Update: Zooma Tour Cancelled 2005-05-27 01:08:28
Superfly and AC Entertainment have pulled the plug on the traveling Zooma Tour. Ticket refunds for all dates will be given through the outlets where the tickets were purchased. In a message posted on Zooma’s webpage, the traveling festival’s promoters said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, it has become clear that it would not be possible to provide that experience at the level initially envisioned. Rather than go forward with a tour that falls short of what was conceived, everyone involved has mutually agreed that it is best to cancel the tour altogether."
Less than a month before Zooma’s scheduled kick off, none of the festival’s performances had sold-out and prime seats were still available in several major markets. After Anastasio’s spring theater tour received mixed reviews, it was unclear whether the former Phish guitarist would retain the touring crowd so essential to his previous live success. While Anastasio toured amphitheaters as a solo act in 2001, by the following year he had largely moved back to theaters and smaller-sheds. Combined with his recent dates in April and May, Zooma would have marked Anastasio’s largest outing since the late 1990s, leaving fans to question the guitarist’s decision to break-up Phish. Last year, Anastasio cited time off the road as a major factor in his decision to part ways with his longtime bandmates. Oddly enough, news of Zooma’s cancellation arrived a day after the one-year anniversary of Anastasio\'s announcement that Phish would part ways after Coventry.
Zooma’s cancellation has left many to question the future of the “touring festival.” Last year promoters aborted a jamband-heavy Lollapalooza, forcing Perry Farrell to re-envision his seminal festival as a single weekend offering. Other touring packages also scheduled to for this summer include String Cheese Incident’s BIG Summer Classic and Gov’t Mule’s Voodoo Caravan Tour.
Fans who purchased tickets through Trey Anastasio or Ben Harper’s ticketing pre-sales will automatically be refunded for ticket face value plus all other service and shipping charges. Refunds will begin Friday, May 27, and continue until June 2nd. Once the refund is processed, fans will automatically receive an email confirmation. Anastasio is expected to confirm a handful of rescheduled summer tour dates in the coming days.
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