theEvent was cancelled last night; Apparenlty Prince's band showed up and he didn't. Confusion reigns!

Sounds like someone was asking for too much money...

http://www.dfw.com/2011/0...wasnt.html

This is so sad...it's definitely not Prince's fault. That River Alexander Group didn't know what the he!! they were doing...tremendous failure. I hope Prince comes out with a statement about this quick.

christraceyparade said:

This is so sad...it's definitely not Prince's fault. That River Alexander Group didn't know what the he!! they were doing...tremendous failure. I hope Prince comes out with a statement about this quick.

"What happened was simply this: we came that close to having a wonderful event," Arnold said during an initial, brief conversation in the hotel's lobby, which had a steady, if small, stream of surprised attendees over the course of an hour.

"Prince definitely wanted to be here; we thought he was going to be here and unfortunately, he did not make it here. It's not his fault; he truly wanted to be here. His band had already made it. There were rumors all day that maybe it was canceled, maybe it wasn't -- that's because we thought he could make it, then all of a sudden, he didn't make it."

Nope...not Prince's fault! It never is!

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._press.php

Paul Levatino, who works closely with Badu as part of her Badu World team, couldn't offer much more insight, either -- other than to say that the Dallas native tried her best to keep the event going.

"Even when they were saying, 'We're sorry, we're canceling,' Erykah was talking to me, trying to figure out how we could make something happen," Levatino said, indicating that Badu spent a good portion of her own money on the event. He hinted that she may also have contacted a few of her other famous friends in town for Super Bowl weekend, trying to find someone to replace Prince.

"There wasn't really too much opportunity for that, though," Levatino said. "But people were talking. There were a lot of things going on."

A different member of Badu's camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that much, indeed, was going on behind the scenes -- albeit on another front. According to the source, Prince and his handlers arrived on the site this afternoon, and that the handlers had scoped the venue out only to find that it wasn't up to their standards.

"Prince never even stepped inside the hotel," the source said.

And that, the source added, was just one of the issues. Sound and lighting engineers hadn't been paid and were refusing to set up their equipment until they got their money. And when they finally did, the hotel -- which, our source says, was also claiming it wasn't paid -- apparently made the final decision to pull the plug and move on.

There seems to be plenty of fault to go around. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

http://www.pegasusnews.co...rt-dallas/

Maybe he's in NYC to do a beforeshow tomorrow night?

I hope he makes things right by doing a Goss-Michael fundraiser somewhere in the next few weeks.

"Sound and lighting engineers hadn't been paid and were refusing to set up their equipment until they got their money."

It doesn’t seem like Prince screwed this one up. If I was supposed to play a gig and nobody had set up the sound and lighting I’d probably leave, too.

and again and again ...

You had to know the perennial haters would post about this, trying to blame Prince, but it really shows a lack of their understanding of organizational processes. It is OBVIOUS the event organizers couldn't deliver, period.

Often for events like this (attached to some other major event) like the NBA Allstars, Oscars, Superbowl, heck even the annual Black Caucus events, are organized by ancillary groups. Generally these types of events are underwritten by major corporations as in the case with say, the Oscars--Sony will underwrite the event as a promotion any losses they incur are insignificant. In this instance, it doesn't appear the organizers had that benefit and therefore it was solely on the event organizer to coordinate, promote and pay the entertainment. Clearly whomever the event organizers were they didn't have the pull nor did they properly promote or fund the gig. The first clue was they were holding the event in a tent in the middle of winter.

I see their concept and I suppose it could have worked but you have to be "in" with the "in-crowd" to get the right people there to create the right buzz to get the money there and for an event of this magnitude, you always need a major sponsor. I suspect with competing events and it being Texas that they didn't do their homework they way they should have.

This one was not Prince's fault.

A lot of questions, not enough facts for me to pass judgement, though it seems the event was disorganized. Sorry for those who travelled to attend. that sucks.

sweething said:

You had to know the perennial haters would post about this, trying to blame Prince, but it really shows a lack of their understanding of organizational processes. It is OBVIOUS the event organizers couldn't deliver, period.

Often for events like this (attached to some other major event) like the NBA Allstars, Oscars, Superbowl, heck even the annual Black Caucus events, are organized by ancillary groups. Generally these types of events are underwritten by major corporations as in the case with say, the Oscars--Sony will underwrite the event as a promotion any losses they incur are insignificant. In this instance, it doesn't appear the organizers had that benefit and therefore it was solely on the event organizer to coordinate, promote and pay the entertainment. Clearly whomever the event organizers were they didn't have the pull nor did they properly promote or fund the gig. The first clue was they were holding the event in a tent in the middle of winter.

I see their concept and I suppose it could have worked but you have to be "in" with the "in-crowd" to get the right people there to create the right buzz to get the money there and for an event of this magnitude, you always need a major sponsor. I suspect with competing events and it being Texas that they didn't do their homework they way they should have.

This one was not Prince's fault.

Right along side the perpetual apologists always trying to exonerate Prince before they have a clue as to what actually may have happened. Which clearly shows a lack of their understanding of Prince's processes.

Meanwhile...reports from the people with actual information on the what took place keep coming forth.

http://washingtonexaminer...ast-minute

"...a source close to Prince, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he never came to Dallas.

Prince's camp said the organizers never arranged for transportation for him and his band. Prince was also worried that the disorganization meant the organizers would not have the technical aspects necessary for him to put on his performance, the source said.

"Prince is extremely disappointed that the organizers, the Meridian Entertainment Group and the River Alexander Group ... were unable bring him and his band to Dallas," the source said. "They say that apparently they lost their investors and were unable to adequately fund the event. Prince was looking forward to performing in support of the Goss-Michael Foundation."

Dallas radio and TV personality Chris Arnold, the event's emcee and organizer, insisted Prince's band arrived and set up at the hotel in the afternoon, but Prince never made it to Dallas.

Arnold said people didn't know the event was canceled until they showed up, and he apologized for that.

"I just want to let everybody know that I am truly sorry," Arnold said.

He said people who bought tickets to the show — which cost up to $1,500 — would have their money refunded at the point of purchase.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/sports/2011/02/pricey-prince-concert-canceled-last-minute#ixzz1D6YudZn6

[Edited 2/5/11 9:10am]

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

sweething said:

You had to know the perennial haters would post about this, trying to blame Prince, but it really shows a lack of their understanding of organizational processes. It is OBVIOUS the event organizers couldn't deliver, period.

Often for events like this (attached to some other major event) like the NBA Allstars, Oscars, Superbowl, heck even the annual Black Caucus events, are organized by ancillary groups. Generally these types of events are underwritten by major corporations as in the case with say, the Oscars--Sony will underwrite the event as a promotion any losses they incur are insignificant. In this instance, it doesn't appear the organizers had that benefit and therefore it was solely on the event organizer to coordinate, promote and pay the entertainment. Clearly whomever the event organizers were they didn't have the pull nor did they properly promote or fund the gig. The first clue was they were holding the event in a tent in the middle of winter.

I see their concept and I suppose it could have worked but you have to be "in" with the "in-crowd" to get the right people there to create the right buzz to get the money there and for an event of this magnitude, you always need a major sponsor. I suspect with competing events and it being Texas that they didn't do their homework they way they should have.

This one was not Prince's fault.

Right along side the perpetual apologists always trying to exonerate Prince before they have a clue as to what actually may have happened. Which clearly shows a lack of their understanding of Prince's processes.

Meanwhile...reports from the people with actual information on the what took place keep coming forth.

http://washingtonexaminer...ast-minute

"...a source close to Prince, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he never came to Dallas.

Prince's camp said the organizers never arranged for transportation for him and his band. Prince was also worried that the disorganization meant the organizers would not have the technical aspects necessary for him to put on his performance, the source said.

"Prince is extremely disappointed that the organizers, the Meridian Entertainment Group and the River Alexander Group ... were unable bring him and his band to Dallas," the source said. "They say that apparently they lost their investors and were unable to adequately fund the event. Prince was looking forward to performing in support of the Goss-Michael Foundation."

Dallas radio and TV personality Chris Arnold, the event's emcee and organizer, insisted Prince's band arrived and set up at the hotel in the afternoon, but Prince never made it to Dallas.

Arnold said people didn't know the event was canceled until they showed up, and he apologized for that.

"I just want to let everybody know that I am truly sorry," Arnold said.

He said people who bought tickets to the show — which cost up to $1,500 — would have their money refunded at the point of purchase.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/sports/2011/02/pricey-prince-concert-canceled-last-minute#ixzz1D6YudZn6

[Edited 2/5/11 9:10am]

My comments (speculation) were in response to the original nay-sayers who simply wanted to blame Prince.

However I'd say I was spot on from the article you chose to use as factual information -- the investors pulled out, the orgainzers couldn't pay Prince. All of that should have been past-done long before the day of/before the show. The group didn't have its stuff together, its obvious.

Don't be mad because this time you cant berate Prince.

p.s. I still love and have compassion for you though.

x

[Edited 2/5/11 9:41am]

All the articles posted does not explain why and facts are still lacking in the details but I agree, some people here believe because of Prince's past let's just automatically blame him. So that's it. Lets save the speculation and blame him for everything. if he is wrong i'm sure the truth will come out eventually like it did in court for the ireland gig.

[Edited 2/5/11 9:47am]

how many shows has prince bailed on in the past. I know at lest one....in LA(actually inglewood) at the Inglewood Fourm. We didn't find out till we got there that his ankle was messed up or something and that the show was cancled.

The only notification we got was a posting on the events lit sinage.

It was a blind date situation as well. My co-worker chick-friend lined me up with a cute little number...I'm forgetting her name, but the cancled event kinda ruined everything. We ended up going to claim jumpers....and we all know that AIN'T a Prince concert...no offense to Claim Jumpers

It's Amazing how Prince gets more press for not doing a show, then actually doing a show.

sweething said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

[Edited 2/5/11 9:10am]

My comments (speculation) were in response to the original nay-sayers who simply wanted to blame Prince.

However I'd say I was spot on from the article you chose to use as factual information -- the investors pulled out, the orgainzers couldn't pay Prince. All of that should have been past-done long before the day of/before the show. The group didn't have its stuff together, its obvious.

Don't be mad because this time you cant berate Prince.

Interesting theory but isn't Prince rather meticulous about being paid up front for his services BEFORE he allows his name to be used? From what I've read, this event has been in the making for a little over a month. So I find it difficult to believe that Prince would have waited until the day of, for payment.

I haven't...yet and really don't want to blame or berate Prince about this because it wasn't my time and money that were wasted. So it really matters not...to me...one way or the other.

However, IF...when all the FACTS do come out and they will. If by chance, they do show that Prince is even partly at fault...I am going find it...ridiculously amusing.

BobGeorge909 said:

how many shows has prince bailed on in the past. I know at lest one....in LA(actually inglewood) at the Inglewood Fourm. We didn't find out till we got there that his ankle was messed up or something and that the show was cancled.

The only notification we got was a posting on the events lit sinage.

It was a blind date situation as well. My co-worker chick-friend lined me up with a cute little number...I'm forgetting her name, but the cancled event kinda ruined everything. We ended up going to claim jumpers....and we all know that AIN'T a Prince concert...no offense to Claim Jumpers

zucris said:

and again and again ...

agreed

sweething said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

[Edited 2/5/11 9:10am]

My comments (speculation) were in response to the original nay-sayers who simply wanted to blame Prince.

However I'd say I was spot on from the article you chose to use as factual information -- the investors pulled out, the orgainzers couldn't pay Prince. All of that should have been past-done long before the day of/before the show. The group didn't have its stuff together, its obvious.

Don't be mad because this time you cant berate Prince.

p.s. I still love and have compassion for you though.

x

[Edited 2/5/11 9:41am]

What is your unhealthy obsession with Prince about? Seriously. I don't understand what you stand to lose by someone on the internet speculating. It's odd to me that people feel the need to defend Prince in his absence.

sovembol said:

It's Amazing how Prince gets more press for not doing a show, then actually doing a show.

true

Maybe these folks and Prince should have took a hint and just gave a regular ass concert so his fans could see him play then they would have made a killing and been able to donate to charity too Cuz I don't know about ya'll but Nursey's been a fan since 81 but I wasn't paying the 15 no way in hell! The blame also can't be put 100% on Prince, but he gets 50% for just plain ole ignoring his average fans and setting up some bull crap like this Even though it's cold as hell in DFW now I did venture out into this mess and I know I would've loved to see Prince

Genesia said:

Sounds like some shady doings, to me...

Who exactly was behind the failed Prince Super Bowl concert?

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — The ballyhooed on-again/off-again Super Bowl show starring Prince on Friday ended up being a bust, as attendees found out when they showed up at Hotel InterContinental and were told the event was canceled.

The show was advertised as "an all-inclusive soiree the includes music, art, food, spirits, and more" that featured a "rare performance by Prince" and opening act Erykah Badu, plus Goss-Michael Foundation scholarship winners, DJs, and "additional special guests."

An attendee at the show who asked not to be identified described a confusing scene in which approximately 100 ticket-holders waited in the lobby hotel to be allowed up to the second level where a deluxe gourmet food spread was purportedly laid out.

As the hour drew closer, Dallas Mavericks commentator Chris Arnold -- who'd been tweeting up the event since December 31, including sharing a password to buy tickets -- emerged and announced that although Prince's band had made it, Prince himself had not, and the whole thing was called off. He also told ticket-holders that their money would be refunded.

The mystery is, who were the organizers of the event? A promised "one on one" with the organizer fell through for Unfair Park, and none of the memos or releases issued throughout this debacle make it clear who was behind it all.

On the PrinceDallas website -- whose ticking clock is mistakenly set a day late, and which still had tickets for sale on Friday night at 10 p.m. -- three parties are listed: 1. The Goss-Michael Foundation, 2. River Alexander Group, and 3. Elevate.

It surely isn't Goss-Michael; they'd already started to back-pedal by 1:30 p.m. when they sent out a press release distancing themselves from the event. And Elevate is a ticketing company.

Our attention turns to River Alexander Group, a newly formed organization that filed its incorporation pages on December 27, 2010. According to a Secretary of State Business Organizations inquiry (photo above), River Alexander's registered agent is listed as William C. Arnold, with a second manager listed as Eric Dunn.

River Alexander Group's address is listed as 2230 Kessler Parkway, Dallas, which has previously housed an organization called D Minor & Associates, as well as a company called Nia's Enchanted Hair Boutique. Drevelyn Minor owned the property at 2230 Kessler Parkway in 2003, but according to DCAD, the current owner is Chris Arnold.

Chris Arnold did not return emails or calls.

Hotel InterContinental confirmed that the event had been canceled at 8:30 p.m. A call center for the event, set up by organizers at the hotel, was already dismantled by 9:30 p.m.

Attendees felt burned by the experience. The Hotel InterContinental staffer said that some had come by the front desk to register their complaints, and were frustrated that the call center had disappeared.

"It seemed fishy that they weren't letting us upstairs," said our anonymous attendee. "There's no way they didn't know sooner, or they would have had to have the food and drink out. After Chris came down to say the event was canceled, they had a bunch of hotel staff standing in front of the escalators, with their arms folded to make sure no one went up."

http://www.pegasusnews.co...rt-dallas/

That's interesting.

Isn't the Michael of the Goss-Michael Foundation...Mr. George Michael?

to be honest no one is gonna know the real story because everyone is gonna try to save face and cover their ass. Now the excuse could be as simple as the organizers and Prince couldnt settle on money issues SO the organizers may have wanted to make Prince look like the bastard in this and didnt cancel the show, they let it go till the end. NOW Prince may have tried to duplicate that move by sending his band to show an effort to play but then not show and leave them hanging like that. Now we all know that Prince really does not care and wont get into a war of words on this if u think a statement will come from him, kept waiting on that, its coming with your Crystal Ball cd in the mail. To me i have seen show organizers not cancel an event out of spite for an artist not cancelling themselves to make them look bad, but who knows, no one will ever know the whole truth on it.

the words "Prince" and "cluster fuck" go hand in hand. and I don't even think it was his fault this time.

on the other hand, it would be really cool if he could get some decent, official management to nail down these kinds of details, especially his bread and butter of live performance, instead of people showing up to a VERY expensive show, only to be told at the door that it's been cancelled.

again, i don't think it's his fault. but it is his name on the marquee, and it can't be helped that the negative attention in the press and by the concertgoers is going to be in his direction. thankfully it seems he's getting a pass on this one, since it wasn't his fault. however, he really ought to have someone in his employ that can get their hands around this kind of thing and make it work.

errant said:

the words "Prince" and "cluster fuck" go hand in hand. and I don't even think it was his fault this time.

on the other hand, it would be really cool if he could get some decent, official management to nail down these kinds of details, especially his bread and butter of live performance, instead of people showing up to a VERY expensive show, only to be told at the door that it's been cancelled.

again, i don't think it's his fault. but it is his name on the marquee, and it can't be helped that the negative attention in the press and by the concertgoers is going to be in his direction. thankfully it seems he's getting a pass on this one, since it wasn't his fault. however, he really ought to have someone in his employ that can get their hands around this kind of thing and make it work.

I'm curious why they wouldn't let Erykah play? What does, "We couldn't make a quality decision in time" mean?? It seems strange to me that they wouldn't let her play solo. Almost as if either she didn't have a band there and Prince wouldn't let her use his or her band was there and she was contractually obligated to only perform if he did? Weird.

Clearly, Prince intended to play the date and showed good fatih but if the oragnization was unable to guarantee transportation in inclement weather/or proper funding for an artist of Prince's stature why would you expect him to show up? This is the superbowl we're talking about not a "walk on" for a daily talk show. Everything is underwritten. For River Alexander Group not to anticipate, or work out kinks prior to a much hyped show was unacceptable and amateurish because it embarasses everyone, including Prince.

Oh well. I got my tickets for Monday!

dekabes said:

Clearly, Prince intended to play the date and showed good fatih but if the oragnization was unable to guarantee transportation in inclement weather/or proper funding for an artist of Prince's stature why would you expect him to show up? This is the superbowl we're talking about not a "walk on" for a daily talk show. Everything is underwritten. For River Alexander Group not to anticipate, or work out kinks prior to a much hyped show was unacceptable and amateurish because it embarasses everyone, including Prince.

Oh well. I got my tickets for Monday!

So instead of making the money, even if it were less than a normal fee, he refuses to play and makes none at all? Doesn't make sense to me.

Spinlight said:

errant said:

the words "Prince" and "cluster fuck" go hand in hand. and I don't even think it was his fault this time.

on the other hand, it would be really cool if he could get some decent, official management to nail down these kinds of details, especially his bread and butter of live performance, instead of people showing up to a VERY expensive show, only to be told at the door that it's been cancelled.

again, i don't think it's his fault. but it is his name on the marquee, and it can't be helped that the negative attention in the press and by the concertgoers is going to be in his direction. thankfully it seems he's getting a pass on this one, since it wasn't his fault. however, he really ought to have someone in his employ that can get their hands around this kind of thing and make it work.

I'm curious why they wouldn't let Erykah play? What does, "We couldn't make a quality decision in time" mean?? It seems strange to me that they wouldn't let her play solo. Almost as if either she didn't have a band there and Prince wouldn't let her use his or her band was there and she was contractually obligated to only perform if he did? Weird.

makes me think that it was the organizer/promoter's fault. didn't come up with the money or the staff to get the shit together in time so the whole thing was cancelled. there's also the issue that if Erykah performed, how much of the ticket price do you refund if a show actually took place. Erykah probably got the same treatment through the whole thing that Prince did.

errant said:

Spinlight said:

I'm curious why they wouldn't let Erykah play? What does, "We couldn't make a quality decision in time" mean?? It seems strange to me that they wouldn't let her play solo. Almost as if either she didn't have a band there and Prince wouldn't let her use his or her band was there and she was contractually obligated to only perform if he did? Weird.

makes me think that it was the organizer/promoter's fault. didn't come up with the money or the staff to get the shit together in time so the whole thing was cancelled. there's also the issue that if Erykah performed, how much of the ticket price do you refund if a show actually took place. Erykah probably got the same treatment through the whole thing that Prince did.

I don't think so.

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._press.php

Paul Levatino, who works closely with Badu as part of her Badu World team, couldn't offer much more insight, either -- other than to say that the Dallas native tried her best to keep the event going.

"Even when they were saying, 'We're sorry, we're canceling,' Erykah was talking to me, trying to figure out how we could make something happen," Levatino said, indicating that Badu spent a good portion of her own money on the event. He hinted that she may also have contacted a few of her other famous friends in town for Super Bowl weekend, trying to find someone to replace Prince.

"There wasn't really too much opportunity for that, though," Levatino said. "But people were talking. There were a lot of things going on."

A different member of Badu's camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that much, indeed, was going on behind the scenes -- albeit on another front. According to the source, Prince and his handlers arrived on the site this afternoon, and that the handlers had scoped the venue out only to find that it wasn't up to their standards.

"Prince never even stepped inside the hotel," the source said.

And that, the source added, was just one of the issues. Sound and lighting engineers hadn't been paid and were refusing to set up their equipment until they got their money. And when they finally did, the hotel -- which, our source says, was also claiming it wasn't paid -- apparently made the final decision to pull the plug and move on.

Prince, dammit just come the F back home to Minnesota and do a show at Paisley Park!