BSO XMAS Xtravaganza CANCELLED!!!!

Just found out. That really sucks, I check every day for when advance tix go on sale here in LA, and now NO SHOW. I wonder why?

Ah well, at least i have the Stray Cats show to look forward to.


PS - Nikko, bring back your tabs! Hell, bring back your website!

This is indeed a huge shock. Hopefully everything is okay with the Setzer/BSO family.

Rick

Well, The BSO just announced the Japan tour, it seems as if everything is ok . It's possible that maybe with all the Stray Cats gigs, combined with the BSO stuff, maybe an X-Mas vacation is in order. He's doing a LOT of shows....

Drat, drat, and double drat. It's not April 1st...and this is no joke.

Crapola. Wonder what happened?

It won't be Christmas without the BSO this year!
hrg

I am so grateful to have seen the BSO three weeks ago in Aspen. I am even more grateful that the announcement of the cancellation also contained the words "We'll see you next year."

While I readily admit that this board should not be a place to speculate about Brian's or anyone's health, he did say the following in front of 3,000 people in Aspen: "I hurt my knee a couple of days ago, and while I can't jump, I can still jive and wail," at which point the crowd was so excited about the tune, that I don't know if they gave the knee comment a second thought. I have no idea if there's a knee surgery (and the painful physical therapy that goes along with it) in Brian's future, but you can add that public statement to your internal dialogue about why only the Extravaganza was canceled. I would rather have an educated guess than speculate irresponsibly about a myriad of situations.

Whatever the circumstance, Brian has been very generous favoring US fans with a Christmas Extravaganza every year. If he had to make a choice between sacrificing the hotly-anticipated Stray Cats shows in Europe and Australia, the Japanese tour, or the BSO Xmas Xtravaganza (the popularity of which has soared in the past few years), then I am confident he made the best possible choice, balancing concern for his fans with his personal well-being.

Take care, Brian! Thanks for all you've given us, and we can't wait to see you stateside in 2009!


Health and Happiness-billy

Yeah, I'll admit when I first saw the announcement I was really bummed, but if you do the math you can see that if he keeps the Christmas tour, he's booked solid from August thru Feb except for several weeks in Oct/Nov. That's a lot of touring! I really consider myself to be doubly fortunate in light of this new development to have scored some pretty decent tickets to see the Cats at the OC Fair week after next (one of the few benefits of actually having to live in Orange County Ca, lol). Also, it occurred to me that with the problems he has encountered over the last couple of years with his hearing, he may need more of a break to keep this situation in check; yes, I know that's speculation on my part, sorry (bats lashes, tries to look innocent. . .) Hopefully we'll still see a few T.V. appearances by the BSO over the holidays (pleeeeezzzzzzzz!)

It is a bit odd that they decided this after booking the venues and selling out dates. I am sure there is financial penalties for canceling without a good reason.

I hope everyone's health is good. The knee surgery sounds plausible - but I think a bum knee would have effected earlier dates as well.

Hopefully a 2009 Xmas tour will happen and the anticipation will make it that much more better.

Very very odd annoncement... Something serious probably...

Not that I know anything, really (that goes for most of what I'm saying ), but maybe the cancellation doesn't have any other reason than that Brian and the guys need to spend Christmas at home for once... Which is totally understandable. I took the liberty of cut'n'pasting this from the official message board:

TommyM wrote:
Christmas Eve in a strange hotel room all alone eating a cheeseburger is no fun, for Brian or the 35 other band members, crew members, bus drivers, stage hands, roadies, etc.
I think you catch my drift.

Thanks for understanding,

Tommy Santa

The only thing that makes it kind of a bummer is that they made the decision after the tour was announced, tickets were sold, etc... But hey, you guys'll get a Christmas Extravanganza next year. Us Europeans aren't that lucky


Anders

then do it from mid november to early december gosh dang!!

I can't imagine Brian would cancel the Xmas tour simply to be "home for the holidays." I'm sure many of the orchestra members are missing the paycheck this year, so it couldn't have been a decision Brian made lightly. And Tommy's reply, like many of Tommy's replies, is more profound, yet enigmatic than a direct "official" answer. And that's fine. I find some of his more evasive posts to be wildly entertaining and often more informative than if he had actually answered the question.

Being home for the holidays may be one of the benefits of canceling the tour, but I don't think that was the reason the decision was made. Knowing why won't change the outcome. Perhaps Brian will elaborate on the situation once all the details have been worked out with the affected venues. Certainly, he will be doing some press for the upcoming Stray Cats tour. Maybe we'll find out then. Maybe we won't. Shoot, we could find out tomorrow night at the OC Stray Cats show. If Brian comes out with one of those cool Evel Knievel canes filled with whiskey, then my knee theory may just be correct.

If you remember last December, people who observed Brian at the end of the last tour noted how sick he looked, and while we didn't ever get an official statement regarding the reason behind the cancellation of the last couple of shows, many forum members who were at those last shows guessed that Brian was suffering from some sort of illness, from which he made a full recovery.

If Brian sees fit to issue an official statement regarding this year's cancellation, that's his choice. But I hope fans can see past their disappointment and trust that Brian is doing this for reasons that will serve both him and his fans best in the long run.

The Year Without a Setzer Claus-a-billy

the show must go on

It looks as if the show will go on, but in Japan in Jan "09. That may be good news at least as far as any health related issues are concerned.

.

It's very odd. Why would it be cancelled after all the venues were booked? I don't believe it has anything to do with the BSO wanting to be home for Xmas. The guys get paid to do that not to mention that they are always performing in California right up until Xmas. Something else happened. Who knows, maybe Brian is just tired of the orchestra. I guess we'll never know. In any event, it's a shame we won't get to see them this year.

If you see the photos on the main page, it's pretty clear that Brian's knee is plenty strong enough to climb on Slim Jim's drum kit, so my knee surgery theory is way off.

Honestly, I wondered how many consecutive years the BSO would be able to pull off the Christmas tour and still be able to keep it fresh. Maybe the time off and the Japanese tour will recharge his batteries and enthusiasm for the Big Band as a non-holiday entity. Even though he sorta slipped in some Christmas lyrics into Gettin In the Mood at the Aspen show, (I know I heard "bells are ringin'...") I think he enjoyed breaking out some tunes he had previously shelved in favor of holiday fare.

Aspen was only a month ago, but it seems longer than that. After hearing about last night's Stray Cats show, I'm itchin' to see them again!

Christmas Slayer-billy

I really feel for the people with tickets to the cancelled shows.
It's of small help i know, but at least you didn't get really excited the day of the show, take the train down to the venue singing bso songs all the way with your brother, then reach the venue.....and wonder why there was no queue.....then read a small notice on the entrance doors saying the show was cancelled, and no reason given......
One of the worse experiences i can remember....The royal albert hall...i can't remember the year but Wee Mark was going to the show as well.

I agree with Rick, by next christmas Mr Setzer and co will be full throttle again.

RadiationSteve wrote:

One of the worse experiences i can remember....The royal albert hall...i can't remember the year but Wee Mark was going to the show as well.

I may be wrong, but I think it was around 1999.... I was going as well, from Spain, but thanks god finally I didn´t catch that flight!