Press Release – for immediate release
Monday July 21, 2008
DURAN DURAN FORCED TO CANCEL NAPLES SHOW ORIGINALLY SLATED TO TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY JULY 22
Following yesterday’s high energy performance at the Spiaggia Del Faro in Jesolo, the members of Duran Duran are being forced to cancel tomorrow night’s show (Tuesday July 22) in Naples because their Italian promoter’s main production truck, carrying all of the essential components for their concert, broke down in the early hours of this morning, en route between venues, making it impossible for the production to reach its destination in time.
The promoter, whose truck was part of a convoy of vehicles traveling the length of the country between the two cities, was initially hoping that the problem could be solved relatively quickly. Sadly, however, at the point where a decision needed to be made about the concert, the truck, whose engine had seized, was still being worked on and there was no hope of getting it back on the road in time for the complicated show build for the band’s performance tomorrow.
Duran Duran’s Naples show, which was slated to take place at the Arena Flegrea, would have been their sixth Italian date on this latest run that will end, as planned, on Wednesday night in Reggio di Calabria with a free show at the Piazza Indipendenza. The seven Italian shows are part of the band’s Red Carpet Massacre European tour, which started in late June and will end on July 26 in Malta.
This latest turn of events follows logistical problems with the Naples show earlier in the week that had necessitated the band’s technical crew slightly redesigning the production in order to make it work in the venue.
Speaking from Jesolo, where they were waiting to leave for Naples this morning, the band members expressed how disappointed they were and promised to make up the date as soon as they can.
“This is the first time that something like this has happened to us,” said singer Simon LeBon “and we are gutted that we can’t play the show. Italy is our home away from home and the last few nights performing here have been absolutely amazing. The fans are always so enthusiastic and we’ve had an incredible time on stage. We have been getting regular updates all morning and our team has been working to see if there is anything at all we could do to save the show. Unfortunately, however, we are being told that with the distance between the two cities, the complexity of our production and the time that has now been lost, they will never make it. It’s really disappointing and all we can say is that we want to get back to Naples as soon as possible to make it up to our fans.”
Tickets for tomorrow night’s show will be fully refunded by the promoter at the point of purchase.
