Bon Iver's New Zealand fans are waiting for their refunds.

Will they ever get them?

On November 26 in 2019, a press release was issued. It announced a concert, the concert, a show this press release said no one in their right minds would want to miss.

It promised something “spectacular … their most ambitious New Zealand live performances to date … unlike anything fans have seen before”.

It was to be Bon Iver’s return to New Zealand, Justin Vernon and co’s first show here since 2012 when they performed in Wellington at the International Arts Festival. I saw that show and rate among the best I’ve seen.

It was loud, chaotic, and at times unhinged. It was special. It was sensational. “We will never forget this show,” declared Vernon afterwards, as I reported in my breathless review.

So, when Bon Iver’s return was confirmed for June 5, 2020, at Trusts Stadium, I was psyched. Vernon was on a hot streak, having released i,i to acclaim, while working alongside music’s biggest names: Vince Staples, Kanye West and Taylor Swift.

I remember signing up for the pre-sale and buying two tickets immediately.

Spring became summer 2020, and then came March, a time we’ve been trying to forget ever since. We were locked down, trying to avoid disease, and death, going for walks in our little bubbles, queuing to get into the supermarket, eating and drinking too much at home, desperately trying to figure out our new normal.

Like almost every concert and music festival in 2020, Bon Iver’s Auckland gig was postponed, to April 10, 2021.

When it became clear Covid’s grip was too tight and that date wasn’t possible either, Bon Iver’s entire Australasian tour of nine dates was scrapped completely.

That’s when the fuckery started.

I applied for a refund through the company I’d purchased my tickets, Ticket Rocket, but instead of a reply from them, I got a message from someone else entirely.

“Thank you for your email. The Receivers are currently undertaking their initial investigation into the affairs of the Companies and will endeavour to have a response to you as soon as practicable. In the interim, should you have any queries please do not hesitate to make contact.”

That sounded concerning.

Then the news stories came out.

Ticket Rocket, the company entrusted with selling tickets to the Bon Iver show, and many other events around the country, had gone into receivership.

Based in Dunedin, it went under owing about $8 million, and everything from rugby matches to festivals to a youth theatre based in Nelson were affected.

The founder, Matt Davey, moved home to Canada. No one could get hold of him.

I’m going to be honest here: until recently, I’d completely forgotten all about this.

I wrote about it at the time and then it disappeared into the memory banks, as navigating job changes, the post-Covid landscape, and dealing with my nightmare neighbour took precedent in the ensuing years.

Over coffee one morning recently, a workmate reminded me about it.

He’d bought tickets to this Bon Iver show too, the expensive “platinum” ones.

I told him I’d managed to secure mine by requesting a chargeback through my bank.

He hadn’t been so lucky. He was still owed his $273.78.

It made me wonder how many others are waiting for their refunds too.

So I went online, and found Facebook messages from fans that get increasingly desperate the longer you read them.

“I cant figure out how or if we will get refunded,” writes one.

“Pretty disappointed … an extra kick in the teeth,” posts another.

“We've all been ripped off … we won’t see our money again,” says a third.

It’s looking more and more likely that those doomsayers are right.

If creditors managed to find any money left in the empty Ticket Rocket coffers, it’s likely there are many more people who’ll get paid before the 4000-odd Bon Iver fans who just wanted to see their favourite band perform here again.

I’ve got some bad news.

Receivers haven’t responded to a barrage of messages from me, but their latest update to creditors and shareholders contains bleak news.

It says: “We are unable to estimate a likely completion date for the liquidation at this time.” It also says: “It is unlikely that unsecured creditors will receive a dividend payment upon completion of the liquidation.”

So, my workmate, and anyone else owed money for that show, or any outstanding Ticket Rocket shows, aren’t likely to get their money back.

Sorry about that.

I should reiterate, none of this is Justin Vernon or Bon Iver’s fault. I don’t blame them. The music’s still special. I’d still go and see them live. Recent reviews say they’re in spectacular form.

But I do blame Matt Davey, the Ticket Rocket founder.

That ticket money disappeared. Where it’s gone, no one seems to know. Not even the liquidators.

But if you’re wondering where Matt Davey is, let me update you on the antics of the man who caused all of these problems in the first place.

He is living in a three-bedroom luxury home across the ditch described like this: “Perched on the edge of Lavender Bay, this spacious apartment offers spectacular harbour-front living, light and bright interiors, quality finishes and breathtaking iconic views of Sydney Harbour.”

Grr.

Everything you need to know…

• Unlike Bon Iver fans, The Weeknd will be issuing refunds after cancelling his two Eden Park shows, and the rest of his down under After Hours Till Dawn tour dates. He was due to perform two shows in November 2023, but postponed them due to unforeseen circumstances. Now, they’re axed completely. More details here.

• For those of you with young daughters, like me, it appears pop-punk star Olivia Rodrigo is coming to take more of your money. A New Zealand tour appears imminent, likely to be at Spark Arena in October, according to this Spinoff report that pieces together internet breadcrumbs in an attempt to confirm it.

• The first YouTube video I ever saw was SNL’s ‘Lazy Sunday,’ a clip that launched comedy trio The Lonely Island into the stratosphere. They’ve got a new podcast with Seth Meyers and it’s really good: in part four, they discuss exactly how that digital short was made, and the impact it had. (It’s also a timely reminder to watch the best movie ever made, Popstars: Never Stop Never Stopping, again.)

• I really enjoyed The Ringer’s Coachella review, which comes to the same conclusion as me: the festival has become a spectacular mess and no one knows what they’re doing. “It’s a wasteland for influencers, technical meltdowns, and hollow spectacle,” writes Jeff Weiss, who calls it “a ghost mall future of infinite, frictionless entertainment.”

• I didn’t include my thoughts on Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department on Monday because my daughter might read them, and we can’t have that. But here are two reviews you should read: Stereogum’s Tom Breihan, who calls it “a holding pattern of soft-thrumming synthpop and even softer quasi-folk”, and The Guardian’s Laura Snapes, who calls it “thrillingly immature” in one breath and “risk-averse” in another.

• Finally, here’s the new video from Idles for ‘Pop Pop Pop’, a throbbing, whirring, tension-riddled rocker that includes a surprisingly good mid-song rap. They’re playing Auckland Town Hall in January, and I already have my ticket. And if you like this, go listen to ‘Starburster’ by Fontaines DC. You’ll dig that song too.

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