Additions, Postponements & Cancellations

Princely Affairs

With no sign of a tour or any indication of long-range performance plans, Prince has scheduled three Euro appearances. His Purpleness is to play Denmark’s Roskilde Festival July 4, Arras, France, at the Main Square Festival site July 9 and Werchter Boutique in Werchter, Belgium, July 10. Technically, Roskilde is the only true festival appearance as the Arras and Werchter dates take place one week after Main Square Festival and Rock Werchter, respectively.

As usual, Prince is keeping his touring cards close to his purple vest and there is no word on whether the announced dates are the first signs of a larger tour, or if he’s just looking for an excuse to hop the Atlantic. Mint Condition and Larry Graham will also appear on the dates.

Volcanic Activity

As Europe continues to juggle airline schedules and all that ash spewn forth from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, more bands and artists have had to adjust their travel plans.

Los Campesinos!’s U.S. tour was originally scheduled to begin April 17 in Hoboken, N.J. While the band was forced to cancel most of its first-week shows, it has locked down new dates for Boston and New York, playing Beantown’s Paradise Rock Club April 25 and NYC’s The Fillmore at Irving Plaza April 26.

Charlie Musselwhite has a new reason to play the blues. Iceland’s volcano is preventing the blues-harp player from returning from Europe, causing him to cancel three U.S. dates – April 23 in Bremerton, Wash., April 24 in Seattle and an April 25 benefit concert in Portland, Ore.

Welsh heavy metal band Budgie was supposed to be in the U.S. this week, but that ain’t gonna happen. Scheduled to play Pittsburgh April 22 followed by gigs in Allentown, Pa., Cleveland, Chicago and San Antonio, the band issued an announcement saying it would have to reschedule its U.S. shows. The band also said it still hopes to tour South America in May – volcano permitting, of course.

Swedish foursome The Mary Onettes has canceled its U.S. tour that was originally scheduled to begin April 19 in Philadelphia and run through April 29 in Hollywood.

And The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band has canceled 11 Europe appearances, blaming the big damn volcano for the changes. The band was scheduled to play a series of shows in Austria beginning April 21 followed by gigs in Denmark, Norway and Germany before wrapping up the tour in Diskmuide, Belgium, May 7.

But we’re sure the above cancellations and postponements represent only the tip of the proverbial volcanic mountaintop. Even though flights have resumed in parts of Europe, that doesn’t mean the current travel crisis is over. Airlines and airports are now trying to recover from five days of grounded flights and stranded passengers, and it will be some time before air travel gets back to normal. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and don’t be surprised if you see more concert schedule changes in the days to come.