Prince Postpones European Tour Following Paris Attacks
Photo via Prince3EG’s Twitter
Last week, Prince announced a solo piano tour of Europe.“The Prince Spotlight: Piano & A Microphone” was set to open at Vienna’s Wiener Konzerthaus on November 21, followed by four UK dates and several across Europe. The trek has been postponed in response to the November 13 Paris attacks, as Billboard points out. Prince broke the news via Twitter, linking to a post on Wiener Konzerthaus’ website, which reads: “Due to the tragic events in Paris, the tour promoter has decided to postpone the upcoming European tour until further notice”.
Many artists have canceled shows in the wake of the Paris events, including U2 and Foo Fighters.
Update (11/17, 9:58 a.m.): Titus Andronicus have cancelled a Paris show that was to take place on November 18. In a note, they wrote:
It is not a decision we have arrived at flippantly but, after much soul-searching and hand-wringing, we see no other recourse. The terrorist attacks of last week have shaken us deeply, surely placing us in the majority of musicians around the globe. Music and art should offer a safe haven from the world’s many worries and woes, wherein Artist and Audience alike can find empowerment in their vulnerability. The brutal assault on this sacred space offers no clear path forward and, without precedent to guide us, we must err on the side of caution, for the sake of our fans, our touring staff, and the venue staff, in addition to ourselves.
Meanwhile, Wavves announced that they are not cancelling a Paris show taking place November 22:
got word today that they opened the EU border..so we have decided as a band that we’re going to play our paris show as scheduled on sunday
— WAVVES (@wavves) November 16, 2015
Update (11/17, 11:54 a.m.): Heems has written an editorial for Vice about his decision to perform in Paris tonight. He writes:
Tonight I rap in Paris because I believe in hopefulness and the light of peace. If I could do anything with my art, it would only be to say, “We’re just like you.” As for Paris, I know cities live and breathe and survive and move on, just like people. New York did it. Bombay did it. Paris is doing it. And if I can help the healing process in any tiny way with my songs, words, sounds, then I’m a lucky man.
Update (11/17 3:04 p.m.): Pathway to Paris’ concert in coordination with the UN Climate Change – featuring Thom Yorke, Patti Smith, and Flea – is still on, according to a statement from the artists and organizers:
In light of the recent tragedies in Paris and Beirut, we would like to continue with the Pathway to Paris concerts and bring our voices together in solidarity, offering our love and commitment to a sustainable world.
Pathway to Paris is a call for peace, compassion, respect, equality, justice, love, human rights and a fight for the survival of our planet. It is about bringing together our voices to highlight our love for this world.
We feel the urgency to come together and build a global movement for climate justice, recognizing that climate change and its challenges interconnects us all.
The upcoming climate change talks offer an enormous opportunity to send a clear signal that the world is moving away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable energy future, while listening and problem solving with voices from around the world.
Music is a universal language and climate change is a global concern.
The time is now.
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