PinkPantheress, Garbage cancel all 2024 dates
PinkPantheress and Garbage have each cancelled all upcoming tour dates for varying health reasons.
English singer-songwriter-producer PinkPantheress has axed all scheduled dates for the rest of this year, including opening slots on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour and Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour.
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Victoria Walker, says she has “reached a wall which I’m struggling to penetrate” and that she needs to “focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing”.
PinkPantheress has been one of the opening acts on Rodrigo’s Guts tour since 19 July and was due to play support slots on it for several more weeks.
She was also due to open for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour in Australia this November and perform at festivals including III Points (US), Field Day (UK), Summer Sonic (JP) and FORM (US).
“It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of all our remaining dates for the rest of the year”
Elsewhere, 90s rock band Garbage have cancelled all remaining tour dates in 2024 due to an injury sustained by lead singer Shirley Manson, which will require surgery and subsequent rehabilitation.
“It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of all our remaining dates for the rest of the year due to an injury that [frontwoman] Shirley [Manson] sustained on our recent tour in Europe that will require surgery and rehabilitation to correct.”
The band were due to perform at several festivals including Ohana Fest in California, HFStival in Washington, DC and Festival Hera in Mexico City.
During Live Nation’s earnings call this week, president and CFO Joe Berchtold played down concerns regarding increased tour cancellations of late, stressing there had been no more than normal.
“In terms of our cancellation rates, we’re seeing historical norms below last year,” he said. “They historically run kind of 4% to 5% of shows, about 1.5% of fans, absolutely in line with historical trends. I think most of the reports that we’ve seen have been efforts to take one or two data points out of a very large number of tours and shows, and we’re just not seeing anything unusual there.”
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Legendary US festival to return after 13 years
HFStival, a legendary US rock festival that took place in the 1990s and early 2000s, will return this September.
Launched by the alternative rock station WHFS in 1990, the festival hosted acts such as No Doubt, the Violent Femmes and the Ramones.
It was held at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. from 1993 to 2004; at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2005; and at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, in 2006. It was held again in 2010 and 2011 in commemoration of the now-defunct station’s legacy.
At its peak, the HFStival was the largest yearly music festival on the East Coast, drawing 55,000 to 90,000 people and selling out in a matter of hours.
“Quintessential HFStival acts have been doing an unprecedented business… so it made sense to bring back the festival”
Now, I.M.P., the parent company of DC’s historic 9:30 Club, is reviving HFStival after 13 years.
The one-stage event will take place on 21 September at Nationals Park featuring The Postal Service performing ‘Give Up’, Death Cab For Cutie performing ‘Transatlanticism’, Incubus, Bush, Garbage, Jimmy Eat World, Girl Talk, Violent Femmes, Tonic, Filter, and Lit.
“Quintessential HFStival acts have been doing an unprecedented business, selling more tickets than they ever came close to back in the day, so it all made sense to bring back the HFStival,” says Seth Hurwitz, owner of I.M.P., the 9:30 Club, The Anthem, and The Atlantis and operator of Merriweather Post Pavilion and Lincoln Theatre.
“This will be a show for everyone who went to HFStival in decades past and those who weren’t around to be a part of the scene.”
Tickets range between $150–475 (€140–442) and the festival will employ a “fan-friendly” lottery system, which is open from now until 16 June.
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Noel Gallagher gig cancelled after bomb threat
A Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds concert in New York was cancelled due to a bomb threat shortly before the band were due to take the stage.
Gallagher is in the home stretch of a North America co-headline tour with Garbage, which stopped at the 5,200-cap Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY on Saturday (8 July).
However, the amphitheatre was evacuated “out of an abundance of caution” following performances by Garbage and support act Metric.
“The New York State Park Police, New York State Police, Saratoga Springs Police Department, Troy Police Department, and Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office responded to a bomb threat at Saratoga Performing Arts Center,” says a statement from the emergency services. “Out of an abundance of caution, the concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was suspended at 9.40 pm and concert attendees were evacuated without incident. K9s completed a sweep of the venue after the crowd exited, with negative results.
Gallagher and Garbage are set to resume their co-headline tour tonight at New York City’s Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage
“This incident is under investigation. This case will be investigated as, Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony.”
A performance by Kidz Pop at the outdoor venue yesterday was subsequently delayed as a result of inclement weather, with promoter Live Nation Saratoga advising fans to “seek shelter in the venue”.
Gallagher and Garbage are set to resume their tour tonight (10 July) at New York City’s Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage in Central Park. The run will then make further stops at Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (13 July), Philadelphia’s TD Pavilion at the Mann (14 July) and MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston (15 July).
The groups were previously forced to cancel a 28 June show at Breese Stevens Field in Wisconsin because of poor air quality. Promoter FPC Live said the decision was “based on the Public Health Madison & Dane County’s Air Quality Advisory”.
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