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Feb
01
Mardi Blah
Posted by: Noah Bonaparte Pais in Conspiracy Theories, Music & Entertainment

Like a lot of people last night, I had my plans ruined by a parade that never took place. Or at least that’s what Republic would have me believe.

Sometime Wednesday afternoon, word leaked out that the Warehouse District music venue/dancehall had canceled its Thursday evening rock show, a highly anticipated triple bill featuring the Fiery Furnaces, Super Furry Animals and Holy F**k. Despite being the club’s only notable booking for January — not to mention arguably New Orleans’ top indie-rock concert of the month — the show was canceled because, in their words, a “parade route surrounds Republic and there was concern that people wouldn’t be able to get [here].”

Let’s backpedal. We’re supposed to swallow that someone scheduled a high-profile concert for the week before Mardi Gras and then canceled it 24 hours out because of an annual parade? It’s immaterial (aside from ironic value, of course) that said parade ended up being postponed due to inclement weather, or that the skies had cleared by 7:30 p.m., when the first band was to have taken the stage. Republic’s reasoning is dubious at best, unprofessional at worst, and considering the difficulty clubs have had convincing quality artists to stop in the city post-Katrina, it’s really kind of embarrassing. (It bears mentioning here that no cancellation orders were issued for “Models and Bottles,” the DJ’d red-carpet event to follow Thursday’s concert, nor for Republic’s scheduled events for tonight and Monday.)

I’ve had no personal contact with the Fiery Furnaces, Super Furry Animals or Holy F**k, mind you, but I’d imagine their reaction was something similar to the latter. “We’re looking into the possibility of rescheduling,” the club’s emailed response continued. This, too, seems highly unlikely. Both the Furnaces (Brooklyn) and Holy F**k (Toronto) — two rising, in-demand acts — reside on the East Coast. But Super Furry Animals, two-decade vets of international touring, are from Wales. Their stateside itinerary wraps at the end of this month in New York City. Exactly when will they be returning?

Perhaps a better question, after Republic’s no-notice no-show: Why?
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Comments:
terp on February 6th, 2008 at 11:55 am #

This is super lame.

Republic New Orleans on February 19th, 2008 at 4:42 pm #

We apologize for canceling the Super Furry Animals, Fiery Furnaces, and Holy F**k show. It was very bad scheduling on our part to book this during Mardi Gras. The underlying reason for canceling the show was logistics; we were concerned that the parade route that almost entirely encircled Republic would block concert-goers from getting to the venue. The result would have been a poorly-attended concert, which reflects badly on the bands. Moreover, the bands might not have come back to New Orleans after a show with such low attendance and might have spread this sentiment to other bands. This could have lessened the already-few tours that come to post-Katrina New Orleans, which is something none of us want.

We strive to bring great touring acts to New Orleans and to expand the indie rock scene, and doing the show could have been a major set-back to these goals. In fact, canceling the show was financially worse for us, since we still had to pay the bands, audio rental fees, advertising costs, etc.

We chose not to cancel that night’s club event, since it was scheduled for later in the evening, after the parades would have passed. Also, there are no ramifications for the New Orleans music scene or the careers of the night’s DJs if they play for an empty room.

We apologize for the poor scheduling and cancellation, and we hope that it is clear why we felt that canceling the show was in the best interest of the bands and the New Orleans music scene.

mr. gunn on February 20th, 2008 at 7:36 pm #

“We’re supposed to swallow that someone scheduled a high-profile concert for the week before Mardi Gras and then canceled it 24 hours out because of an annual parade?”

I guess we are supposed to believe that. The Republic is so lame.

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