|
The surprise announcement underscored the
fragility of live music's recovery from a pandemic that keeps
going, and it disappointed thousands of fans who had scored
pricey tickets to sold-out shows that were due to start on
Friday.
Adele said COVID-19 had infected half of her crew and the
pandemic had caused delivery delays. Performances by the
"Rolling in the Deep" singer had been seen as a bellwether for
Las Vegas residencies, once reserved for stars at the end of
careers but now a sought-after gig for top musicians.
"It was really important to Vegas," said Jem Aswad, deputy music
editor for Variety. "Vegas was hit harder than most cities
simply by nature of its of its industry and its business."
On Friday, hip-hop group the Fugees canceled a 25th anniversary
tour, saying "the continued COVID pandemic had made touring
conditions difficult." Earlier this month, Billy Joel postponed
a January show at Madison Square Garden until August. The Weeknd
scrapped shows for early 2022 but planned new ones for the
summer.
"People are being cautious," Aswad said. "We're still not sure
how much longer this is going to go on or what might be
happening next."
"But tours are still happening," he added. "There's bad news,
but there's good news too."
On Wednesday, British rocker John resumed his farewell tour that
started in 2018 with a concert in New Orleans. Eilish is
scheduled to kick off a world tour on Feb. 3 and Bieber on Feb.
18.
FRUSTRATED FANS
One veteran music industry observer said cancellations and
postponements risk permanently alienating consumers, who may
hesitate to take the financial risk of traveling to a
destination for a concert or music festival. Artists may refund
the price of a ticket, but the money spent on airfare and hotel
reservations may be lost.
"You're going to get people who are burned by this financially
who say this isn’t worth the risk," said the observer.
While Las Vegas has to wait for Adele, Katy Perry, Usher and
others are continuing to perform in residencies there, and the
city will host the Grammy Awards in April.
Adele's postponement, however, was a setback. The shows were to
follow her latest album "30," which debuted at No. 1 in 30
countries in November, and would have been her first live
appearances since 2017.
The singer had been due to perform two shows each weekend for 12
weeks at a venue that seats roughly 4,000 people. Pre-sale
tickets had sold out in minutes, and website TMZ reported that
resellers had been offering single seats for as much as $35,000
each in December.
The artist's 2016 tour grossed $165 million, according to
Pollstar, which tracks the live entertainment industry.
Many ticketholders had already traveled to Las Vegas and were
upset Adele would not be taking the stage this weekend.
"Sorry this is rubbish. Everyone has already flown in including
my wife and her girlfriends," Twitter user Jordan P. wrote in a
post. "We spent thousands to get them there as a Christmas
surprise gift. This is unacceptable."
TikTok user _alyssayung_ said she spent all afternoon on
Thursday "buying the perfect outfit" and packing before seeing
texts from friends saying the shows were postponed.
"Severely disappointed right now," she said in a video.
Some questioned the timing of Adele's announcement, made the day
before her first show.
"You must've known the show wasn't ready yesterday," Twitter
user Gill said. "It's cruel to wait 26 hrs until 1st show.
Wasted airplane and hotel money!!"
Others were more sympathetic. Some fans said they planned to
show their support by gathering outside Adele's Las Vegas hotel
room on Friday evening to sing her hit song "Hold On."
"Health will always come first in times like this, can’t wait
for all the shows to get rescheduled," wrote Twitter user Ash,
who had tickets to her show on Friday. "I can’t wait to have the
best time of my life with you on stage, pls don’t feel guilty,
it breaks my heart."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles
and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
