In these commentaries, I'm speaking from the heart and from experience instead of the journalistic side of me. And sometimes that ruffles a few feathers (not that I care). So I've kept a low profile ...
But recent events prompted me to say SOMETHING about that way some SBC people are handling business and making us ALL look bad.
As if we didn't have enough embarrassment this year from the tomfoolery at the State Capitol when local representative Barbara Norton decided to turn the State Legislature into a Hurricane Chris promotional concert (which ended up on TMZ and had all local media outlets a-buzz) ...
But now local PROMOTERS, event hosts and so-called businessmen are making us look band will NATIONAL promoters, artists and record labels/management companies but constantly pulling stunts where they can't or WON'T pay an artist ...
Take this past weekend for example.
Two nights. Two concerts. Two promoters (as far as WE know). Two different venues. A total of 5 artists on stage over the course of 48 hours (even though we only wanted to see 3 of them lol).
So what happened?
Nothing happened. That's what.
Both concerts fell victim to bullsh**. And they wonder why people don't support events in this city ... or why major artists don't want to COME to this city (forcing us to drive to other major cities for entertainment).
SO - Here's what I heard ...
FRIDAY NIGHT ...
HOW U RIDIN' (creators of the magazine and hosts to several car/truck/bike shows in the area) were supposed to bring R&B singers Carl Thomas and Dave Hollister to the Riverview Theater on Clyde Fant Parkway.
I've seen the flyers out for at least a month, saw blasts on all the social networking sites. Even saw one of the promoter pubbing it and remarking about what great events he puts together.
Even then, I didn't believe the hype. Hell ... look at Carl's face on the flyer:
Maybe that was a message to his fans ... I dunno. But when I saw that Garland's was going to be a ticket outlet for the concert, I knew something was going to go wrong.
For YEARS now, any time that name has been on a flyer, the concert was cancelled, an artist (maybe more than one) didn't appear on stage ... and from what I remember, people had a hard time getting their money back from some of the shows.
Why is this man still in business? I can't tell you that. Why is he allowed to promote events using other people's names? I dunno. But alas, here's another event and things started going wrong even before the doors to the venue opened.
The day of, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that Carl Thomas was not going to appear.
It seems that Carl's plane ticket was a no-show and therefore he never made to to Shreveport the same night (before) that Dave did. I would think booking a ticket shouldn't be that much of a problem, but maybe I'm wrong.
Carl issued his deepest apologies (via the friend), but he was unable to appear. Not his fault though, the promoter apparently didn't give a damn and kept saying throughout the day that both of the men would be there
A little after 6 pm ... The Times.com posted an item saying Carl would not perform (still no blast on either MySpace or Facebook from the promoter). The doors were scheduled to open at 7 pm (with the show starting at 8 pm) ... with less than 2 hours until the show, the best the promoters could do was to offer a $5 discount on the admission price.
Tickets/admission: $35
Only half of the performers show up and all people get is a $5 discount? I'd be outraged!!! The discount was later upped to an insulting $7. I swear, I'd be asking for my money back AT THE DOOR.
From a source who actually attended the show, no one was notified until they got INSIDE the theater that Carl wasn't coming (even though they already knew).
So what exactly did event-goers get for $28 to $35 a piece?
The doors weren't opened until 15 to 20 minutes after 7 pm. They got to sit whereever they wanted because even though the theater holds 1,725 people, I'm told only abut 25 people showed up.
A couple of local acts performed first, including local singer JULES. Apparently the event producers used a smoke machine for the locals and forgot to turn it off - and sounded off the fire alarm.
After the locals finished ... there was a 45-minute to one-hour break (while some CDs played in the background). Why? Well my sources say Dave Hollister hadn't gotten paid yet.
With most artists, the promoter sends a deposit in advance (plus, most times, travel and transportation) to make sure they'll come to town. BUT, they're supposed to get the REST of the money when they get here ... BEFORE the show.
Dave was backstage ... waiting to get paid before he touched the mic. Around 10:30 .. the man with the deep pockets finally showed up to save the day. And Dave hit the stage to perform for the dozen or so that stuck around. I hear he gave a lackluster performance (probably because he was thinking "This some BS").
Soooo ... where does that leave us?
CARL THOMAS (who's been here a few times) is sitting at the crib mad 'cause these people made him lose money and look bad ... over a damn plane ticket. They probably knew they couldn't pay him the rest of his money and just decided to take the loss of the deposit ... but damn, disappointing his fans? JUST WHY?
And as for DAVE ... we know he hasn't had a hit since Baby Mama Drama (1999) but the boy can BLOW and we need him to be 100% if he's the only person peforming ... not pissed cuz you doing bad business!!!
Needless to say, everyone who attended was pissed. Not only did they waste money and an outfit ... they didn't get a good show ... and the PROMOTERS are solely to blame. So yeah, I'm putting them on blast because they have put US on blast ... making US look bad to the industry and I don't want ANY frickin' body to give them another dollar!!!
MOVING ON ...
Let's go to SATURDAY NIGHT ...
CHARLIE WILSON was scheduled to perform at the Shreveport Convention Center. Any promoter/event planner worth their salt knows that the SCC is hard to pack ... and hella frickin' expensive. So you better be able to sell tickets and pay your people.
I was out and about in the SBC Saturday doing some State-Tax-Free shopping when I get a text saying the concert had been cancelled. I was instantly disappointed because the promoter for THIS event was a LITTLE more reliable ... and after Friday night's foolishness, it was hard to believe this was happening again.
When I got home around 5-ish, The Times.com was on it once again ... posting that the concert was cancelled, but giving no explanation to why ... and told people to check back for updates ...
So I checked back ...
And they later reported that the tour "production truck" broke down and that's why they (Charlie, Cupid and Rude) couldn't come. It could be considered a lame excuse, but at least they GAVE ONE.
No plans as of now for rescheduling the tour stop ... and tickets obtained from the box office can be refunded starting Tuesday (August 11th) at the CenturyTel Center box office. Tickets purchased online must be refunded through Ticketmaster.com.
Of course (if the story is true) this wasn't Charlie's fault either. All the artists were victims ... whether it be a breakdown of a vehicle or a breakdown in communication. But either way two cancellations in two nights is NOT a good look.
Promoters need to learn to have back-ups and Plan B's. And learn to stop hiding things from people.
Now, In the second incident, they promptly notified people (in less than 12 hours) where they could get refunds ... THEY GET THEIR MONEY BACK!!!
In the first incident, that was just HUSTLING.
People with money trying to make more money by using someone's name to promote something and then not giving a damn if it doesn't happen right. And then you wonder why only 25 people show up and why you get put on blast ... and why folks in Shreveport are looked down on by the industry.
IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU!!!
I'll have more on this in a future commentary I'm working on about the local promotion/events game in general.
IN CONCLUSION ...
It's not a good look people. If you're gonna do business, do it right. Stop HUSTLIN' and expecting to come up ... because real people don't respect that.
Start treating patrons like they mean more than their money ... maybe you'll see more of a return on your investment.
And then maybe those of us who are TRUE music lovers and WANT to see major artists come here can finally get them to come down and leave happy (and PAID). That way, we ALL win ...
- m
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1 comment:
Wow - I only have this to say. Carl Thomas is entitled to keep whatever deposit he managed to get out of the promoters. It is not his fault that they did not book the tickets. I am sure that it was either discussed and agreed to verbally, or listed in his contract.
I just wish that people would realize that this is part of the reason that people do not show up to events on time or at all - too afraid that the actual event will not happen!
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