As far as South Florida goes, a much over-hyped natural disaster is actually a pretty good reason to have to cancel a show. While we all eagerly await the rescheduling of IDentity Fest, let’s take a lookback at some other unfortunate cancellations and the reasons behind them.
5. NIN / QOTSA / DFA – Hurricane Wilma
Back in 2005, an Orlando show featuring Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, and Death From Above 1979 was ‘postponed’ due to hurricane warnings. It would have been the closest DFA1979 would ever came to playing a show in South Florida, but as luck would have it, the date of the show coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Wilma.
Unlike Irene, Wilma actually hit Florida and caused a ton of damage, meaning not only did we not get DFA1979, we got hit by the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Caribbean to boot.
4. Langerado 2009 – Lack of Interest
Complete with overnight camping in the everglades and home made chocolate mushrooms galore, local darling Langerado was the only real “indie” festival South Florida ever claimed. Early on, the little-known event was small and intimate. Over the years, however, as its popularity exploded, the festival alienated its loyal fanbase.
In 2009, news that the festival would move to Downtown Miami and not allow overnight camping was met with widespread contempt, and weak ticket sales caused the festival’s producers to cancel the event outright a month before it was scheduled to take place.
The good news is that Langerado is back on this year, supposedly taking place at Markham Park on October 8-9.
3. Bang 2007 – Shitty Lineup
The now-legendary Bang 2006, headlined by none other than Daft Punk during their legendary Alive Tour, set the bar extraordinarily high for Miami music festivals. In 2007, everyone assumed it would be nearly impossible to top the previous year’s Bang lineup. This sentiment was shared by the suits in charge of the festival, who didn’t even try to outdo themselves.
Featuring Kanye West, The Smashing Pumpkins, and The Bravery, the planned 2007 lineup was laughably underwhelming, almost to the point of embarrassment.
Fortunately, the festival’s producers finally decided to ‘postpone’ the show indefinitely. There hasn’t been a Bang since, but the miraculous rebirth of Langerado proves anything is possible in the world of music festivals.
2. Aeroplane (et al) – Visa Issues
Recently, noted Belgian producer Aeroplane became one of the latest victims of Visa Issues, and was forced to postpone his May 27, 2011 show at The Vagabond.
Long the bane of international musicians everywhere, Visa issues strike without warning when you least expect them. Without proper protection, Visa Issues can happen to anyone, making them the STDs of show cancellations.
Luckily, Visa Issues usually take care of themselves after a little while.
Aeroplane, like most shows postponed due to Visa Issues, was promptly rescheduled.
1. Kid Cudi – Never Actually Scheduled
Doral’s La Covacha, or ‘The Cove’ as it’s called in the flyer, didn’t seem like the obvious place to have Kid Cudi perform, but then again, stranger things have happened. Most people gave the ‘nightclub’ the benefit of the doubt, that is until Kid Cudi himself debunked the show as fake.
The official explanation cited a miscommunication between Cudi’s management companies for the error, but that was no consolation to regulars at La Covacha whose dreams had been crushed.