BL tour of NYC and CHICAGO cancelled.

I will probably never be able to listen to any of their stuff again without wondering how I can get back my plane ticket and hotel expenses.

*shakes head and walks away

HAL 9000 wrote: I will probably never be able to listen to any of their stuff again without wondering how I can get back my plane ticket and hotel expenses.

*shakes head and walks away

I hate being cynical about the whole thing, but i suspect visa issues is a bit of old bollocks disguising poor ticket sales. Perhaps Barney's new found 'vigour' has run of steam when it comes to crossing the Atlantic and probably losing money in costs in the process.

I would love to be wrong and find out that Jake is up to his neck in outstanding warrants.

I think the tickets to the concerts were selling fine enough. Park West only holds about 700 according to their website, and Webster Hall is small. There would have most likely been far more tickets sales close to the date.

Plus, I would imagine that a band like Bad LT would be payed a garauntee, regardless of ticket sales. I saw the Happy Mondays and the Psychedelic Furs play to roughly 500 people here in Columbus, and they were still happy to play.

There could be truth with the visas thing. I am sure that Bernard, Steve, and Phil all have US work Visas as they were over here in 2005 (though have any of them been here since then?). I bet that the Visa trouble most likely occurred with Jake Evans or Tom Chapman, whom are both relatively unknown and haven't played in the states before.

Still....this is sloppy on BL's part. These US dates were most likely booked weeks before they were announced, I'd reckon they were booked in late August.....that should been given them more than enough time to sort the Visa paperwork out.

Seems like it was a last minute surprise for them as well.

The Cap'n wrote: Feel sorry for the folk who've lost money on non-refundable travel tix, that would piss me right off... You'd think the approval of work visas and confirmation of tour dates would coincide so stuff like this couldn't happen

Erm, just put Dynamo on repeat

yeah yeah yeah

I have read online that performers coming to the US for touring must apply for the specific performer's visa each time, hence they cannot use their past visas. It's apparently taking very long to process these visas for non-US performers.

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm sorry to say this but it seems a bit unprofessional, a visa issue a week before the concerts?? That should've been looked into way back in the summer. I also thought that the band members come to the States quite frequently that it won't be a big deal. What about the 2005 visas? Expired already? I didn't know that for UK citizens it's such a hassle.

Anyway, no more flying for me to non-existent concerts. If BL are coming next year, they should consider Texas first thing on the map.

when was the last time they played texas ? I think I am right in that they have only played here once. I am pretty sure an expanded tour will include LA, and perhaps Canada. Both of which would mean another plane ticket. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

El Jarvo wrote:

Only played to 600, 800 and 1200 over here, and didn't sell out.

So. those of you who bought plane tickets and reserved hotel rooms...are you still going to fly to NYC and Chicago respectively and still try to enjoy yourselves?

I called my work and asked to pick up any extra hours (I requested the whole week off a month ago, figured I would visit friends and play a gig) but if I get get at least 25-30 hours at work, I am just not going to go, won't be a big loss as my round trip Megabus ticket was only 20 bucks.

This still sucks.

-----background check----

-Bernard "barney" Sumner-

*1994,1998,2007,2008: drunk while sailing *2008: drunk while battling shark *1985-88: tube socks while loafers

his past finally caught up with him.....

glad to hear it wasnt poor ticket sales!sucks for the guys who already made plans.(how does a big hug sound?? would that help in your healing process?)

anyways!

who's up for the California gig next spring?? i got a spare bed someone can stay in, but i call top bunk you a-holes!

This really sucks for all the people who already paid for non-refundable flights and hotels etc :\ohwell: :\ohwell:

[orange]State of Love and Trust [/orange] wrote: This really sucks for all the people who already paid for non-refundable flights and hotels etc :\ohwell: :\ohwell:

Agreed. The tickets may be refundable, but there are flights and hotel bookings out there that may not be.

Blame the frankly ridiculous US Visa system. It's a fucking joke. I was flying to Montreal two weeks ago via Newark. If you were flying through ANY other country in transit you'd check your bags in at your departure airport and pick them up at your arrival destination. Not if your flying through the US. Even if your stay in the US is only gonna be 90 minutes. You need to pick your luggage up, clear customs and then re-check it in. During this process we got pulled in and questioned cos we were travelling with a lot of equipment resulting in us missing our connection. No apologies, no attempt to fast-track us onto the plane. What stupid fucking system.

Exactly the same on the way home. You need to clear US Customs when your still in Montreal!! Same sketch again, we got pulled and questioned about the nature of our luggage (and weather we should be paying tax on it) even though our final destination was the UK. How fucking stupid is that? Fortunately the guy that pulled me was a Bostonian with Glaswegian parents and a paid up member of the Knights of St Columba so I gave him the handshake and was on my way much quicker than my mate in the other room.

If the visa and clearance process is so difficult nowadays for Joe Bloggs going for a two week holiday in Orlando imagine how difficult it's gonna be for anyone trying to secure a work visa.

Jeffari-al-Texani wrote:

HAL 9000 wrote:

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm sorry to say this but it seems a bit unprofessional, a visa issue a week before the concerts?? That should've been looked into way back in the summer. I also thought that the band members come to the States quite frequently that it won't be a big deal. What about the 2005 visas? Expired already? I didn't know that for UK citizens it's such a hassle.

Anyway, no more flying for me to non-existent concerts. If BL are coming next year, they should consider Texas first thing on the map.

when was the last time they played texas ? I think I am right in that they have only played here once. I am pretty sure an expanded tour will include LA, and perhaps Canada. Both of which would mean another plane ticket. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

last time new order came to Texas was in 93...played one show in Dallas...they did Austin, Houston and Dallas in 89...played a few times before that as well...

ahh i was thinking once in houston.

GlasVegas wrote: Blame the frankly ridiculous US Visa system. It's a fucking joke. I was flying to Montreal two weeks ago via Newark. If you were flying through ANY other country in transit you'd check your bags in at your departure airport and pick them up at your arrival destination. Not if your flying through the US. Even if your stay in the US is only gonna be 90 minutes. You need to pick your luggage up, clear customs and then re-check it in. During this process we got pulled in and questioned cos we were travelling with a lot of equipment resulting in us missing our connection. No apologies, no attempt to fast-track us onto the plane. What stupid fucking system.

Exactly the same on the way home. You need to clear US Customs when your still in Montreal!! Same sketch again, we got pulled and questioned about the nature of our luggage (and weather we should be paying tax on it) even though our final destination was the UK. How fucking stupid is that? Fortunately the guy that pulled me was a Bostonian with Glaswegian parents and a paid up member of the Knights of St Columba so I gave him the handshake and was on my way much quicker than my mate in the other room.

If the visa and clearance process is so difficult nowadays for Joe Bloggs going for a two week holiday in Orlando imagine how difficult it's gonna be for anyone trying to secure a work visa.

Same thing happened to us coming over- we nearly missed our flight to Manchester. It is ridiculous. And you can forget about duty-free liquor too.

eskamiya wrote: -----background check----

-Bernard "barney" Sumner-

*1994,1998,2007,2008: drunk while sailing *2008: drunk while battling shark *1985-88: tube socks while loafers

his past finally caught up with him.....

Don't forget 1986: brought bag of vomit through airport security (clearly in violation of new TSA liquid restrictions).

Only the Bad Lieutenant headliner gigs will likely be refunded. I have tickets to the Pixies gig in Chicago, which Ticketbastard likely will not refund since the Pixies will still be showing up. Refunds typically are not offered if the opening act cancels.

While I love the Pixies, I have already seen them and only bought tickets since both Bad Lieutenant AND the Pixies were playing. Doh!

-Mike

Sorry to hear those who arranged/bought air tickets/hotel and such. :(

I had a concert canceled out on me before and I know how you feel...

Zachery Starkey wrote:

I saw the Happy Mondays and the Psychedelic Furs play to roughly 500 people here in Columbus, and they were still happy to play.

Just as an aside, saw the Psych furs play at an middle-of-nowhere club in NJ that tried and failed to bring original acts to a cover-band loving state a few years back to maybe 100 people and they rocked it like they were still filling arenas. Class act, those Furs - and an awesome show, always worth seeing.

Sucks about BL and Echo & the bunnymen. I suspect visa issues are bogus (seriously, customs is going to give English pop stars a hard time?), and it's bad tickets sales. Economy sucks here, you know.

Echo and the Bunnymen were supposed to come to my town on their tour. The venue cited some sort of new tax issue as the reason for cancellation. Apparently, bands did not have to pay all that much in tax especially compared to US bands playing in Europe. The US government recently changed this so foreign bands have to pay a lot more in tax. The new tax that EatB would have to pay essentially would render the tour profitless for them. I'm assuming this is the case with BL as well.

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm sorry to say this but it seems a bit unprofessional, a visa issue a week before the concerts?? That should've been looked into way back in the summer.

My anger wouldn't be directed towards the band, it would be directed towards the horrific "homeland security" policies of the United States; they are the most draconian in the world. So much for "freedom"....... :-(

jake atkinson wrote:

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm sorry to say this but it seems a bit unprofessional, a visa issue a week before the concerts?? That should've been looked into way back in the summer.

My anger wouldn't be directed towards the band, it would be directed towards the horrific "homeland security" policies of the United States; they are the most draconian in the world. So much for "freedom"....... :-(

Disagree. My anger would be aimed at Bad Lieutenant manager and PR person. Why announce a tour before getting all the paperwork sorted. America only has very tight security because it's the most hated country in the world. You can't blame them for being paranoid.

Bad Lieutenant - Amateurs

Ger Boy wrote:

jake atkinson wrote:

|| | ||| 6217|| 8 || 3 wrote: I'm sorry to say this but it seems a bit unprofessional, a visa issue a week before the concerts?? That should've been looked into way back in the summer.

My anger wouldn't be directed towards the band, it would be directed towards the horrific "homeland security" policies of the United States; they are the most draconian in the world. So much for "freedom"....... :-(

Disagree. My anger would be aimed at Bad Lieutenant manager and PR person. Why announce a tour before getting all the paperwork sorted. America only has very tight security because it's the most hated country in the world. You can't blame them for being paranoid.

Bad Lieutenant - Amateurs

Well I'm just going to say that it's useless to play the blame game. Maybe they didn't get their paperwork sorted, but it's also true that visa applications are taking longer to process.

I have quite a bit of experiences wrt to visa applications and such. Bad Lieutenant would fall under the P visa and in particular P-1. I really doubt they will be applying for P-2 or P-3 But here's the catch on USCIS page:

P-1 classification applies to individual or team athletes, or members of an entertainment group that are internationally recognized (25,000);

The 25,000 refers to the yearly cap. New Order is internationally recognized. But Bad Lieutenant may not be, at least to the USCIS officers. Something in there got tied up and...I think it still boils down to who knows who to make the process go forward.

Why do I say that?

Case in point: HyperNova, a rock/punk band from Iran, had visa issues a year ago. They were supposed to tour the US and their visas were denied. Eventually, some NYT or The New Yorker journalist who happens to be a fan, made the right connection with a senator and he made the visas possible. And right away, they were on the flight to the US. I saw them when they opened for the Sisters of Mercy.

So now the question is maybe Obama is a fan of New Order? And if he knows about Bad Lieutenant's visa issues, maybe he can sort things out. I can't think of anyone else young enough...

Vince Se wrote: So now the question is maybe Obama is a fan of New Order? And if he knows about Bad Lieutenant's visa issues, maybe he can sort things out. I can't think of anyone else young enough...

AgentWood should call up some of her buddies in the House.

Its catch-22 - you probably can't apply for the visa unless you have the tour dates sorted first.

US immigration have always been a nightmare - long before 9/11, homeland security etc.

I got held up for 4 months in 1988 waiting for my work visa when our department got bought by US Sprint and relocated to DC. No one else in the department had any problem even though some had the exact same degree. (they were saying my degree wasn't up to US standard or some such bollix).

Also I know a musician here who decided to go to the States for the summer a few years back (on no visa). She made the mistake of leaving a letter in her luggage from some venue promising her gigs and she was denied entry at the airport.

She spent 6 weeks in Edinburgh instead :)

Don't complain yet blokes! We can have Nuh Ordah back in 2010!!! :D