The Philippine Online Chronicles

The much anticipated Asian tour of the Killers--including their January 31st concert here in Manila--has been cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". (The Australian leg however appears to be still scheduled to take place.) Concert promoter Live Nation issued a press release (as seen on the MTV Asia blog) wherein the band, through Live Nation, expressed their regret for the cancellation and the hope that the band would be able to secure different concert dates in the affected cities, sometime in the future. This reiterates a statement made on the band's official website. No guarantees were made however, and nothing in the text of the press release sheds any more light on the reason for the mysterious cancellation.

In an interview posted on January 20, however, (note that this was before the announcement of the cancellation), the band indicated that they would be taking an indefinite break after their February 21 Melbourne show, as guitarist Dave Keuning stated that "we just want a little bit of time off." It is unknown if this desire played role in the decision to cancel appearances in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo and Seoul--if that was indeed the case however, that would be a gross disservice to their fans in those countries.

As of this post (roughly 5:00 p.m. of January 22, 2010), the cancellation has not yet been announced at Ticketnet or Ticketworld (although it no longer appears to be possible to purchase tickets at either site). The concert was initially slated to take place at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds. Refund details were provided in the Press Release, but it is unlikely that identical procedures will apply here in the Philippines, as tickets here do not appear to have been purchased through Sistic. Of course, a refund of the ticket price does not take into account other costs that fans might have incurred, such as flights to any of the Asian cities which were intended as stops on the tour, nor other events that fans may have passed upon for them to catch their idols live.

The news spread quickly through Twitter, with reactions varying from disbelief, to a desire that the concerts sponsors find other bands to support. There was also some anger that the Killers cancelled their tours in Asia, yet still plan to push through with their appearance in Australia.

Whether or not the band had a valid reason for the cancellation, fans deserve both the specific truth (no, "unforeseen circumstances" just doesn't cut it) and an apology that costs the band more than a vague promise of a future visit, especially in light of their "indefinite break."

(Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killers)