So John has cancelled his three dates in Italy and is therefore 'unable' to do the gig in Basel.
Can't say I'm surprised and I did wonder quite why he was going there in the first place.

This seems to be the reason behind the decision not to play:

He pulled out of a concert in Europe ten years ago for the same reason.
It's ridiculous. he wasn't even in the version of Ultravox that everyone has heard of, so people would be going along expecting "Vienna" and all that plinky plonky 80s shit.!!!

But what really annoys me is the abscence of any management or co-ordination promotion in all this. Where's the Tour Poster that would provide consistency at all the venues????
Arrange the gig, make the posters, supply the same poster to each venue?
Is that hard??
Hopefully, it's the last straw.

And, for the record, Sideways is a MUCH better album than From Trash.