Lily Allen has confirmed she downsized her North American tour because of low ticket sales.
Back in July, the 41-year-old singer announced a significant reshuffle for her West End Girl tour, with several arena shows switched to theatres, and one gig in Montreal cancelled altogether.
Asked about the changes, Lily candidly told The Cut magazine: “The ticket sales weren’t there. I think people sometimes have a misconception about artist greed.
“And, you know, maybe there are artists who are greedy, but let me tell you a little bit about the mechanics of how these things work:
“I don’t call up MSG and all of these other venues and say, ‘I’d like to book these dates, please. Thank you very much. I think I can fill these arenas.’ “
Lily explained how the “company’s own promoters have data machines that tell them whether they’re going to be able to sell these tickets”.
An artist is then offered a “certain amount” and told that the company has faith they “can sell out tickets”.
The Smile hitmaker continued: “I felt a little bit uneasy about it from the start. I said to my manager, ‘Are you sure? This seems like a stretch.’
“And he was like, ‘This is what they’re telling me.’ So we accepted it. And as time went on, it just looked like it wasn’t gonna happen.”
Lily noted that while cancelling “all of the shows” was an option, she didn’t want to let down “a crew of about 50 people who all thought they’d be working through October”.
She explained: “Our other option was to ask the promoters if there were any other available venues that were more suited to the demand.”
Lily described the live music industry as a “minefield” and admitted she still didn’t quite understand “how it works”.
She added: “I’ve gotten messages from people on the day of a ‘sold out’ gig saying, ‘I got a ticket for $22 today.’
“So obviously a bunch of tickets are released last minute, but on our end, we’re told those tickets were sold out the day they went on sale.
“I don’t know what the f*** is going on. Someone knows, but it ain’t the artist.”
The MSG show in New York City still went ahead as planned on September 3, but other dates were changed.
Fans who purchased tickets were offered a full refund, and given the chance to join a presale for the new venues.