British synthpop pioneers Heaven 17 failed to appear at last night’s Violent Femmes-headlined ’80s Weekend #9 concert in Los Angeles, but promised fans today that the visa troubles that kept them away won’t derail their first-ever U.S. tour planned for this May.
In a post on Facebook, the duo — Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware — apologized to fans for being unable to perform at the Richard Blade-hosted, multi-act concert, which also featured live sets by contemporaries Wang Chung, A Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, Dramarama, China Chris, Missing Persons and more.
“We are still totally pissed off,” the band wrote. “We were refused work visas on a technicality (no fault of ours) which required resubmission to the visa authorities — this was then granted too late for us to travel and perform. These are the paranoid times we have to deal with… we were literally working to resolve this until the very last minute, to no avail.”
In their post, the duo notes that visa issue has cost the band significant time and money, but that it will not interfere with the planned U.S. tour this spring — or an expected make-up date in L.A.
“The good news is that we will be touring the U.S. in May, and there will be no visa issues then as they have (ironically) now been approved — also we will return to LA to perform as soon as possible, that’s a promise,” they wrote.
See the full statement and Heaven 17’s U.S. tour dates below.
Heaven 17 tour dates
May 8: Park West, Chicago, IL
May 10: The Independent, San Francisco, CA
May 11: Triple Door, Seattle, WA
May 12: Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, B.C.
May 14: Mod Club, Toronto, ON
May 16: Daryl’s House, Pawling, NY
May 17: Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
May 18: Sinclair, Boston, MA
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Heaven 17 coming to North America this May for ‘our first proper U.S. tour’
- Watch: Heaven 17 dishes out hits, covers David Bowie (twice!) in first-ever U.S. concert
- Heaven 17 to play first-ever U.S. concerts late next month in New York, California
- Heaven 17 details ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ 2CD/1DVD reissue, announces live DVD
- Q&A: Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware on ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ tour, box set reissue
I would love to see Heaven 17 at a non-festival Los Angeles venue. This might allow for true fans to get a lengthier setlist.
The fact that they did not play the 80’s Weekend gig prompted me to sell my ticket and leave. I just checked the set lists for all the bands that did perform and it was as bad as I expected- China Crisis was given time to play 1 song, and Big Country only 3. Not worth the time and trouble of attending.