Zoot cancel long-delayed reunion tour

The shows would marked the band's first in some five decades

Australian rock veterans Zoot, who rose to prominence in the mid-1960s, have cancelled their planned Australian reunion tour, which would have marked the band’s first shows in some five decades.

Back in 2020, former band members Rick Springfield, Beeb Birtles and Rick Brewer, with the addition of Russell Morris, announced they would regroup and head out on the road for a string of Australian shows. The tour was intended to pay tribute to founding frontman Darryl Cotton, who died in 2012 after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

The tour was postponed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was finally on the cards for later this year with stops scheduled in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. However, the band have now confirmed that the run of shows will not go ahead.

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“Much has changed in the two years since we announced the tour, and individual members of the band, whilst excited about the potential offered by the tour, are now unfortunately not in a position whereby they can move forward with the tour as scheduled,” reads an April 13 statement from the band.

“Rather than postpone the tour yet again, the decision has been taken to cancel the tour and refund all ticketholders. It may be that the tour can be rescheduled in the future, and if so, we will notify all of new dates.”

In a comment on Facebook, promoters DRW Entertainment quashed speculation of poor ticket sales leading to the tour’s cancellation: “Ticket sales were actually incredibly strong, a lot of people, us included were very much looking forward to this tour.”

Zoot formed in Adelaide in 1966 under the original name of Down the Line. They moved to Melbourne two years later, and their singles began to gain traction on the Melbourne and Brisbane charts. Their biggest hit was a cover of The Beatles ‘Eleanor Rigby’ which they released in 1971.

Following the band’s dissolution, Springfield embarked on a solo career and relocated to the US, finding fame with hits like 1981’s ‘Jessie’s Girl’. Birtles was a founding member of the Little River Band, whose hits included 1977’s ‘Help Is on Its Way’ and 1979’s ‘Lonesome Loser’.

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