TOKYO – The massive earthquake and tsunami rocking northeast Japan has resulted in a wave of concert cancellations for international touring artists including Iron Maiden, Slash, The National, Jack Johnson, The Gaslight Anthem and others, with public safety, logistics concerns and power conservation efforts cited as the region tries to recover from the historic tremblor. Iron Maiden, which had been scheduled to perform March 12 and 13 at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, cancelled those shows March 11, the day the earthquake and tsunami hit. Slash also canceled shows set for later this week in Tokyo and Yokohama. Jack Johnson canceled gigs booked at Tokyo and Sendai, and the 90-member BBC Philharmonic had also been touring in the region and said it would cut its tour short.
Along with concerns with safety and transportation, artists cited the need for power conservation as the country tries to recover from damage to nuclear reactors. On a posting on The Gaslight Athem's Facebook page, drummer Benny Horowitz noted, "it is obviously in very bad taste to use amplifiers and lights in a time like this," when millions are still without power.
When devastation like this hits, members of the industry immediately begin to think of their loved ones and friends who are overseas working and on tour. Sandy Espinoza, a member of our sister site, ProAudioSpace.com immediately started contacting friends and crews from all the bands and tours in Asia to assure that everyone is okay.
"I did it because it needed to get done and I knew that there were crews out frantically trying to contact loved ones and vice versa," stated Espinoza. "I did it because it needed to get done and I could only imagine myself on both sides of the fence wondering if my loved ones were okay and also wanting to get word back to the world that we were okay," she added.
ProLightingSpace.com has extended her efforts by asking the PLS community to add any information or updates on tours, bands and manufacturers in Asia. "It is times like these that we need to pull together as a community and offer any help we can," added PLSN editor Justin Lang.
To see or add to the information, please visit www.prolightingspace.com.
