Lorde has opened up about an "almost unprecedented level of difficulty" for artists, promoters and crews working on concert tours in 2022.
In a recent fan newsletter with updates on her Solar Power Tour, she briefly explained a "storm of factors" that have impacted concerts, including health concerns around Covid-19 and a global economic downturn.
"On the logistical side there's things like immense crew shortages, extremely overbooked trucks and tour buses and venues, inflated flight and accommodation costs, ongoing general Covid costs, and truly. mindboggling. freight costs. To freight a stage set across the world can cost up to three times the pre-pandemic price right now."
She added that rising costs and people's reluctance to be in crowded spaces have been factors leading to show cancellations, including a New Plymouth show planned for February that sold too few tickets.
"Nearly every tour has been besieged with cancellations and postponements and promises and let-downs, and audiences have shown such understanding and such faith, that between that and the post-Covid wariness about getting out there at all, scaring people away by charging the true cost ain't an option. All we want to do is play for you."
While Lorde said lower tour profits have been manageable for her team, she said it has become a "demented struggle" for smaller artists to break even at the very least.
This has taken a major toll on artists and crews, many of which have cancelled shows in the past year citing mental health concerns.
"We're a collection of the world's most sensitive flowers who also spent the last two years inside, and maybe the task of creating a space where people's pain and grief and jubilation can be held night after night with a razor thin profit margin and dozens of people to pay is feeling like a teeny bit much."
Lorde will be playing seven shows across Aotearoa in February and March 2023, a second show just being announced in Havelock North. A New Plymouth show has been cancelled.
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