Music Blogs

Calling in Sick

Posted Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:19pm PST by Shawn Amos in GetBack

Ya know, writing a blog isn't much different than being a musician on the road or an actor in a play: late nights, screaming fans, strange hotel rooms, bad food. For the two hours onstage, it's total bliss. Everything else in between is a mindless chore.

It's no wonder that some artists will do anything to get off the road. Everyone needs a break. I get that. Just tell me straight. Let me know you can't take it. Or let me know that your tour wasn't selling enough tickets so you had to pull the plug. Or you had better things to do. Whatever the reason, If you're gonna call in sick to work, at least come up with a good excuse. You hear me, Jeremy Piven? That "mercury toxicity" thing was WAY lame.

These artists have the sorriest concert cancellation excuses ever.
 

BO BICE
Excuse: "Has to immediately return to the studio to complete album"


The American Idol runner-up had been dropped from his label and was playing the House of Blues circuit last year when he cancelled three gigs to "immediately return to the studio" to record a follow-up album. Really? You have no label deal, you're playing HOB gigs, and you have to rush into the studio? Who's waiting for the record? No one, apparently. See The Light peaked at #150 on the Billboard 200.
 

 

 

 

 

AEROSMITH
Excuse: "Don’t have their gear"

The Toxic Twins cancelled a sold-out show in Maui, saying they weren't able to get their gear to Hawaii on time from a gig a few days earlier in Chicago. Meanwhile, the band hopped over to neighboring island Oahu to play a private show for a bunch of Toyota car dealers. They got paid $1 million, a lot more than that Maui gig for a just a bunch of paying fans. Who cares about paying fans, right?
 

 

 

 

 

 

WHITE STRIPES
Excuse: "Acute anxiety"


After touring Canada in support of their 2007 Icky Thump release, Jack and Meg were all set to conquer the U.S. when they abruptly cancelled the tour due to Meg's "anxiety problems." Maybe she didn't want to compete with the Raconteurs.
 

 

 

 

 

GUNS N' ROSES
Excuse: "Finishing Chinese Democracy"


It only seems like yesterday. Axl's newly minted Guns N' Roses line-up was all set to tour in 2002 to support their new album, Chinese Democracy. Only problem? There was no new album. Oh, and Axl decided not to show up for most of the gigs. I guess no excuse is almost as good as a lame excuse.
 

 

 

 

 

FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Excuse: "Some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground"


I'm throwing this one on the list just because it's so legendarily cool and bizarre. Zappa and the Mothers were playing a show in Montreux, Switzerland, when some dude in the crowd shot a flare gun and burned the club down. So no, the gig wasn't cancelled; it was stopped. And no, it's not an excuse. But it's a damn good rock story and the inspiration for the FM radio staple "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, who probably made up some lame excuses for canceling gigs at some point in their career.

 

 

 

 

THE LAME EXCUSES CONTINUE...

See more in our Calling In Sick FlipBook.

 

1532 Comments

61. mikewofsey -
Some friends shared their press box tickets with me for a Nine Inch Nails show at Madison Square Garden. We waited for over an hour, finally the promoter came up and said the show was cancelled because Reznor broke his finger. Boos and a half-hearted protest followed, nobody wanted to leave. Finally the promoter told us "he's passed out and I can't wake him up, what do you want me to do?"

Apparently that was a functional excuse (whether true or not) and everyone started to leave.

62. michael l -
u suck ass
whats your excuse?

63. Sassy -
Wow, this "article" should top the list of "lamest" excuses. Amos, I suggest you do some more research b4 you post such waste.

64. Yahoo! Music User -
What a waste of space and time......

65. SunaDK -
Is this what you wanted to be when you grew up? You are hands down the most unnecessary columnist on Yahoo if you can even call yourself one. All your articles are lacking, bland, and irrelevant. If you're going to report something, please conduct a bit more thorough research into something that people will actually find useful or applicable, not just some arbitrary topic you cram over right before your deadline.

66. Jwizza -
If youre a yahoo! fan you are a fan of writing comparable to a 5th grader.

67. honey -
when it goes without saying why say anything!.

68. Tismypueblo -
RHCP played a ridculously shortened gig in Boston, MA because they were stuck in traffic :|

69. Dustin -
you are all gay

70. Levonne -
ya definently shoulda had more examples, but these are prii funny

71. POST COMMENT -
HA ONE OF THOSE GOT ME IN 1954 AT A ELTON JOHN CONCERT

72. MargaretC -
Yeah some of those pretty good excuses and some are lame but we still love the bands or artists we love no matter how ridiculous they get.

73. Yahoo! Music User -
I was actually lucky to catch one of the GNR shows in Columbus, Ohio in 02 before they cancelled everything. They were kinda off and on up to that point and afterwards they did maybe 1 or 2 more shows before they stopped touring. The night of the concert, they were an hour late to the stage, but it was saved by an hour of flashing on the jumbo screens.

The show itself ended up being amazing.

74. Yahoo! Music User -
I think The Stipes excuse is legit. Meg had an alleged "sex Tape" circling, id be trippin too

75. James R -
this is almost as stupid as that gay ass yahoo article about "Kobe's New Shoes".
Who the $#%^ gives a rat's @$$ about this bull%^&*.I thought"Hey, this article might be half decent",then I read it and it was crap.It was lazily written,with no abundance of research being done,and overall just didn't meet the standars of a second grade essay,much less anything a jack@$$ would randomly spew on the general(and unsuspecting) public.For shame.

76. Heisenberg -
i was hoping for a lot more content with this one. i really would have liked to see two to three times the content or more. how about trying again with stupid things rock bands have done while on tour and this time provide a bunch of examples.

77. POST COMMENT -
HAHA HAHAHA

78. -
this never happens w/ asian artists

79. OohAah -
Interesting. It's too bad that not even ONE Aerosmith fan will think less of those old farts for having sold them out in favor of Toyota. Not even an American car company! Jeez.

80. David -
I have met children in 3rd world countries that could right a better blog than you...just what is your musical education, you subscribe to Rolling Stone.You need to do us all a favor and never write again!
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