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Headline band pulls out of V Fest
Sep. 7, 2006. 02:39 PM
CURTIS RUSH
STAFF REPORTER
Visa problems have forced Massive Attack, the U.K. band billed as the pioneering force behind the rise of trip-hop music, to pull out of this weekend’s first-ever Virgin Music Festival at the Toronto Islands.
The band couldn’t get visa documents for North America in time for Sunday’s show.
"In spite of timely and coordinated efforts, the essential U.S. immigration visas were not issued in time for the beginning of the Massive Attack North American Tour,” the band’s management said Thursday.
The snag has forced the band to cancel the first four dates on the North American tour, including Toronto, Montreal, Detroit and Chicago. The cancelled stops will be rescheduled at a later date.
People who purchased tickets to the weekend event with the expectation of seeing Massive Attack can get a full refund at the point of purchase until noon on Sunday, organizers said.
Broken Social Scene will fill the Sunday time slot of 9:45 p.m., said Rebecca Teal, a spokeswoman for V Fest promoters Emerge Entertainment.
"This was out of our control," she said. "Obviously, it was a blow, but replacing Massive Attack with Broken Social Scene is pretty huge," Teal said. "They’re a fantastic band."
The addition of Broken Social Scene is coup for the local outfit, which will probably play in front of the biggest crowd of its career.
The Virgin Music Festival, Richard Branson’s U.K. festival franchise, is on Saturday and Sunday and features more than 35 bands, including Muse, the Raconteurs, Sam Roberts Band, the Flaming Lips, Wolfmother, the Dears and more, on two main stages. Toronto is the first city outside the U.K. to host V Fest.
Although Massive Attack had the headlining slot by going on last on Sunday, they weren’t billed as the headlining act and there are plenty of performers on the bill to satiate all musical tastes, she said.
"The Strokes are arguably equally if not larger than Massive Attack, as are the Raconteurs," Teal said. "I mean Sunday is a huge day in itself. I think the Broken Social Scene crowd is pretty close to the Massive Attack crowd. That kind of helps."
Broken Social Scene headlined a two-day festival on Olympic Island this past June, which drew 10,000 in advance ticket sales.
For V Fest, capacity on the Toronto islands will be limited to about 25,000 people a day. Ticket sales are "going about as predicted," Teal said, and they are expecting 20,000 people a day.
The Toronto International Film Festival is kicking off at the same time as the concert and should help draw more people and star power to the event, she said.
"I think it only helps us," Teal said. "A lot of the celebrities are coming to Virgin Festival," she added.
The weather should smile favourably on the V Fest this weekend, as sunny skies and temperatures expected to hit a high of 25C on Saturday and 17C on Sunday.
Tickets, available at Ticketmaster and are $57.50 for a one-day pass and $104.50 for a weekend pass. Included in the price is the $7 ferry trip.
Concertgoers can visit the Star's special V Fest section for set times and the full lineup.
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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...72154&t=TS_Home
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Virgin Festival line-up change
Toronto, Ontario September 7, 2006
Virgin Mobile Canada and Emerge Entertainment, producers of Virgin Festival announced today that there will be a change to the Virgin Festival artist line-up on Sunday, September 10. Broken Social Scene will replace Massive Attack as the closing act on the Virgin Mobile Stage.
According to Massive Attack’s management, "In spite of timely and coordinated efforts, the essential U.S. immigration visas were not issued in time for the beginning of the Massive Attack North American Tour. Subsequently, the band has been forced to cancel the first four shows (Toronto, 9/10, Montreal, 9/11, Detroit 9/12, Chicago, 9/13). Currently, the rest of the tour remains intact. The band hopes to reschedule the cancelled shows as soon as possible."
"We apologize to everyone who bought tickets expecting to see Massive Attack perform, but we know that the new line-up continues to deliver an outstanding two-day experience for the Toronto Virgin Festival. With the addition of Broken Social Scene, we’re continuing to deliver outstanding talent at incredible value," said Jacob Smid, Emerge Entertainment.
Broken Social Scene kicked off the summer's festival season and are honoured to close the season as the final act to perform at the Virgin Festival this Sunday.
Virgin Festival ticket holders will be entitled to “front of the line” status at Massive Attack’s next Toronto show which will be announced soon. If festival goers purchased tickets to specifically see Massive Attack, they can get a refund for their purchases at the point of purchase prior 12:00 pm on September 10. For tickets purchased online at futureshop.ca, customers must return those tickets to a Future Shop store location before 12:00 p.m on Sunday.
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http://www.vfest.ca/en/press/press_...eptember06.html
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