11 December 2017
As most of you know last night in Leamington was a clusterfuck regarding the weather and I want to try and explain what happened and what is happening.
We managed to make it down from Manchester but left early at 10am to make sure we got there. We obviously knew it would be tough going but were surprised to discover it was pretty clear until we got closer to the venue. Even then the roads were gritted and easily passable and we reached the Assembly rooms with no serious problems. I was very aware that the Birmingham area and east of Leamington was a lot worse.
I could not cancel the Leamington night. I am under contract for shows and am legally obliged to perform gigs. I do not have insurance to cover indoor shows because of inclement weather. I do not have the ability to cancel shows. Only the promoter and venue have that. The fact is that 60% of the audience and the band and crew showed up last night and I am sincerely appreciative of their efforts to do so.
That was the perogative of the promoter and venue.If it had been cancelled 600 people would have been pissed off at making the effort for a no show and that included international fans some of whom I talked to after the gig who had flown from Norway and hiked for 2 hours because they couldn’t get a taxi to a station. What am I supposed to say to them if it was cancelled and I am at the venue?
I talked with the venue , the promoters representative and others last night and everyone was incredibly sympathetic to the people who couldn’t make it. We have decided that we will reschedule a show at the Assembly rooms in order to make up for disappointments and I ask the people who couldn’t make it to hold on to their tickets for a while so we can work out the details of how to work this out.
I will play another show at the Assembly rooms and those that couldn’t get there last night will be able to get in at the next show free of charge. That we have to work on in the coming days. It’s not going to be in the next months as band and crew are scattered after the Glasgow show but I promise it will happen next year.
I am doing my best as are the promoters and the venue to sort this out. We don’t have to and could be cold hearted bastards and take a “fuck it” stance.We are not and respect you all as fans and customers. Please appreciate that the entire situation last night was out of our control and we had to think about the people that were able to get there. I most sincerely appreciate all the effort that those fans did put in to be part of our show. The situation is complex for a number of reasons but we will unravel it all and set up a gig to compensate. It will happen.
Thanks again to all of you who were able to get ther last night and who made an incredible effort to attend. To those who couldn’t get there , sorry you missed it but I will deliver you a show next year.