best live acts in existence”
“It’s an honour to be asked to play a night with such stellar headliners,” says Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley. “LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are two of the best live acts in existence. In fact my favourite show of all time was LCD in 2007 at Reading Festival. It’s where I met our drummer, Joe. And Karen O is one of the greatest frontpeople of all time, and a hero of mine
“We’ll have to up our game, then we’re definitely going to hang around and have a wild one. After party at my house… Can’t wait!”
The latest line-up poster is below:
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
All-time high attendance for Sónar 24
More than 123,000 people attended the 24th Sónar – the most successful year in the Barcelona festival’s history.
Some 61,000 attended Sónar 2017’s daytime programme (Sónar by Day), which featured music over five stages as part of the festival proper – and 157 panels, demonstrations and installations for tech conference Sónar+D – at the the Fira Montjuïc exhibition centre in Barcelona city centre.
A thousand more, meanwhile, attended Sónar by Night – held at on 16 and 17 June at Fira Gran Via, just outside central Barcelona – to see performances by DJ Shadow, Justice, Soulwax, Moderat, Anderson .Paak and other heavy hitters from the electronic music world.
Attendees for both were divided almost equally between Spaniards and foreigners, with 48% domestic festivalgoers and 52% international.
The next Sónar events are Buenos Aires (26 November), Bogota (2 December), Reykjavik (16–17 March), Hong Kong (17 March) and Istanbul (30–31 March). Sigur Rós will headline both the Buenos Aires and Bogota events.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.