Echo and the Bunnymen were forced into an embarrassing climbdown today after fans reacted angrily to the band’s decision to reschedule their 26 May show in Birmingham because it clashed with Liverpool playing in the Champions League Final.
A statement posted yesterday on the band’s Facebook page announced that the Saturday show would be switched to the following Tuesday because “Both our fans and Liverpool FC are very close to our hearts and after much reflection we decided we couldn’t play a show during the Champions League Final. We asked UEFA to change the date of the match but they denied our request.”
However, there was immediate uproar from fans who had booked transport and accommodation for the day of the concert.
Following the controversy, another post on the Bunnymen’s Facebook page this morning sheepishly announced that the show would “now still go ahead on the original scheduled date of Saturday 26th May. We’ve decided to reverse our decision to change the show date following our fans reaction to last night’s social media announcement. Mac and Will are deeply upset about the situation and are really sorry for any unnecessary disappointment caused.”
Predictably, this didn’t go down well either as a number of fans had already cancelled their bookings for the Saturday.
As it stands, the gig will go ahead on Saturday 26 May, but no announcement has been made about whether the show will take place before, during or after the football match.
