Slowdive have postponed a planned Australian tour, less than 24 hours from when it was due to commence. The UK shoegaze pioneers were set to kick off their tour today (April 22), with an appearance at the Melbourne edition of the inaugural Daydream Festival, alongside Modest Mouse, Tropical Fuck Storm, Cloud Nothings and more.
The band were then set to play a string of headline shows in Adelaide, Perth and Sydney, before performing at the Sydney and Brisbane legs of Daydream Festival next weekend. In a statement shared by the band on social media yesterday (April 21), they said they had been forced to withdraw from the festival, and reschedule their headline dates.
“We are sorry to announce that we have to postpone our upcoming shows in Australia due to unforeseen circumstances,” the statement reads. “Our drummer, Simon Scott, has suffered an injury to his back prior to our departure that has left him unable to travel or to perform for the moment.
“We will endeavour to reschedule our planned club shows so please hold tickets for those shows for now and we’ll provide more information as we have it. We appreciate your support and understanding, and wish Simon a speedy recovery.” In a comment on the post, the band added that Scott was “in excruciating pain”, that circumstances were “beyond [their] control” and “health must come first”.
We are sorry to announce that we have to postpone our upcoming shows in Australia due to unforeseen circumstances. Our…
Posted by Slowdive(band) on Thursday, April 20, 2023
In their own statement, promoters Destroy All Lines “urge[d] fans to hold onto their tickets as we work through rescheduling the headline dates”. They added that Daydream would continue as planned in Melbourne today, with extended sets from the other acts on the line-up.
There is no mention from the promoters of a refund being available to ticketholders who no longer wish to attend the festival. Slowdive have since updated their Facebook post to say they are “looking into all issues that are being raised in comments” – alluding to messages on the post from fans expressing frustration at being unable to receive a refund.
The planned shows would have marked Slowdive’s first Australian since 2018, when the band played a pair of headline gigs in addition to appearances at that year’s edition of Laneway Festival.