Gorillaz have rescheduled their world tour to incorporate a 20 date trip to the US, while cancelling three of their European dates! Their original tour of Europe included Glasgow, Newcastle and Milan – after selling thousands of tickets for these shows the Gorillaz management team have decided to cancel them completely while announcing new dates for other cities. Is this yet more proof of the complete lack of nous from Gorillaz beleaguered label – EMI? It’s standard for many gigs to be cancelled or rescheduled through illness or injury – it is another thing when gigs are cancelled and redistributed to other cities that are hundreds of miles away. Where was the sense in cancelling Newcastle and adding Brighton to the tour? Not many fans from Newcastle will want to travel down to the south coast town? Pity the poor Milan fans who’ve now seen their city date cancelled, only for the much smaller city of Antwerp get the nod instead!
The main reasons cited for this ill-advised and mismanaged rescheduling is the incorporation of a world tour rather than the initial European tour for the Gorillaz collective. This type of fudged and hastily announced strategy change is unfathomable for a globally recognised band, especially in today’s mass marketed and corporative world of 12 month plans and targeted commerce. OK, the one thing we all like about Gorillaz is the ad hoc, collective vibe of Albarn’s whimsy, although cancelling dates of certain cities and then announcing dates for different – smaller cities will only anger and disappoint. Music fans invest a lot of time and money – gigs are expensive and have therefore become great social events where fans base whole itineraries around, cancelling venues where thousands of tickets have already been sold will diminish the incredible bond between bands and their fans.
Melodicmatter 