A STING IN THE TAIL
The Last Ship strikes yet another iceberg..!
IT was meant to be a real Bank Holiday spectacle but the outdoor performance of Sting musical The Last Ship has been cancelled – with the producers and promoters behind it blaming each other.
The hit show is currently on a UK tour, following an acclaimed stint at Newcastle’s Northern Stage and its cast were set to be joined by Sting himself for a special concert at Spiller’s Wharf on Monday, May 28, with the world-famous musician also lined up to perform some of his own greatest hits.
Some 15,000 tickets were put on sale for the event, but the show will not go on, with the plug being pulled just six days before it was due to take place.
The Last Ship Live was meant to be the final act in a weekend of top drawer entertainment, following on from Catfish & The Bottlemen’s show on Friday night and an appearance from Thirty Seconds To Mars, fronted by Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto, on Saturday which are part of the This is Tomorrow Festival.
But SSD Concerts, the promoters behind The Last Ship Live, claimed that the costs were increasing due to unexpected last-minute demands of The Last Ship’s London-based production team and they are bitterly disappointed that The Last Ship’s officials have now taken such a stance.
Despite trying to reach a resolution, SSD say they have no alternative to accept that The Last Ship team’s decision to cancel the show. The North East-based promoter that has been behind some of the biggest live music events staged in Newcastle in recent times.
However, a statement issued by the show’s producer Karl Sydow, says he lost all confidence in the promoter and was left with “no alternative” but to cancel.
He said: “It is of paramount importance to us that the quality and artistic integrity of the performance at Spiller’s Wharf would be what we and the audience would expect and we do not have the necessary confidence that this would be delivered. Therefore we have reached the unfortunate conclusion that we have no alternative but to cancel the performance.
“We thank all of the ticket purchasers and apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience that this cancellation may cause.”
The Catfish & The Bottlemen and Thirty Seconds To Mars gigs are still going ahead and anyone with tickets for The Last Ship Live is advised go back to their point of purchase for a refund.
The story of The Last Ship tells of a sailor’s return home from sea at a time the local shipyard is under threat of closure.
Amid rising tensions in the community, there develops a love story too - all captured by soaring music
a score which also features Sting’s popular songs Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance.
Its current tour starring Richard Fleeshman, Frances McNamee and Joe McGann alongside local favourites such as Charlie Hardwick and Joe Caffrey, has been picking up rave reviews and is continuing until July, when it will finish at The Lowry in Salford.