Dynamo’s first Wellington show vanishes

Tonight British magician Dynamo will play two shows in Wellington after his opening-night performance – planned for last night – was cancelled yesterday due to technical difficulties.

As some disgruntled fans arranged to get off work early to attend today’s replacement 5pm show, organisers assured ticketholders that the technical problems had been resolved.

They were advised to contact Ticketmaster if they wanted refunds or to attend today’s 8pm show, which had been scheduled for some time.

One disgruntled Dynamo fan said she was lucky that she could finish work a little earlier to be in the city in time for the new 5pm show by the popular performer.

‘‘I just felt sorry for the people who would have to miss the show and get a refund instead if they can’t make other arrangements at such short notice. I wonder what the ‘technical issues’ are?’’

In a statement, event promoter TEG and Venues Wellington said they had done ‘‘everything in their capacity’’ to make yesterday’s show happen as scheduled but with the clock ticking, they were left with no option other than to postpone.

‘‘These technical issues have now been resolved and both shows will definitely go ahead.’’

It is understood the difficulty was due to weights not being signed off to be put installed in the ceiling of TSB Arena.

Venues Wellington head of marketing Anna Calver said she couldn’t go into specifics about the technical issue. When asked why it had not been tackled earlier, she gave no response.

Another irate ticketholder said he had been booked for yesterday’s show but today’s 5pm slot would mean trying to get away from work early so he could make it into the city from the Hutt Valley. ‘‘Ticketmaster will have to refund my tickets in full. Yet again another failed Wellington event,’’ he said.

It’s not the first time this year that the capital’s event planners have dropped the ball. In June, Wellington’s first international icehockey game – between Canada and the US – was eventually scrapped a full day after its original start time, following two earlier postponements.

Dynamo – real name Steven Frayne – played his first New Zealand gig to 6000 Christchurch fans last Friday. He has four more shows from his Seeing Is Believing tour in Auckland at the end of the week.

‘‘Ticketmaster will have to refund my tickets in full. Yet again another failed Wellington event.’’ Irate Dynamo fan