First, Justin Bieber postponed his June concert in Toronto, then The Weeknd was sidelined by the Rogers network outage a few weeks later.  Shawn Mendes pulled out of dates at the Scotiabank Arena several days before the screening, while New Kids of the Block pulled out of their show a week before.
Concerts are returning after two years of pandemic restrictions in Canada, but for music fans who often travel far and wide, a triumphant return is far from certain.  Some of the music industry’s biggest artists have pulled out of Canadian shows within days – sometimes hours – of opening time, leaving ticket holders who traveled a good distance with often non-refundable flight and hotel bills.
Usually, the circumstances were beyond the performer’s control – from illness to technical hurdles – but concertgoers who have shelled out big money for a night that doesn’t happen say the sting can linger.
“You’re essentially making an investment and hoping for a reward,” said Jill Krajewski, a Toronto-based culture writer who has curtailed performances since the start of the pandemic.
“It’s a bit of a lottery.”
Postponements and cancellations are nothing new in the concert industry, but as ticket prices rise, gas and food costs skyrocket with inflation and promoters work hard to get people back into venues, some fans say that a negative experience could affect whether they consider going to another show soon, especially one outside their hometown.
It’s a debate Tracy Smith will face the next time she thinks about buying tickets.
Earlier this month, he flew to Toronto from Atlanta in hopes of seeing The Weeknd kick off the After Hours til Dawn world tour in his hometown.  Once in line to enter the stadium, he learned, to his confusion, that the broadcast could not go ahead due to the failure of the Rogers network.
“No one really knew what was going on,” he recalls.  “The lines got longer around the block.”
Concert tickets for her and her daughter cost a total of $800, and she says a flight and hotel package added up to another $2,800.  The tickets are refundable, but Smith does not get the rest of her expenses back since the cancellation was made on the day of the event.
That’s what bothers her the most, she said.  Smith stayed at the hotel at the Rogers Centre, but because The Weeknd canceled an hour before the show, she had already checked in.  She reached out to Rogers to ask for at least a partial refund or credit — claiming that her network failure cost her money while she was at their facility — but said the company has not heard back.
“It brought tears,” she added.  “And it makes me want to travel less to shows.”
Such experiences are common in major concert hubs across the country, attracting super fans and families from other provinces, or in The Weeknd’s case, as far away as Europe and Australia.
Eric Alper, a music journalist and industry player, said the cumulative attention from the cancellations is not helping an industry still trying to get back on its feet.
“From a fan perspective, there’s a bad taste in one’s mouth with the constant cancellations,” he said.
“They’re not just hearing about cancellations in Toronto or whatever city they’re in, they’re hearing about cancellations in Barcelona, ​​Paris and the United States reading about it online.  All this has to be consumed in one’s mind and make the matter much larger than three or four performances.’
Nicholas Lee, who tracks consumer habits as an assistant professor of economics at Metropolitan University of Toronto, is less convinced that concert promoters are expecting trouble.
“I certainly sympathize with people who find the whole experience somewhat infuriating; one thing consumers don’t like is the sheer uncertainty,” he said.
But he added: “I think there’s so much demand that (it’s) less of a concern that people will be locked out of experiencing a costly show cancellation.”
Alper isn’t so sure that bad experiences this year won’t lead to problems in the future.
He suggested that 2023 could go “one of two ways” — fans might return in droves for live shows or show reduced interest in uncertain events.
He points to recent concerts he worked on that he says were “sold out” in advance, but saw only 70 percent of ticket holders show up on the night.
Ticketmaster was criticized in 2020 for changing its policy to no longer offer refunds for postponed concerts.  The “inconvenience” and uncertainty of this experience has not satisfied some consumers, and Alper speculated that it could affect future ticketing stories.
“For some people, maybe a (rescheduled concert) date doesn’t work out for them … their financial situation has changed drastically or they might have been laid off,” he said.
“Maybe they’d rather get their $1,000 back now. And I think it’s only fair that they get it.”
In volatile economic times, it’s an open question whether the concert industry can withstand more hits to its reputation.
A short-term study by market research firm Ipsos released last week said Canadians expect to cut back on entertainment spending as inflation hits a 39-year high.
The survey found that 25 percent of Gen X consumers say they are cutting back on their leisure activities, compared to 15 percent of Boomers.
Looking at their spending habits in August, both middle- and high-income Canadians say they plan to cut spending on out-of-home entertainment — events like movies and concerts — by 21%.
With such uncertainty, Krajewski says she thinks about musicians trying to juggle the safety of their fans, the business interests of their labels who want them back on the road, and their own need to pay the bills.
“They are doing their best in a very precarious time to travel, let alone sing indoors,” he said.
“Everyone is rolling the dice right now to try and have a good time. Be polite if you don’t make it.”