We travelled to Leeds last night in expectation of seeing the Dirty Pretty things in concert, but when we arrived we were told the gig was off due to Carl Barrett having laryngitis.
Fair enough. These things happen but my suspicions were aroused because a) the band are splitting up after this tour and b) the support band was cancelled citing the same excuse on Monday with no announcement of a replacement. Any band in Leeds would jump at the chance to be on that bill so my feeling was that this was all a bit convenient.
I rang the venue today and they were cagey. A simple google search uncovered the promoters (Futuresound) so I rang them direct. The girl on the phone was alarmingly honest and told me that as the band were indeed splitting, “they couldn’t be arsed to play last night. They are only going to do some of the shows on sufferance to avoid being sued. But not if they can get away with it”.
Blinkin flip. What a shower. Needless to say Carl Barrett has bombed in my estimation.
One consolation is that Pete, Rich and I were spared the humiliation of being pointed at by a load of kids as the sad old men in the room. It could have been Legally Blonde 2 all over again….
I drove over from hull for this!! Does that mean we should aim to get our money back for the tickets instead of hoping for them to reschedule?? Have you got your money back?
We too showed up on the night only to be turned away by very stressed out but extremely polite and apologetic security staff. We thought ok, people can’t help being sick. We’ll wait for a reschedule. We later found out through a friend who had seen the guest list for the opening night of Leeds Academy (which was opening on the same night as the Dirty Pretty Things gig) and surprise surprise, all the band members were on the Kaiser Chiefs guest list. So 100s of fans were turned away because Carl Barat et al just couldn’t be arsed and chose instead to get wasted and go and see another band play. I used to adore Carl Barat and followed his music faithfully since The Libertines split. But right now, frankly, Carl Barat can go and fuck himself. I would give hope of (or interest in) a rescheduled gig and try and get your money back.
What the fuck?!?!
Sorry Carlos but have some fucking respect for the people that made you. If it wasn’t for the fans you would be just another muscician trying to ‘make it’. You, Didz, Anthony and Gary should hang your heads in shame. Shocking way to treat fans.