BEATING AROUND THE BUSH
ANOTHER SETBACK FOR LIVE MUSIC
THE promoter of the first big international rock tour of Australia – including the Gold Coast next month – is blaming the slow vaccine rollout for an 11th-hour postponement.
Devastated promoter Andrew McManus has revealed the 11-date Under the Southern Stars tour – starting April 30 in NSW and headlined by Stone Temple Pilots and Bush – would be postponed.
It had included a May 15 show, also featuring Cheap Trick, Rose Tattoo and Electric Mary, at Southport Sharks.
Organisers of a separate May 1 music event, Inverted Festival at Metricon Stadium, have cancelled it entirely.
But the UTSS postponement will be until the first quarter of next year – and all pre-purchased tickets would remain valid for the future shows, Mr McManus said.
In a statement he added: “Given the disappointingly slow rollout of the vaccine by the government, there is no confidence we can keep all safe and proceed as planned at our (UTSS) festivals this May.
“The continuing mismanagement of the COVID-19 situation at all levels of government has led to numerous inconsistencies and ongoing broken promises by officials that ultimately affect the safety of our patrons, artists and our crews, both domestic and international. So much so that the situation presents too much risk to go forward with the dates as planned at the end of April and into May 2021.”
Mr McManus had clearance from border authorities to bring in the acts and their crews for the tour, as revealed in the Bulletin earlier this year.
In Wednesday’s postponement statement, he added: ‘We ask you all to continue to believe in us.
“We must protect our artists and patrons. We get it ... how many times can the Australian system force another postponement? So we are making the hard decision to reschedule Under The Southern Stars to the first quarter of 2022 and ask that all our valued supporters hold on to their tickets and in return we will be announcing some truly exciting additions to the line-up and festival circuit.
“We sincerely apologise for the situation and ask once again for our loyal patrons to #keepyourticket and stay tuned. Not only for new dates, but we are planning on making Under The Southern Stars bigger and better. It will absolutely be worth the wait.”
New dates and additions to the line-up would be shared in “coming weeks” he said
He cited the “11th hour cancellation” of Byron Bay Bluesfest by the NSW Government on the eve of the landmark festival’s start date as a reason for the postponement.
The Inverted Festival, aiming to be Australia’s biggest standing music festival since the pandemic, said due to recent axings it was clear there wasn’t enough flexibility for such gigs. Full refunds would be given.