Today’s blog comes a little bit later. Â It is being used to break news of a tour cancellation and discuss the factors around it.
“Dear North- American fans. We have no other option than to cancel our American Fullmoon tour with Swallow the Sun and Witherfall that would start August 25th and end September 19th.
Unsolvable logistic and transportation problems are the cause behind this cancellation. Together with Continental Touring USA, Moonspell and STS tried all the options available but we have no other solution than cancelling. We thank you for your understanding and apologize for all the trouble caused.”
Many people who work in the Music Industry are self-employed contractors. When they found themselves unemployed for a year for one to two years, many people moved on to other fields. They either retrained or chose different careers. A couple of my long-term employees left Toronto due to the loss of employment and the pandemic. It was sad to see them go, we still remain friends. They have not returned.
There are new touring crew and new tour managers on tours. I have been pretty fortunate to maintain most of my staff who worked for me prior to the pandemic. From what I understand there is a shortage of labour in the larger crews that work the bigger venues in the city. This does not stop the events from happening but it does bring inexperience into the events which can be problematic and or dangerous.
This summer the number of band cancellations for summer festivals were a result of these problems. A lack of proper crew and proper transportation forcied bands to cancel their appearances. I’m sure the disappointment was massive not only for the bands for the fans as well.
Hopefully as we move into 2023, the number of tours on the road will not be as overwhelming. It does make sense with people trying to make up for lost touring and income. Perhaps next year there will be adequate amounts of professional staff and vehicles on the road to prevent cancellations like this like this from happening repeatedly.
