Over the past few months many in the music industry have been struck down with what is being called ‘blue dot fever’. The name for this disease comes from the way Ticketmaster show unsold seats on their site but this problem of lack of ticket sales is not confined to seated concerts. In Scotland alone this summer we’ve had cancelled festivals, and other major events offering heavily discounted tickets for standing concerts. 

This week Brandi Carlile was the latest artist to come down with blue dot fever. She’s cancelled and rescheduled her entire European tour, with every venue in the UK being downgraded to venues that are less than half the size of the original ones booked. She’s used the ‘personal circumstances’ reason for the changes, which may be true but is suitably timed to save face and cover her losses. As a fan it’s irritating to have to rebook, especially as I’d carefully chosen the best seat for the lowest price in the previous venue. Other fans had booked flights and hotels for these shows leaving many much more out of pocket than me.