The Beatles were a boy band though.

Maccaroni1974 wrote:

It will be difficult for any performer to tour in the near future even if there is a cure/vaccine.  30 million people have filed for unemployment just in the USA.   It would be hard for him to tour charging $600-$700 for a pair of face value tix or $3,000 for a pair of soundcheck tix.  2022 at the earliest if he chooses to play live again IMHO.

Hold on, there is a big difference between "difficult for any performer to tour" and "hard for McCartney to charge 700 dollars for a ticket".

The latter is the result of the bloated industry and silly people willing to pay for that. The good thing is that will be normalised after this crisis.

sarahlovesmacca wrote:

My email about the Nijmegen show said that vouchers would be offered, but if they're not suitable, we can apply for a refund. Apparently it could take up to 3 months to be processed. I just hope it's not too much of a headache.

I didn't buy a ticket, but it should be an easy form. Also, it should already been emailed to you.

Official: all dates cancelled, not postponed.

FRESHEN UP EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR CANCELLED

Due to the current global situation Paul and his team have been forced to cancel the forthcoming European tour dates.

Given current and future work commitments it has not been possible to find alternative dates.

Paul commented:

“We were looking forward to seeing you all this summer for what we know would have been much fun. The band and I are so sorry we can’t be with you, but these are unprecedented times and the wellbeing and safety of everyone is the priority.  I hope you are all keeping well as we look forward to the brighter times ahead.  We will rock again. Love Paul”

The PAUL McCARTNEY FRESHEN UP TOUR dates were as follows:

Saturday 23 May 2020 - Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Lille – details available*

Tuesday 26 May 2020 - Paris La Défense Arena, Paris – details available*

Friday 29 May 2020 - Goffert Park, Nijmegen– details available*

Sunday 31 May 2020 - Stadium Matmut, Bordeaux – details available*

Thursday 4 June 2020 - HDI Arena, Hannover – details available*

Sunday 7 June 2020 - Groupama Stadium, Lyon – details available*

Wednesday 10 June 2020 - Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples – details to follow

Saturday 13 June 2020 - Mura Storiche, Lucca – details to follow

Wednesday 17 June 2020 - Olympic Stadium, Barcelona – details available*

Sunday 21 June 2020 - TW Classic Festival, Werchter – details available*

Saturday 27 June 2020 – Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury – details available*

* Please refer to your point of purchase for further details.

They probably jumped the gun, because McCartney's team likes to keep us in the dark for a few more days, haha...

There was a quote by McCartney and all on the situation, so it's not something the organisation made up themselves.

If "many rumours" are the same people repeating the same personal thoughts, let's not take this as facts just yet :).

To back up what I said about what the Dutch organisation communicated behind the scenes, they are also stating on their event page, in full words: "this concert will be postponed, new date not yet known" as recent as today: https://www.mojo.nl/concerten/paul-mccartney/ As opposed to the easy cancellation of many other tours by them, big or small, which were announced as such weeks ago.

If it will be a full cancellation of the tour after all, it's a sudden decision, as recent as this week. As I argued earlier, McCartney's own words and the long weeks of silence show that as well.

It seems McCartney's team left the organisation hanging and did not put effort in the proposed Spring 2021 dates, but cancelled after all: https://www.groupama-stadium.com/paul-mccartney-concert-programme-le-7-juin-annule/

I wonder if Lyon was a slow selling show, so it's convenient to them. If so, I fear the show in The Netherlands will be cancelled after all as opposed to postponed. The organisation will not be happy, since they could've made this decision 6 weeks ago like on all other events, but it was McCartney's team who wanted to wait to find suitable dates for 2021. It explains the radio silence.

It's interesting they made this U-turn, especially since McCartney himself confirmed as well the tour was being pushed back to 2021 (not cancelled) during the Howard Stern phoner 2 weeks ago.

Golden Earth Girl wrote:

nobodytoldme wrote:

Golden Earth Girl wrote:

My aunt and uncle work in the music business. We asked them what they think will happen. They said that the promoters will be looking to postpone the dates and do their best not to cancel them as they will lose too much money by cancelling. That's as much as I know.

They are being postponed to 2021, not cancelled. Indeed for reasons stated, plus insurance reasons, since not all countries have a total ban for May and June... yet.

Also, the shows are still on sale, for the reason they will roll the tickets over to the next date. What's the hold-up at for the announcement of the new dates at this point can have many reasons. But it's ridiculous. It's 3 weeks until the show in Lille, which on paper is still on sale and in the schedule.

My personal theory is that they are waiting for the OK from Glastonbury that they can headline in 2021 as well. It's the whole purpose of this tour full of way too big venues in the same territory he played the same set before. Actually, the postponement is a blessing in disguise for the Dutch gig, which didn't even sell 20% of the capacity before a massive promotional campaign. It crept up to 30% by now, but still not long enough to make this lucrative. Which is their own fault, they knew this from the start.

Please tell me how you know the tour is going back to 2021, and that tickets are transferable, because I can't find that stated or confirmed anywhere!

The problem is that it's not stated or confirmed anywhere yet, which is the ridiculous. I know this through the Dutch organisation, who have been in daily contact for weeks with McCartney's camp now. (Almost) all the tours and venue shows worldwide for the whole Summer have been cancelled or postponed to 2021 weeks ago. All but McCartney's tour.

His team doesn't want to cancel, so the bookers were waiting to match schedules. To add to this, yesterday they went from a confident "waiting for a new date for Spring 2021" to "we don't know if a replacement date can be announced in the foreseeable future". And in public there has still been no announcement made from either parties.

Taking the piss at this point, 18 days before the first proposed show. Which is still in the schedule, and other shows still on sale.

Golden Earth Girl wrote:

My aunt and uncle work in the music business. We asked them what they think will happen. They said that the promoters will be looking to postpone the dates and do their best not to cancel them as they will lose too much money by cancelling. That's as much as I know.

They are being postponed to 2021, not cancelled. Indeed for reasons stated, plus insurance reasons, since not all countries have a total ban for May and June... yet.

Also, the shows are still on sale, for the reason they will roll the tickets over to the next date. What's the hold-up at for the announcement of the new dates at this point can have many reasons. But it's ridiculous. It's 3 weeks until the show in Lille, which on paper is still on sale and in the schedule.

My personal theory is that they are waiting for the OK from Glastonbury that they can headline in 2021 as well. It's the whole purpose of this tour full of way too big venues in the same territory he played the same set before. Actually, the postponement is a blessing in disguise for the Dutch gig, which didn't even sell 20% of the capacity before a massive promotional campaign. It crept up to 30% by now, but still not long enough to make this lucrative. Which is their own fault, they knew this from the start.

JonathanM1989 wrote:

nobodytoldme wrote:

As I said weeks ago, everyone can understand that there will be no big events on this Summer worldwide. And by now we know it’s likely the first big events will not be happening before 2021.

It’s not a matter of country-wise bans or not, it’s the whole industry behind it not being able to function for many reasons. Just imagine that McCartney technically would be allowed to perform in country X somewhere in June. Then first of all he’s not going to put his own health and that of his many, many workers at risk. Secondly there’s no way he and his whole crew will be allowed outside their own countries, let alone travel through different countries.

Third of all the whole logistics behind it, the whole financial picture, it will take months to be back into shape. The whole tour fell apart, it wouldn’t be viable to do just a few shows. It’s the total puzzle. For every tour or festival in the whole wide world. It will take ages for the industry to start up again.

That's why it's silly for example Primavera rescheduled from May to August and Rock En Seine in August announced today they didn't cancel the event yet. Even if they will be allowed to organise a mass gathering by then, 80% of their line-up will be either stuck in their home countries, bankrupt, scared of touring or not capable of touring any more since all other bookings got scrapped. It's not going to happen this Summer.

I generally agree with your analysis. But be a little careful about the costs/time involved in re-activating PMc's team. I spoke with a couple of them in Japan a couple of years ago. They are full time employees. As such, I think PMc would be better placed to get things going. I think there is an outside chance that the Italy shows may still go ahead this summer.

Italy, the country which was hit the hardest and are bracing for the second wave in a broken economy and exhausted health care? Just because on paper at this moment mass gatherings might be allowed in 2 months over there, doesn't mean it's practically possible. It's an absolute pipe dream.

And I get what you're saying, but everyone in every industry is losing money anyway. And to set up the whole production for just a few shows, which initially were booked to do 10 stadium shows before a huge festival, is just not viable. Besides, like argued, the whole production can't be set up. At this moment it's a big feat to get life-saving equipment from continent to continent, let alone flight cases for entertainment. Let alone alllll the other links in the process. The borders aren't even open.