Bluedot has issued a thank you statement to festivalgoers and workers for their cooperation after “unprecedented rainfall” lead to cancellations.
Cheshire’s multi award-winning celebration of music, science, and cosmic culture once again took over the grounds of the iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory this past weekend, with Grace Jones, Pavement, Roisin Murphy, Max Richter, and Leftfield among the names gracing the stage and entertaining the masses over the three-day festival.
But in case you hadn’t heard, it was a bit of a wash-out.
While we’re no stranger to heavy showers in Greater Manchester and the North West, it’s fair to say July has been a particularly soggy affair, and none more so than this past weekend – with torrential rain coming down thick and fast for basically two days straight.
Of course, with rain that heavy falling all across the region, it was expected that some disruption would be caused to pre-planned outdoor events, but after continuous hours of showers throughout Saturday, Bluedot organisers deemed it to be an “unprecedented rainfall”, and were forced into the “heartbreaking decision” of denying entry for day ticketholders on the final day of the festival.
The festival urged Sunday day ticketholders “please do not travel” to the event.
In an official statement issued last Sunday morning, organisers said: “It has been determined that while muddy, the arena ground condition allows us to go ahead with our plans for today’s programme – but only for people already here at the festival.
“We’ve had an unprecedented amount of rainfall over the past seven days that has seen the water level reach saturation point during the night, rendering our day ticket holder car park, pick-up and drop-off point and entrances impassable due to standing water.”
Staff at the festival worked hard through the night to deal with the situation, but conceded that it had “reached the point where it was not possible to accommodate further audience vehicles on site”.
Ticket refunds are to be issued, the festival confirmed.
Bluedot issues thank you statement after torrential rain leads to ‘heartbreaking’ cancellations / Credit: bluedot (via Facebook)
Now, a few days after the 2023 edition of the festival has drawn to a close, Bluedot has issued another statement to “celebrate” all the attendees, workers, teams and organisations, and volunteers “who made sure the show could go on”, and has thanked them for their support and continued cooperation across the weekend.
“bluedot 2023 was able to take place as the result of an extraordinary effort from a huge variety of tirelessly hard-working teams and organisations committed to your happiness and wellbeing,” the festival said in its thank you statement.
The festival admitted that, without all of these people, “bluedot would be just an idea”, and are responsible for making attendees’ experiences “come to life”.
The Cheshire-based festival experienced an “unprecedented amount of rainfall” / Credit: bluedot (via Facebook)
The statement continues: “Most of all, we must thank you – our wonderful bluedot explorers – who, despite everything, waded through mud to surf the cosmic waves to achieve something against the odds; an amazing collective action to make fun, wonder and joy our world, just for a few days. We deeply appreciate the support we have received, both on site and online. The community of music, science and culture fans we are so fortunate to host, has come together stronger than ever.
“Our sincere apologies again to those who could not join us on the last day, which was a heartbreaking decision.
“Having had a chance now to see the extent of the challenges we faced, we hope you understand our predicament and our reasoning. We are happy to share the update that all our ticket agents have now confirmed Sunday ticketholders will receive refunds directly within five days.”
Bluedot closed out its statement confirming that an FAQs page has been set up for anybody who is expecting a refund, and that it will be pushing back its planned onsale of 2024 tickets until it has dealt with all refunds.
My Chemical Romance fans are losing it as emo favourites appear to tease UK tour
Danny Jones
American alt-rock and emo favourites My Chemical Romance aren’t just back for one last Black Parade; it looks like they might be heading to the UK for more tour dates.
Not just a phase, never was.
My Chemical Romance (an entirely different kind of MCR) made yet another mighty return to the fore earlier this year, nearly two whole decades on from the release of the seminal album, which dropped in 2006 and has now been toured live again by the New Jersey band.
Playing the album IN FULL for the first time in years, they’ve been busy in North America delighting die-hard crowds, but now a recent teaser has got My Chem fans gearing up for UK and Ireland shows.
As you can see, MCR released the somewhat cryptic comedy sketch above, in which they seem to spoof a gameshow centred around a robot named ‘Quizzo’.
The host of this fictional programme goes on to explain that the result will determine “who will be the next lucky country to win the grand prize of one nuclear winter.”
It might only last for a few seconds, but the main takeaway is that the ‘who’ selected as the recipient of this upcoming prize is none other than the United Kingdom.
Combine that with a simple caption that reads, “Let’s show them what they’ve won”, it’d be hard not to jump to the conclusion that we Brits are about to pretend we’re ‘Teenagers’ again and chant ‘Na Na Na’ until our lungs give out.
In the time since the post went live, fans on this side of the pond have understandably started getting very excited…
My Chemical Romance are coming back to the UK… For the 1st time since 2022 when we all thought it would be the last hurrah…#MCRpic.twitter.com/vHWO5mK89j
At first, some were wondering whether this year’s revival might have also seen the resurrection of their much-mythologised but ultimately scrapped 2019 record, The Paper Kingdom, but it seems pretty much nailed on that their transatlantic followers are about to get some gigs.
It remains unclear whether these still TBC dates will be an extension of the current ‘Long Live The Black Parade‘ tour, which began on 11 July, or something new entirely.
Either way, with this current run of shows due to end in September and hints at a ‘nuclear winter’, it’s a fair assumption to guess that My Chemical Romance will be coming to the UK either later this year or early 2026 – and you bank on a big Manchester booking to be thrown in there too.
Featured Images — NBSTwo (via Flickr)/Reprise Records
Audio
Adidas drop Liam and Noel Gallagher SPZL trainers
Daisy Jackson
Liam and Noel Gallagher have teamed up with adidas once again to create their very own SPZL trainers.
The sportswear giant has today dropped the designs for the adidas LG Achille SPZL and the adidas NG Marathon SPZL.
The sure-to-sell-out trainers will officially hit shelves in the new Manchester adidas store, and other stockists, next weekend.
The footwear drop coincides with the ongoing Oasis reunion tour, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the city when they played five nights in Heaton Park.
Liam and Noel themselves have maintained a close relationship with Gary Aspden, curator of the adidas SPZL range, for more than two decades.
They’re often seen sporting the iconic trainers and creating product collaborations, and now they’re back with a new Three Stripes partnership and their very own new adidas SPZL trainers.
Up first is Liam Gallaghers’s adidas SPZL, with the Oasis frontman asking to bring back a revised version of an archival runner, the adidas Achille.
The LG Achille SPZL features a khaki mesh base, chocolate brown stripes, a beige suede T-toe overlay, and a sand outside, with a motif of Liam on the tongue of the shoe.
Noel Gallagher’s NG Marathon SPZLs are his first collaborations with the brand since his immediate sell-out shoes back in 2017.
His are a new hybrid inspired by the adidas Marathon 85 silhouette, keeping the suede upper and rubber outsole of the Marathon 85 but with a deep navy/sky blue palette with a reworked toe box and midsole, as well as details like the Eco-Tex tongue and tonal eyelets.
Both shoes feature a portrait of their namesakes on the tongue, as well as spare laces, co-branded sock liners, and commemorative packaging.
The adidas LG Achille SPZL and the adidas NG Marathon SPZL are set to launch via adidas SPZL stockists and the adidas Carnaby and MCR retail stores on 16 August.