Madge, Macca scrap Aussie tour dates in wake of recession

Owing to the global credit crunch, superstars including Madonna, Paul McCartney and Neil Diamond have scrapped Australian tour plans.

Melbourne, Nov 30 : Owing to the global credit crunch, superstars including Madonna, Paul McCartney and Neil Diamond have scrapped Australian tour plans.

According to reports, Madonna was scheduled to perform at Sydney's ANZ Stadium and Melbourne's Docklands in late January.

In fact, Tickets for Madonna's shows were due to go on sale two weeks ago and 'The Material Girl' planned to charge a top ticket price of 400 dollars.

The shows were being presented by US tour giant Live Nation and local promoter Michael Coppel.

"It got as close as anything ever gets. Madonna was coming to Australia, the dates were resolved, then economics got in the way,'' The Daily Telegraph quoted a tour industry source as saying.

Even Coppel confirmed the Madonna deal, but did not divulge more details.

Recently, many of the world superstars have postponed and even called off their tour plans because of the weak dollar.

According to concert industry sources, Diamond, McCartney, The Eagles, Green Day and Metallica have put visits on hold because of the bad economy.

"It's unknown territory at the moment. A lot of tours went on sale before the dollar crashed. We are only starting to see the affect of the economy on the tour industry," said promoter Michael Chugg.

Coppel said the weak dollar had made promoters, and touring superstars, cautious.

"Everyone is feeling their way. The risk level has gone up substantially,'' he said.

ANI