Olympia London has confirmed that all concerts scheduled for its Grand Hall this December will not go ahead, including performances from Bloc Party, Interpol, Jamie T and Royal Blood.
The venue issued a statement to NME after Royal Blood announced yesterday (October 2) that their December 3 show had been cancelled due to what they described as “unforeseen planning issues”.
Olympia have now said that the affected concerts also include Bloc Party and Interpol’s co-headline dates on December 4 and 5, and Jamie T’s shows on December 11 and 12.
“Following recent planning and operational review work associated with these events and given the regulatory process and timetable involved, it is not possible to move forward with these concerts in December,” Olympia said.
It continued: “We are working closely with the promoter to finalise arrangements for each concert. Ticket holders will be contacted directly with further information and are advised to await guidance from their point of purchase.”
The venue apologised to affected fans and artists, and stressed that live music elsewhere at Olympia – including at the new British Airways ARC – will continue as planned.
Royal Blood wrote this week: “We are absolutely gutted that we cannot perform at Olympia as planned and know that this will be disappointing to our fans who’ve bought tickets and made arrangements to see us.”
“Despite exploring every option, there are no viable alternative venues in London on December 3rd, and rather than causing further disruption to people’s plans over the Christmas period, all tickets will be refunded in full.
“We are currently working with our team on a new London date for 2027 and will share news as soon as possible.”
Bloc Party have now also responded to the cancellation of their shows with Interpol.
“We learned about the cancellation of our two co-headline London Olympia shows with Interpol with huge sadness,” they wrote. “As the venue’s statement makes clear, this is not the fault of either band or the promoter.”
The band said Olympia’s owners had “run into problems with their planning application – something completely unforeseen and beyond our control”.
“Unfortunately, despite our very best efforts we’re not able to reschedule the shows with Interpol, and therefore all ticket holders will be refunded,” they continued.
“We’re absolutely gutted at not being able to play for all our London fans on this tour, but we promise we’ll be back with something very special next year to make it up to you all.”
Interpol issued a separate statement saying their Olympia dates had been cancelled “as a result of licensing and operational issues with the Olympia Grand Hall in London”.
“All ticket holders will be re-imbursed in full,” they added.
The band also told fans to “standby for news of Interpol playing in London shortly”, while stressing that all of their other UK and European shows in November and December will go ahead as planned.
Meanwhile, Jamie T‘s shows at Olympia London on December 11 and 12 have been moved to the larger OVO Arena Wembley on those same days. The musician (real name Jamie Treays) is hitting the road in the UK this winter in support of his upcoming album ‘Ghosts (100 Days of Morning)’.
Royal Blood’s fifth studio record, ‘Dead Company’, is out next month and features the duo’s latest track ‘Swallow The Bomb’.
Speaking to NME about the LP at Reading Festival 2026, frontman Mike Kerr explained: “It’s pretty relentless. The idea was, ‘Can we make a record where it never lets off?’ I commend anyone who can make it to the end, really.
“It’s pretty brutal. There’s not really any breathing room. Every song on the record, we were imagining playing live and making sure that when we play them live together, they felt good.”
He added: “I think, ultimately, that’s why we’re in a band: playing live. That’s the pay-off for us.”
The post Olympia London cancels all December shows due to “unforeseen planning issues” appeared first on NME.
