Vancouver Concert Relocated Due to Crooked Tour Promoter

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Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2018, 12:43 PM - Edit history (8)

Take your seats, boys and girls -- time for a crash course in Concert Promoting 101!

Wikipedia: Tour promoters (also known as concert promoters or talent buyers) are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a...special event performance...The promoter and (the performer's) agent...negotiate (a) live performance contract...

(T)he promoter must have upfront cash or sponsorship financing to...assume all the financial risk in putting on a show, so compensation also depends on how successful the promoter is at negotiating with vendors and creating sold-out shows...

Got it? Then, let's take a pop quiz: What's wrong with this picture?

Billboard: A Jon Bon Jovi & The Kings of Suburbia show scheduled for (Stanley Park)...(in) Vancouver, British Columbia, has been canceled. A spokesperson from Bon Jovi Tours Inc. has issued a statement:

The band was ready and willing to give a great performance...Unfortunately...(w)e have recently learned that (concert promoter) Paper Rain Performances has failed to (either) procure staging materials (or) pay the band, staging, security, lighting vendors, etc. As such, they have not met their contractual obligations....

(A) statement sent to Billboard (from) the promoter...reads:

We have worked tirelessly with the band’s management and have experienced extraordinary support from the City, the Parks Board and all of our other partners...We requested a postponement of the concert as we needed more time to sell it out. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the artist’s management could not agree on a postponement.

But why should Jon Bon Jovi want to postpone, especially since Paper Rain was paying him?

Canada.com: “(Bon Jovi) was supposed to be paid $900,000 US,” said (Paper Rain CEO Dennis) MacDonald. “He was paid 50 per cent of that up front, and he was paid a second third of that, and the final third was to be paid yesterday. (But) ticket sales simply didn’t do what they were supposed to do."

...(T)here were rumours flying...that Paper Rain had used money from ticket sales to pay Bon Jovi’s advance. "Untrue...The money that was paid to Bon Jovi up front came from our investors, who put up the money up front.”

One half plus one third plus one third...no wonder they were having a problem. But if Paper Rain didn't have enough upfront money to pay the performer AND the concert expenses, how did they qualify to be hired by Stanley Park? The ticket sales revenue, regardless of its size, isn't relevant -- and for what should be an obvious reason: that money would have to be refunded in the event of a cancellation. Therefore, it would be suicidal (if not illegal) to spend it beforehand, right?

Normally, money from ticket sales is held in a trust account...(But) MacDonald did allow that Paper Rain had been advanced some money by Tickets Tonight, a branch of Tourism Vancouver that was selling tickets to the Stanley Park show. “The way they work is that they advance what’s in the box office on a weekly basis,” said MacDonald. "(But) there’s still money that they’re holding." Asked when ticket holders will get refunds, MacDonald said, “we’re just working on that right now...with our insurance company...”

From a subsequent Purple Rain press release:

For the past several weeks, Paper Rain has been advocating tirelessly for a postponement in the Stanley Park Concert by Jon Bon Jovi and the Kings of Suburbia because of a lack of ticket sales. The reality is that not enough tickets were sold to cover the cost of the artist and band’s fee, much less the other substantial costs involved...

The creative design was complete. The massive stage was in the city; the production team was busy at work; the light design had been finalized, the traffic management plan, safety plan and security plans were all in place; porta-potties had been secured and catering negotiated.

Designed, finalized, managed, negotiated, secured, completed -- BUT NOT PAID FOR, and not as of a WEEK before the concert? If ALL of Paper Rain's contractors and suppliers are so wealthy that they can prep for free, THEY should have been the upfront investors!

We had urged the artist’s management to grant us a postponement in order to protect the ticket buyers, the City, the Park Board, and our suppliers...We regret...that effective immediately, as a result of the above, Paper Rain Performances is insolvent.

Congratulations on incriminating yourselves: The only thing Paper Rain was trying to protect was their filthy little Ponzi scheme. I suggest that they do less work with their insurance company and more with their lawyers: since this involved the duping of a government agency, an investigation should be on the way!


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P.S. Seeing the writing on the wall (though they should have seen it a month sooner), the Bon Jovi camp moved the concert to Rogers Arena. However, no additional tickets will be sold.

[rocktivity]

1. And now for something completely...predictable

TMZ:

Justin Bieber has pulled the plug on a big event in Montreal Saturday, but only after the handwriting was on the wall -- the promoter wasn't paying him...

Bieber was scheduled to host an event at Beachclub, where he'd sing one or 2 songs and press the flesh. It's the same club where Kylie Jenner celebrated her 18th birthday and raked in $200K...(A)ccording to the contract Bieber's team signed with the promoter, they would pay Justin 1/2 of his appearance fee when the contract was signed and the other half 2 days before the event. We're told the contract was for "a couple of hundred thousand dollars."

We're told Justin got the first half but Thursday came and went but the balance never showed. Our sources say Justin's people contacted the promoters and were promised payment pronto, but it didn't happen.

Our Justin sources say the promoter had gone off the radar...A rep for Beachclub tells TMZ, "We are incredibly disappointed and upset by the lack of professionalism exhibited by Team Productions (the event's promoter) in violating their contract with Justin Bieber and disappointing the thousands of fans that were going to flock to Beachclub today."

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