Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx and Louis Gordon Why only ONE UK show in 2008?

I'm probably being a little selfish here but why are John and Louis only doing ONE UK live show in 2008?

I would love to go and I do usually make the effort to travel. I'm from Edinburgh and have seen John and Louis several times in London, Nottingham & Manchester over the past 2 or 3 years but this one is on a Thursday night, not exactly ideal for anyone outside of London who need to travel is it?

It's just a shame a show could not have been fitted in in or around Manchester even over a weekend.

I live near Tamworth & have booked 2 days off work to go down.

These are unique circumstances though.

Because of the credit crunch my girlfriend was made redundant.Because of this we've not been on holiday this year so I've loads of holiday left.

Is this the only positive thing to come from the credit crunch?

John also did CO at Durham which I travelled to & I've also got a ticket to Leeds.

In a normal year I'd probably not have travelled to all of these.

For me it will be (I think ) the 11th time I come over (Cargo) to UK to see John (& Louis most times of it).

They did only one show together in Germany: Bielefeld 2002. I will not lost my hope John comes back to Hamburg one day as he did with Ultravox two times in 1978 and solo 1983 for the G.S. Tour.

So if I want to see him, I have to travel - in mid week or weekend doesn't matter for me. It is everytime an expensive "adventure" for me. But until yet it was worth every time to come over...

Andreas

It is possible that the lack of UK shows this year is a consequence of the large number of shows last year. Plus, doing all these shows abroad must have eaten into the time available for UK shows.

It will be interesting to see if Cargo sells out bearing in mind the increase in price over previous shows (still a very reasonable price I should add) and being on a Thursday.

Cargo will be the first time I've taken two days off work to go to a gig

Maybe John just does want to do them any more

Maybe John just does want to do them any more

There are lots of reasons behind the decision to only have the one live show in the UK with Louis this year... and most of them have already been listed in this thread.

A huge amount of time and energy has been given over to putting the forthcoming CDs together, coupled with the live shows in Barcelona, Genoa and Japan. It's been a very busy year.

Rob

John has rarely played outside of the UK in recent years, and I think a year of mostly international shows is looong overdue!

I think some time between tours/gigs is a good thing, otherwise there can often be a sense of the over familiarity and lesser excitement.

It's quite a good idea to just have one major gig, but it's a real shame it's a midweek one, as at the same time has probably isolated a lot of fans. For example I can't make it due to work commitments, which is annoying given that it's the only full-on UK gig this year

But I'll still be able to enjoy the new CDs, so it's not the end of the world... unless he's planning to announce his retirement from touring!!

..which sort of begs my question: how did they end up finding such an obscure venure in Marghera (Italy) near Venice but not actually in it!
No that I'm complaining mind...no last minute cancellations please...just wondering how they came (will come) to be there...

Thanks for your thoughts and views on this topic.

I guess I'm just really disappointed I can't make it there.

As live shows go there's not a gig I look forward to more that John & Louis live.....and that includes Numan & Depeche.

I'm sure all of you going will have a great time.

How do you think I feel?
I could ask why NO New York show.

I second that, Maryann, and would like to point out that there's never been a Chicago show of any kind -- ever. The closest to Chicago was Ultravox in Detroit back in March 1979 when I was too young to go to gigs without my big sister chaperoning me.

Since I first bought the 7-inch single of "Underpass," I've been willing to travel to any location in North America to see John Foxx perform but so far . . . nothing. If I could save some money (by not spending every spare penny on John Foxx CD reissues, maybe?!) I have promised myself to get an updated passport and travel WHEREVER he performs in calendar year 2009, whether it is the UK, Italy, Spain, Japan, Bali, or Soweto. You lucky gits on the forum who've been complaining about a few years' gap between live performances are just plain insensitive to those of us who have never had the chance to see him. Thirty years have gone by so quickly except for waiting to see John Foxx peform live. I mean, we're neither of us getting any younger, so it's becoming kind of ridiculous . . . :rolleyes:

I would imagine that John (or rather Steve) gets asked by a promoter in the first instance whether or not he would be interested in playing a concert in the particular city - if they agree it is something they would like to do and sign contracts with the promoter to commit to as such, the actual venue will be sorted out and booked by the promoter and will not be of the bands (in this case John) doing.

I'm looking forward to both Leeds and Cargo...

It is kind of unfair on fans outside of the UK for us lot to moan and whinge about - horror - only one UK gig this year - when many equally dedicated fans have never even had the chance to see John live. We've had it good here over the last few years, that's for sure.

We need to remind ourselves how lucky we are, especially since at one point it probably looked like John would never release anything new, let alone play live again!

And wasn't there something on Myspace recently about there being no plans for any 'electro' shows in 2009... focussing instead on new music - which is fine with me! But for anybody waiting for gigs...

..thanks for that consideration E.G. and it's always interesting to read others opnions about gigs.
Living in mainland Europe it isn't very often one gets to see one's favourite artists live either, as they only bother with sell-out mega concerts in the big cities and stadiums(vis Depeche Mode, Coldplay etc etc.).
So it is refreshing (and damn lucky!) that someone like JF does the odd 'one off' outside the UK and in smaller venues.. But friends in USA, Canada etc you do have all my sympathy! People in UK are spoilt...!

Have to agree with the comments about the UK gigs, I think we’ve probably been very lucky to have so many, and they’ve undoubtedly added to the momentum and enthusiasm for John’s music.
I can’t believe that I’ve actually seen him live over the last five years, and practically on my doorstep, so being realistic I’m happy to wait again until maybe there’s a completely new album of music or something, and then who knows what John will do…


Its great that he’s been performing more internationally this year, I see that as a positive sign that John is going to keep on producing music for some time to come.
I recall reading something around about the time of IMW that he felt more happy and excited about getting letters from fans from across the other side of the world, than necessarily expecting to have huge hits here in the UK.
So fingers crossed for all other fans across the globe, I really hope he will arrive someday soon on your shores, and long before twilights last gleaming…

I can't say I expect John Foxx ever to play Ottawa; as a city with a metropolitan population of only a million or so, it's too small. But why not Toronto (five hours' drive west) or Montreal (two hours' drive east)? Especially considering the fact that we were told a Toronto show was a possibility a couple years back.

It's been nearly 30 years since John Foxx performed in North America, and even then, I was never within a thousand miles of the places he played.

I am lucky enough to see John three times this year. I have already seen Cathedral Oceans at Durham Cathedral and am going to Cargo and Leeds as well. I have seen John more than a dozen times now and I have really enjoyed every gig.

However, I was unfortunate enough to get tickets to see John at Sheffield Leadmill 1983 which was the only UK gig to be cancelled. Sheffield was the closest gig to me and, as I was a student, I didn't have enough money to see him elswhere. This fustrated me for many years but my first JF gig more than made up for it. I missed the first Exotours ( I had stopped buying music mags) but saw, through Metamatic or EV website, the LA2 gig in 2001. It was worth 18 years of waiting as it was a great night and I bought TPOE and listened to it on the way home from London.

I trully hope that John goes to America and Canada sometime soon, as he has always seemed to have a good following in these places. So, don't give up hope. At the worst, you can enjoy the great live recordings John and Louis have done ( but I hope you can see him live).