Fans of The Last Dinner Party have little to ‘no sympathy’ after they cancelled a string of European tour dates due to genuine health concerns.
It’s been a wild year for the five-piece band since they rocketed into the public consciousness with their breakout hit Nothing Matters, and they took to the stage at Glastonbury Festival to a huge crowd in a televised performance earlier this year.
But recent weeks have proved troublesome for their relationship with fans.
First, they hit the headlines after male fans complained about a gig in Lincoln – which ended up being cancelled at the last minute due to ‘illness’ – with security ‘interrogating’ men on entry about whether they were genuine fans.
They cancelled the Lincoln gig with just hours to go, causing a stir with fans alongside the bizarre interrogations, and they also went on to cancel a Cardiff gig to protect their ‘long term health’.
On the security measures, the band said they were not informed of, and did not condone, the interrogations, and the venue – the Engine Shed – apologised, telling they ‘fell far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and subject to the same entry requirements’.
Now, the band – comprised of Abigail Morris, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davis, Aurora Nishevci, and Lizzie Mayland – have cancelled five further gigs due to ‘exhaustion’.
In response, fans have turned on the band, despite them citing health concerns as their reason for cancelling.
Taking to social media with a statement, the band announced that following the UK and Ireland tour, they will be cancelling November shows in Vienna, Zurich, Parma, Luxembourg, and Tilburg.
‘As we came to the end of our UK/Ireland tour, we put some time aside to discuss how to approach the upcoming European tour,’ the statement began.
‘The burnout we’re experiencing – emotionally, mentally, and physically – is something we’re taking very seriously.
‘After much consideration we have come to the difficult decision to finish the tour with the last show in Prague.’
‘We wanted to give fans with tickets to these particular dates as much advance notice as possible to adjust their plans.
‘We sincerely apologise to our fans who were looking forward to seeing us, and we are truly saddened to not be seeing you this time. Refunds will be issued by your point of purchase to the original method of payment.
They continued: ‘This year has been incredible for us but undeniably exhausting and we have found that we need to take responsibility over the amount of shows that we can do.
‘Pushing ourselves past breaking point is not a fair or wise decision for anyone. We hope that you can understand that our reason for cancelling these shows is to protect our well-being and give the very best performances you all deserve.
‘Moving forward and armed with the knowledge of our limits, we are working with our team to make sure we only book tours that we are capable of fulfilling at the highest potential. We never want to find ourselves in this situation again.
‘Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts, for being the most supportive, generous, and wonderful fans – it means so much to us.’
However, despite their candid reasoning, fans weren’t impressed and took to social media in outrage at the cancellations.
@sharkastic said: ‘Anyone else think it’s a bit off for bands to claim to be experiencing exhaustion for performing for less than 2 hours a night on a 12 date tour when most of their audience will have been working for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?’
@philmyth added: ‘They’re complaining of burnout after playing 12 gigs? Wrap it up, clearly not cut out for the music biz.’
‘The Last Dinner Party have put out more statements on their socials than gigs played on their tour,’ added @jkehltn.
Meanwhile, @radio_isolation said: ‘No sympathy here… This is the same band that said, “No one wants to hear songs about the cost of living crisis anymore,” while all attending expensive private/boarding schools. A completely out of touch band.’
Others were outraged at fans taking offence at the band for protecting their mental health, as @BrokenBiros said: ‘Can take or leave The Last Dinner Party musically but I think it’s good and refreshing to see a group prioritising their mental and physical health and if more artists did that perhaps so many wouldn’t burn out or develop addiction issues. Touring is psychologically difficult.’
@Callum_Boyle_ added: ‘There’s two sides to this. Burnout is a very real thing and is not pleasant at all so cancelling/postponing/rescheduling is understandable. The other side of this is that despite their quick rise in success, putting on that many dates in a year was never going to end well.’
Drawing comparisons to breakout star Chappell Roan also cancelling gigs to protect her mental health, @takemehottogo added: ‘Defending chappell and the last dinner party cancelling their shows online isn’t enough i need a sledgehammer.’