UTR Presents
TOUR UPDATE = POSTPONING FOR NOW.
Well this is all pretty weird!... I've spent the last 72 or so hours moving from complacency to abject panic, briefly back to scepticism and finally to a temperate rational fear about this dramatically escalating pandemic, all the while considering the implications for my upcoming wee tour.
Viewing endless cancellation and postponement announcements on my Instagram feed has obviously raised the spectre of a postponement of my own tour and I have of course been considering this very seriously.
Until this morning, I had been of the mind to go ahead with the shows. Not because I'm underestimating the gravity of this situation – I'm highly cognisant of the necessity to "flatten the curve," and it seems that social distancing measures as soon as possible in the event of community spread will be utterly essential to ensure that health services aren't overloaded and people don't die unnecessarily. As of today though, there are eight cases in New Zealand, all of whom have arrived from overseas. This likely will change of course over the coming weeks, but, today at least, your chances of catching the disease from a fellow resident at a Lawrence Arabia show are similar to winning the Powerball. Schools are still in, most of the Auckland Arts Festival shows are still on – hence, all guns blazing, right?
However, upon further reflection, I also considered that I had been to Australia over the weekend, arrived home on Sunday, and, had I landed home 8 hours later, would have had to have self-isolated for 14 days under the new imposed travel regulations. If the one person at the Lawrence Arabia concert with COVID-19 turned out to be me, recently returned from Australia, hours before the cutoff, that would have been highly embarrassing to say the least.
So, upon discussions with my promoter Banished Music, and the venues that I am playing at, we have reluctantly decided to err on the side of caution and postpone these gigs for now.
I'm really sad about this, but also looking forward to coming back (probably in the spring) and doing these shows.
In addition, I must add to the chorus of people imploring support for my compadres in the music industry. These kind of postponements (or cancellations), as they inevitably are increasingly necessitated, will have significant effects on the livelihoods of musicians, venues, roadies, sound engineers, promoters etc. Consciously purchasing music that you are loving on streaming services via artists' Bandcamp pages is a great way of sending largely unmediated money to musicians.
If it's within your means, not claiming refunds for cancelled or postponed shows will ensure your favourite promoters live to continue bringing your favourite acts to your town when this all subsides. I hope that other support measures will be announced for hospitality businesses and freelance contractors like roadies and sound technicians who are going to take a huge hit from this.
We will aim to announce new dates very shortly, so please support us if you can by holding onto your ticket. But if you too are going through a hardship due to the current situation at hand, and need the money you spent on these tickets, you can request a refund from Banished Music via the 'contact the organiser' link in your your ticket.
Good luck to us all!
Lawrence
The quest continues: a new year and a new string of solo performances across Aotearoas cities, towns, and nether regions from Lawrence Arabia, New Zealands pre-eminent chronicler of 21st Century bourgeois dilemmas.
Re-imagined, alone and devoid of any buffer and/or musical safety net, Lawrence Arabia will enchant in these intimate settings with nothing other than himself, his collection of pop songs, and a piano.
