Rrrrrr. My wife and I were psyched. We are both big Cat Stevens fans. Also have the more recent albums released by Yusuf, the name Cat Stevens began using when he retired from the music business (Cat's birth name is Steven Demetre Georgiou, son of a Cypriot father and Swedish mother). I pre-ordered Cat's new CD, Tell 'Em I'm Gone, so I was able to get a special code so I could obtain tickets to his upcoming tour scheduled for December which was due to play the Beacon Theater in NYC on Dec 7th. At 12:00 today, EST, I logged in to snag 2 tickets, a 30th anniversary present to the 2 of us.....but.....
The show was cancelled. Less than an hour before the tickets went on sale to those who pre-ordered the CD and roughly a day before tickets would go on sale to the general public. Darn. So, no tickets for us to the Peace Train...Late Again Tour for us. Cat/Yusuf posted the following on his website....
"Unfortunately I will not be performing in NYC this time around but I am looking forward to playing for fans in Philadelphia on December 4 and hope to return to NYC at a future date. My fans will understand and I thank them for informing me about the extortionate tickets prices already being listed on some websites. I have been a longtime supporter of paperless tickets to my shows worldwide and avoiding scalpers. Unfortunately NY has a state law that requires all tickets sold for shows in NYC to be paper, enabling them to be bought and sold at inflated prices. I'm sorry about not being able to now play in NYC but hope to find an opportunity that aligns with my support of this issue in the near future, God willing. Looks like the Peace Train is going to arrive at New York a little bit later than expected.” - YusufApparently, those online ticket scalpers were already planning to sell certain tickets, priced at $190 for $11,000. I don't know how these brokers manage to get these tickets. Perhaps inside deals are made all the time. But I find it sad this happens and support Yusuf's decision to pull the show and re-arrange his tour so he will now be playing in Philadelphia on Dec 4 and Boston on Dec 7th. I would love for Yusuf to play in our humble state of NJ - we have a number of nice size venues. But for some reason we are being passed by. Perhaps the next time the train comes into town.
Yes, Baby, Baby it's a Wild World.....
A lot of the comments I've seen online regarding Cat/Yusuf touring again are pretty nasty and racist due to his conversion to the Muslim faith years ago. There was also the incident with Salman Rushdie. But from all I've seen over the years, including Cat/Yusuf's appearing with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in DC a few years back, his induction into the Rock Hall this year, and his past and present music and interviews, I have a lot of respect for the man.
With all the crap going down in the Mideast we could all use a ride on the Peace Train.
If anyone does attend the few shows in the States perhaps you can post a review.
Peace, Tom