Auckland's Laneway music festival has suffered a second blow, with headliner James Blake pulling out to attend the Grammy Awards just weeks before the event.
The British electronic artist, who won plaudits and the Mercury Music Prize for his second album Overgrown last year, was one of the biggest artists on the bill for the January 27 event at Silo Park.
But Blake's Best New Artist nomination for the Los Angeles-based Grammy Awards, which clashes with Laneway, means he won't be able to perform.
He has been replaced by two artists: American singer-songwriter Cat Power, who performed a two-show tour of New Zealand last February, and Australian electronic duo The Presets, who last played here at Rhythm & Vines in 2012.
Blake is the second artist to pull out of the festival, which prides itself on showcasing indie and alternative acts on the rise, because of the Grammys clash.
