Laneway Festival Loses Another Act For Auckland Show; James Blake Cancels Appearance
St Jerome’s Laneway Festival suffered another loss. After Kiwi superstar Lorde backed out of the Auckland show, British electronic musician James Blake also had to cancel his performance at the New Zealand leg of the festival to make it to the Grammy Awards in the U.S.
In December, Lorde announced that she wouldn’t be able to play at the music festival on January 27 because she needs to be in Los Angeles on the 26th for the Grammys. She’s nominated for record of the year, song of the year, pop solo performance, and best pop vocal for “Pure Heroine.”
She will be making it up to ticketholders, though, with a free concert on January 29.
On Monday, organisers of the festival announced that they have lost another headliner to the Grammys. This time, it’s Blake, who is nominated at the prestigious awards show for Best New Artist.
“Laneway supports James Blake’s decision to go to the Grammys. We are totally gutted that he is unable to make it, however we appreciate this is a huge achievement for James Blake and his career. Due to James Blake’s tight tour schedule it is not possible for us to schedule replacement dates,” Laneway co-promoter Mark Kneebone said in a statement.
The festival is accepting refund requests until 5pm on January 16. Those who don’t opt for refund would find two replacements for Blake, though.
“We worked right through the Christmas break to secure the best replacements we could. After multiple attempts over the years, we are very happy to announce that Cat Power and The Presets will be joining us for Laneway 2014.”
Meanwhile, the Melbourne and Sydney legs of the festival are already sold out, with tickets for the Brisbane, Adelaide, and Fremantle events also selling out fast, the organisers announced.