Odds & Ends: Backstreet Boys, Beady Eye, Grizzly Bear and Death Grips

Chicago fans of the Backstreet Boys left Chicago’s FirstMerit Bank Pavilion Friday night feeling a little shortchanged after the sound was cut off when the venue’s 11 p.m. curfew clicked in approximately five minutes before the end of the group’s set, reports the Chicago Tribune.

But don’t blame it on the Chicago Park District.  They passed/tweeted the buck to Live Nation which manages the venue.  The promotion company issued a statement Saturday night saying the concert’s start had been delayed because the Backstreet Boys’ “state of the art” setup had resulted in opening the doors later than usual, thus bumping into the 11 p.m. curfew.

The Tribune notes that Melinda Dragicevich not only had first row seats but also carried a printed set list of that night’s gig which showed the Backstreet Boys had four songs yet to play.  Her front row advantage allowed her to hear the group conversing among themselves, saying they could afford any fine that might come their way from playing past curfew.

“It ended so abruptly,” Dragicevich told the Tribune.  “They kept saying, ‘It’s not us.’”

About 20 minutes after the concert interruptus, the Backstreet Boys cut a video on the tour bus in which they told fans that they are “going to figure out how to make this right.”

It’s looking like an injury suffered by Beady Eye guitarist Gem Archer is the reason the band helmed by former Oasis-man Liam Gallagher has canceled shows in Belgium and Japan.

The band released a statement expressing their immense sorrow for nixing an appearance at Belgium’s Lokerse Festival and Japan’s Summer Sonic, saying Archer is “an integral part of the band,” reports London’s Metro newspaper.

Beady Eye was making news of a different sort not too long ago when entertainment reporter Liza Ghorbani filed a paternity suit against Gallagher, who is married to All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.  Such is life at the top.

Having already once postponed its I’ll Be Your Mirror extravaganza presented by All Tomorrows Parties at London’s Alexandra Palace, Grizzly Bear has canceled the event scheduled for Nov. 2.

The day of music was originally slotted for May 5 but in April Grizzly Bear rescheduled the event for the fall.

Coming to us via NME is a message is the cancellation message issued by WeGotTickets.com that ran on ClashMusic.

“ATP and Grizzly Bear have sadly decided to cancel the planned I’ll Be Your Mirror London concert which had been postponed to November.  Unfortunately there were problems with the venue and the new date.  Between us as promoters and the band it’s been decided that it would be wiser to cancel rather than disappoint fans by going ahead with the event that was not up to ATP and the band’s standards.”

Speaking of cancelations, Death Grips has been nixing shows from its schedule.  The noise-rap group was a no-show at a Lollapalooza after-show in Chicago Friday night and failed to appear at its scheduled Lolla gig Aug. 3.

Reports about the missed Lollapalooza opportunity seem slightly surreal in that a fan’s alleged suicide note was hanging from the group’s equipment.  Once it became apparent that Death Grips was not going to appear, some fans reportedly thrashed the group’s drum kit.  Yeah, that will teach ’em not to blow off gigs.

It wasn’t long after not appearing at Lollapalooza that individual Death Grips gigs began to fall by the wayside as individual venues announced cancelations.  Not that it was a humongous schedule, but Boston Aug. 6, New York Aug. 7 and Baltimore Aug. 9 are off the schedule.  Right now the next date scheduled for Death Grips is the FYF Fest in Los Angeles Aug. 24.