Fish postpones European tour due to Brexit uncertainty
Fish has postponed his upcoming April and May European tour until October and November 2020. His March UK dates will go ahead as planned.
Writing on his official website, Fish explained he’s decided to push the tour back six months due to Brexit concerns after “a lot of hard thinking” and “long talks with various advisers.”
He wrote: “By that time (autumn 2020) hopefully we will all know more about the effects of Brexit and things will hopefully have calmed down a bit and I will have had a chance to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate those changes.”
Fish continued: “In short, I considered it too risky to set off on a nightliner tour with far too many questions to which no one seems to have any answers. At this time in my career and approaching retirement from the music business at the end of 2021 to take a gamble on 6 weeks of European touring did not make any sense and I reluctantly decided to postpone the shows.
“It’s akin to being in a small boat in a harbour. the barometer ringing changes, a dark cloud is hovering on the horizon and I’m waiting on life jackets to be delivered. I don’t need to sail just now and the fish will always be in the ocean.
“Nightliner touring, although mostly backed by guarantees from promoters, pays off when costs are met and percentage breaks on sales together with merch income brings in the dividends.
“I’ve been out in a recession before and taken massive hits that nearly cost me my house in the 90’s. The signs are that a recession is looming, not only in the UK but across Europe which always means lower ticket and merch sales as people have more important financial concerns to deal with.
“Packed together with the new bureaucracy we have to endure and it’s a far safer and smarter option to stay in port and wait out the storm. It may not arrive, and it may not be as high a category as is projected but I’m not taking chances.”
Fish’s upcoming March 2020 UK tour will still go ahead as planned, and the singer will still be playing festivals in the summer where he is “not reliant on percentages” and has “firm guarantees.”
“The extra time means I can plan accordingly whether it means manufacturing in Europe, setting up a German company to deal with touring and album production and dealing with the overall fallout of Brexit which once again looks like moving,” Fish added.
“I know this will be disappointing for European fans and it’s been tough declaring the new plans to my band and crew who were expecting to be working in that period. However, bottom line is that it’s only being moved by a few months and the preparation that’s required will all hopefully be in place to make it as smooth a run as possible given the circumstances.”
In an impassioned Facebook post on 29th August, Fish outlined how he believes a ‘no deal’ Brexit could impact him and other touring musicians.
Linking to an article with the title ‘UK bands now have to pay import duty and VAT on ALL merchandise before even entering Europe to tour’, Fish wrote: “This is going to totally screw me up as well as a lot of other fellow touring musicians. Just spent an hour inputting info to get an EORI number and need to get advice on the rest I need to sort out.
“This is a bureaucratic mare and I have told my agent to put the entire European tour scheduled for next April/May on hold until we find out just how this will hit us and how we work our way through it all. I have to consult accountants and others to work out how I can handle this.
“It affects me on so many levels including manufacturing the new album (deluxe books are manufactured in Poland). It may mean shifting production to Europe including the clothing merch which up till now has been manufactured in the UK by a firm who themselves will suffer as so many bands who use them will be in the same position regarding export/import duties.
“I've only just discovered this on a gov.uk update.
“I'm not saying any more just now as I am still taking this in and am absolutely livid. This is a massive hit to the European touring industry and will kill off a lot of bands.
“And I am still waiting to discover more about the mail order postage issues after 6 months of discussion with Royal Mail and others who appear to have no idea what's happening.
“Electronic customs date stickers? Hand written CN22 customs stickers? Constant returns of signed for delivered items and lack of response on claims that are logged as being in the system but now we have to 'prove' as being sent out.
“It's a f***ing mess.”
Tickets to Fish’s ‘Weltschmerz’ 2020 UK tour are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.
All shows will feature songs from Fish’s upcoming eleventh studio album ‘Weltschmerz’ – released in 2020 - plus a final performance of his debut solo album ‘Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors’ to mark its 30th anniversary.
See Fish at the following dates:
MARCH 2020
Aberdeen Lemon Tree – Fri 13th
Holmfirth Picturedrome – Sun 15th
London Islington Assembly Hall – Mon 16th
London Islington Assembly Hall – Tue 17th
Cardiff Y Plas – Thu 19th
Frome Cheese And Grain – Fri 20th
Northampton Roadmender – Sat 21st
Brighton Concorde – Mon 23rd
Bury St Edmunds Apex – Tue 24th
Wolverhampton KK’s Steelmill – Wed 25th
Manchester O2 Academy – Fri 27th
Edinburgh Queen’s Hall – Sat 28th