David Vandervelde's UK tour cancelled

How this for a major bummer? Just got an email from singer David Vandervelde's manager saying the entire planned UK tour is kaput. Here's the news here:

"Hey There - Jeff Macklin here, David's manager. Some of you may know by now that yesterday we had to cancel all of The Moonstation House Band's UK dates. This was due to David and the band being turned away by Heathrow's UK Immigration yesterday morning and put on a flight back to New York City. While they had proper work permits, the 12 month permits we had necessitated a visa. We did all we could do trying to negotiate with UK Immigration, but to no avail.

Please accept our sincerest apologies on this situation, and know that in no way was this cancellation due to David or the band. In fact, after playing for the first time together at Lollapalooza, David's five piece band had rehearsed all last week in order to make these shows the best yet. We very much hope to get David and the boys back to the UK soon, and appreciate your patience and understanding."

That's GOTTA be a massive pisser for eveyone involved. I wish 'em luck sorting it out.
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9/17 UPDATE: What? Is this becoming a US vs. UK tit for tat? Now the US is turning back UK artists from these shores. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend...."British pop star Lily Allen was supposed to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards last weekend and then head to the West Coast for the week of sold-out concerts she had booked. Instead, she spent this past week at home in London. The reason: The chart-topping singer can't get into the U.S. American authorities took away her immigration visa last month."

Any insights into what's happening? Leave 'em in the comments.