PUP Cancel Florida Show to Perform at Polaris Music Prize Gala

Shad, Marie Davidson, Elisapie and Dominique Fils-Aimé will also perform at the gala
PUP Cancel Florida Show to Perform at Polaris Music Prize Gala
By Matt Bobkin
Published Jul 30, 2019
The Polaris Music Prize is set to award their 2019 winner at their annual gala on September 16 in Toronto, and have now announced the first wave of gala night performers.

The announced performers include Marie Davidson, Shad, Elisapie, Dominique Fils-Aimé and PUP, the last of whom had to cancel a scheduled performance in Jacksonville, Florida, the same night. All five announced performers have albums on this year's short list of 10 finalists for the $50,000 prize honouring the best Canadian album, as voted by a jury of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers.

PUP's newly expanded "Falls Apart" tour was set to hit Jacksonville's 1904 Music Hall that night. According to the band on Twitter, "this wasn't an easy decision. Sometimes we make selfish decisions & this is definitely one of those & for that we apologize. We've dreamed of playing the Polaris & the opportunity may never present itself again."

Adjacent tour dates in Richmond, VA two nights earlier and in Fort Lauderdale, FL the next night are still on, say the band. There appear to be no plans to reschedule the Jacksonville show.

This is PUP's second time on the Polaris shortlist — they were previously nominated in 2016 for their sophomore album The Dream Is Over, but they were unable to make the gala because they were touring in Europe. Instead, they sent their parents to the event to get drunk in their place.

See the full list of this year's Polaris Music Prize finalists here, and read PUP's full statement below.