‘Blow after blow’: Fans tell of Blink-182 cancellation upset
For Christchurch couple Michaela and Richard Russell, 2023 was “blow after blow” as Richard suffered health setbacks.
What helped the Blink-182 superfans get through, though – was looking forward to finally seeing the rock band that Richard, 44, introduced Michaela, 37, to when she was 18.
“Every time we got bad news it was like, ‘but yeah, we’ve got Blink-182 in March, we’ve both wanted this forever,” she saidafter a last-minute cancellation of the band’s Christchurch show on Thursday.
In mid-January 2023, Richard started displaying symptoms such as problems articulating speech, weakness in his hand and trouble concentrating, but he brushed them off. Later tests revealed he had had a stroke, and his symptoms have recently worsened, with partial paralysis in his right hand. He’s partial to seizures and can no longer drive.
“It’s really gutting to have that one bright spark taken away,” he sadof the cancellation.
While they would “move heaven and earth” to see the Californian pop-punk trio in Auckland, that gig is sold out.
The NZ leg of the reunion tour of the pop punk trio was first announced in 2022, before being later rescheduled due to fast-selling Australian tickets that saw the band add four more dates to their tour leg across the ditch. The cancellation of the March 4 Christchurch show was announced in an email to ticket holders on Thursday, citing, “unanticipated logistical issues outside of the band’s control”.
For 38-year-old Darryn Bennett – who grew up listening to the band and nabbed tickets in October, 2022 – the biggest frustration is over not having prior warning of the cancellation.
With Blink-182 playing one final show in Sydney today before playing three week night shows in Melbourne, “if they gave us notice, my wife and I would have gone to Sydney,” he said. “She probably would have tried to listen to Taylor Swift outside the venue, too.”
He added one of the “worst things” is the lack of acknowledgement from the band, themselves.
It’s not the first time the pop punk outfit have pulled out of shows last minute during the global tour. In October last yar, drummer Travis Barker rushed back to the US from Europe for an urgent family matter, and last March South American shows were postponed when he injured his finger.
By yesterday afternoon, the band – and its members – had yet to post any acknowledgement of the Christchurch cancellation on social media. “I feel like they kind of owe [a response] to the fans who have sat on these tickets for so long,” said Bennett. “If something came up and they can’t come, that’s life. But just front up,” he said.
The cancellation is an extra blow for Chile native Carolina Montoya, whose first attempt to see her favourite band in Peru was cancelled two weeks out in March last year. Now, while on a working holiday in Wellington she was hoping to end her NZ trip with her first visit to Christchurch and her first chance to see the band she missed a year earlier.
With a non-refundable flight, she’ll still get her one day in Christchurch, “but to be honest it’s heartbreaking”. “I was really hoping to finish my vacation with this concert. I was so happy. Everything was working out. It doesn’t seem real yet.”
A spokeperson for the promoter told Stuff there would be no further comment or statement, outside of what was emailed to ticket holders.