White Lies forced to cancel Paris show after equipment detained over Brexit legislation

NME

White Lies have been forced to cancel a show in Paris after their equipment was detained by Brexit legislation.

• READ MORE: “It’s going to be devastating” – here’s how Brexit will screw over British touring artists

The group were due to perform in Paris this evening (April 8) but couldn’t after delays through complex Brexit legislation left them without any equipment to play.

In a statement titled “Sad News” the band wrote: “To our dear fans here in Paris, We and our crew have arrived safely this morning to start our European tour. But our equipment has been detained by Brexit legislation leaving England, along with countless other trucks.

“We are aware this happened to [another] British band last week. We’re devastated to say that without our equipment we do not have a show, and tonight’s has to be cancelled and rescheduled. It’s heartbreaking to be here in this wonderful city, and unable to perform due to such a trivial issue.”

You can read the full statement below:

Tonight’s show can’t go ahead, even though we are in Paris. We are so gutted to announce this. News on rescheduling ASAP. Details below. pic.twitter.com/YDqJKjeJCJ

— White Lies (@whiteliesmusic) April 7, 2022

Back in January, one year on from the music industry essentially being dealt a “No Deal Brexit”, industry leaders and insiders spoke to NME about the problems that remain in place for UK musicians.

In January 2021 the government jeopardised the future of touring for UK artists when the Brexit deal secured with the EU failed to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for musicians and crew. Problems still remain when it comes to new rules and red tape, creating huge costs to future live music tours of the continent – which could create a glass ceiling that prevents rising and developing talent from being able to afford to do so.

Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive of the Music Managers Forum, told NME in January that more and more problems with the Brexit landscape continue to emerge.

“Last January, we spent most of the month realising that all of our worst fears had come true and we had a No Deal Brexit for music. Then we spent six months trying to work through the details with government, and as we did it just got worse and worse. Now we’re in a situation where things are still popping up left, right and centre.

“We make a bit of progress with one step forward and two steps back, and then more issues arise.”

She continued: “We try to get clarity on things, then the clarity is bad news,” she said. “It’s really tough, because every time this happens all the managers ask us, ‘What the hell is going on?’ We don’t know half the time and our government certainly doesn’t. They’ve never taken up any responsibility to actually invest properly. They keep leaving it to us. The government guidance has been awful.”

Coldrick said that she had “very little confidence” that these issues would be fixed in the immediate future, and predicted that this upcoming first year of open touring since the pandemic would prove difficult.

“I think what we’ll end up with is lots of individual stories of people encountering barriers, increased costs, and difficulties with different enforcements in different countries,” she said. “There are customs officials and transport police who don’t know what different rules apply to the UK. We’re basically going to have a year of dealing with major issues that people are going to encounter on the road, trying to clarify them then trying to get the government to solve them. I have no confidence that they will.”

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