A planned February performance in Los Angeles by British synthpop pioneers Heaven 17 was scuttled by visa problems and now Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware have been forced to postpone their first-ever North American tour in May because of the coronavirus.
The group posted on Facebook that it was canceling all of their upcoming concerts in the U.K., Germany and the U.S. “We will let you know when the rearranged dates are as soon as we can,” they wrote.
Heaven 17’s planned eight-date tour of the U.S. and Canada was to have followed the group’s first-ever American concerts, in New York City and a festival in Long Beach, Calif., in 2017.
The We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang! Tour had been scheduled to open May 8 in Chicago, and was to have included U.S. dates in San Francisco, Seattle, Pawling, N.Y., and New York City before wrapping in Boston on May 18. There were also dates in Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto.
“Expect a full set of the best of Heaven 17 from the last 40 years — it is going to be a lot of fun and we can’t wait to meet our U.S. fans!” the group wrote on its website earlier this year.
The decision to call off touring is hardly a surprise at this point, as concerts and tours are being canceled around the world as health officials urge people not to gather in crowds in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the highly contagious and potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
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
