Jim Carrollon music.
Perplexed by Prince? You're not the only one
It has been a bad week for Irish gig-goers, as first Prince and then MIA cancelled shows. On Wednesday, MIA pulled her entire European tour, including a planned date at Dublin's Tripod.
Recent weeks have also seen Santogold, Mystery Jets, Gregory Isaacs, Black Mountain and Animal Collective cancel Dublin shows, citing everything from illness and missed ferries to "unforeseen circumstances". This is usually taken as promoter-speak for poor ticket sales.
But sorriest of all were the 55,000 Prince fans, after the pop star cancelled his only European show, which had been due to take place in Dublin's Croke Park next Monday.
Promoters MCD said the cancellation was "due to reasons beyond the control of Prince and MCD Productions". In an unprecedented move, MCD also cited sales of 55,161 tickets. This quashed most rumours about a poor-selling show.
So why was it cancelled? When the Dublin date was announced in February, it was said in the initial press release to be one of just three European shows in which Prince would perform his greatest hits for the last time.
However, the other shows in Milan and Paris didn't go ahead. While there were also online rumours of mooted shows in the Netherlands and Denmark, Dublin was the only Prince date in Europe for which tickets went on sale. Was there something different about the Dublin gig that would have made it viable as a one-off show?
If the Italian and French shows weren't on, why would Prince fly with his band and crew across the Atlantic the week after his 50th birthday to play just one show? It wouldn't seem to make any financial, logistical or practical sense.
As long ago as March, experienced industry observers were telling On The Recordthat they thought it unusual that Prince would play just one show in Europe.
So was the artist really to blame? Early on, some people inferred from the healthy ticket sales and from Prince's silence that this was the case.
However, in a post on fan site Housequake, it was pointed out that Prince is contractually forbidden from commenting on what happened. So his silence may not in itself be meaningful.
Many of the other allegations on the site made about the reasons for the cancellation were dismissed as false by an MCD spokesperson.
At the time of The Ticketgoing to press, no statement has been made by Prince or his agents explaining why there will be no purple rain at Croke Park next week.
Go right here to party
Urban tales of every hue are on offer from the We Are Here mini-fest organised by the Project Arts Centre and Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
The latest We Are Here takes place in various city spaces from June 23rd to July 5th.
Musical highlights include brazen Waterford lasses You're Only Massive's Disco-nnect, featuring a guided walking tour of the South Docklands followed by a gig.
There's also We Are Here To Party, featuring homegrown hip-hop from Ophelia and Redsquare, Arabic percussion from Tarab and Balkan and Gypsy fusion beats from Romania's DJ Dubase.
[ www.wearehere.ieOpens in new window ]
No Oxegen tickets? Why not jet to a fest
The Oxegen mega-fest may be sold-out, but it's not too late to take in a mid-July festival and have a bit of a holiday abroad while you're at it.
EXIT will be in full swing at the Petrovaradin fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia, from July 10th to 13th, with appearances from N*E*R*D, Sex Pistols, Paul Weller, Gossip, Afrika Bambaataa and hundreds more. More details at www.exitfest.org.
Those who want to go Italian should check out Italia Wave, happening this year in Livorno in Tuscany from July 16th to 19th. Acts digging into the fine backstage catering will include Gnarls Barkley, The Verve, The Ting Tings, The Chemical Brothers and many more. The cost? A mere €40 for a weekend pass. Info at www.italiawave.com.
ETC
• One for budding sound engineers: Dublin's Sound Training Centre holds open days on June 28th and August 23rd. www.soundtrainingcentre.com
• What vinyl countdown? US record industry scorekeepers the RIAA say vinyl shipments were up a
staggering 36 per cent in 2007 compared to the previous year.
• The Flat Lake Festival in Clones, Co Monaghan, on August 23rd-24th will feature loads of literary
types (including Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon) plus music from Henry McCullough's Flat Lake All-Star Band and others. See
www.theflatlakefestival.com
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