Hot on the heels of cancelling his promised Australian tour before dates had even been announced, Neil Young has now pulled the plug on his headlining performance at Bluesfest 2017.
The legendary singer has yet to make a statement or provide a reason for either cancellation, which has no doubt left fans feeling peak levels of blues. But festival organisers say the news “comes as a great disappointment to Bluesfest”.
In a statement posted to Instagram (below), Bluesfest Festival Director Peter Noble says:
“Although I have been aware of this as a possibility for a couple of weeks now, I have been appealing to Neil’s management for him to play the confirmed concert. Unfortunately, this is now not going to happen. Whilst details for the cancellation remain sketchy, from what I can gather Neil has decided to take 2017 off from touring.
“At the moment, there isn’t an official statement from Neil’s management regarding the cancellation. I have no reason to believe this is due to any illness, I have been advised he is tired from recent touring, and I surmise wants to have some down time.”
In a statement, the Bluesfest team say they’re hard at work scouting a replacement to fill Young’s cowboy boots on the Friday night headliner slot, but in the meantime, heartbroken fans who were heading to the Byron Bay bash just to see Young will be offered refunds on their tickets.
Still, Bluesfest is urging “Friday Single Day Bluesfest patrons to hold on to their Tickets until the new artist announcement is released soon”.
“Once the new artist announcement for Friday has been made, Single Day Friday Ticket refunds will still be available for 7 days after that,” organisers explain.
Hmmm. Must have something exciting in the works, then.
“There will be a new artist announcement coming very soon!” they promise.
Catch the full updated lineup for Bluesfest 2017, below.
2017 Bluesfest Lineup
Sir Rosevelt
Joining…
Madness
Miles Electric Band
Patti Smith And Her Band Acoustic Set
Billy Bragg And Joe Henry
Slightly Stoopid
Rhiannon Giddens
Tony Joe White
Max Jury
The Record Company
The Mountain Goats
The California Honeydrops
Trevor Hall
Joining…
Barry Gibb
Joining…
Neil Young & Promise Of The Real
Joining…
Santana
The Doobie Brothers
Joining…
Mary J. Blige
Corinne Bailey Rae
Michael Kiwanuka
Nahko And Medicine For The People
Gallant
The Suffers
Joining…
Zac Brown Band
Patti Smith And Her Band Perform Horses
The Lumineers
Buddy Guy (Exclusive)
Bonnie Raitt
Mavis Staples (Exclusive)
Billy Bragg
Jethro Tull
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Gregory Porter
Snarky Puppy
St. Paul & The Broken Bones
Beth Hart (Exclusive)
Laura Mvula
Roy Ayers
Booker T Presents The Stax Records Revue
Andrew Bird
Rickie Lee Jones
Joan Osborne
Turin Brakes
The Strumbellas
Jake Shimabukuro
Dumpstaphunk
Nikki Hill
Irish Mythen
+ More to be announced
Bluesfest 2017
Tickets on sale now
Thursday, 13th – Monday, 17th April
Byron Bay, NSW
Tickets: Bluesfest
> been appealing to Neil's management for him to play the confirmed concert > https://t.co/VAZ6jYyhjm
— Bluesfest Byron Bay (@BluesfestByron) December 1, 2016
