QuasarOfRock said:

murph said:

What does Prince's business people have to do with an organization that couldn't pay it's employees? Again, taking such a simplistic take on this is silly...In the past, Prince has indeed fucked up in some of these instances (Croake Parks *sp* comes to mind)....But this one aint the case...By a long shot..

What you don't seem to understand is Prince, just like security, Badu, the union workers, and the light people, was hired by the organization to be a part of the show...And when the money became shakey, there was no show....This is business 101...

Some people seem to be going at Prince because of his past issues...I'm sorry...But I don't care about such things...I just look at the facts that are presented to me...

[Edited 2/6/11 7:05am]

If you were looking at facts, you'd acknowledge that something like this wouldn't happen to a Bruce Springsteen or a Janet Jackson, because they would have a staff of people making sure everything was on the up & up and everyone was paid.

It would definitely not have been a last minute cancellation. It should have been cancelled much sooner, if it was really a matter of people not getting paid or the location not being up to standards.

That all should have been checked out the day the location was changed.

I can keep repeating myself, and you can too, but it doesn't change the fact that a Prince show for 'charity' was cancelled at the last minute and it reflects badly on him no matter who we choose to blame. The slant the local news has taken on it is that Prince didn't let anyone know he was cancelling or why, and some 'poor students' who were supposed to get a chance to perform were just left waiting for hours with no word.

I'm not making this shit up.

It would have never gotten to this point if people were checking and double checking everything prior to the day of the show.

In the words of Billy Sparks 'This is a business, you ain't too far gone to see that.'

what facts??? since when is it the artist's job to micromanage and make sure the organizers are doing their job?? I've never heard of that. have you ever put on an event and invited a celebrity. all their people do is give the promoters/organizers a laundry list of things the artist expects and wants and it is the organizer's responsibility to make sure it happens. Like Babynoz says, the most Prince should have done is do his homework on the organizers track record, if anything he would take the fault for that but the resposibility still lies with the organizers to make sure logistics, payments are in place. Generally speaking....

[Edited 2/6/11 15:05pm]

electricberet said:

SCNDLS said:

And I'm not buying that the weather had ANY impact on this. If they hadn't sold more that a few 100 tix by Monday, when they changed the location, there's no way in hell they woulda sold significantly more in four days before the show, even with good weather. They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

Another thing, there were several events that went on just fine in tents despite the weather. Even the one at fair park where the tent was torn down on Wednesday in the storm.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:45pm]

How about this for a solution: Prince comes back to Dallas, holds a normal concert with reasonably priced tickets at the American Airlines Center (which he sold out the last time he came here), and lets the Goss-Michael scholarship winners perform as part of the concert. Everybody's happy. PR problem solved. What do you think?

Perhaps the Promoter and sponsors should pony up and send the scholarship winners on a quick overnight flight to New York to take in the Prince concert.

SCNDLS said:

And what's wrong with that? He agreed to do a show for a certain price. He held up his end of the bargain and appeared. He didn't agree to work for free.

In contrast, this "group" used a charitable foundation as their front in all communications, never letting concertgoers know another entity was running everything and handling the money and only giving the foundation a SMALL amount (I'm hearing 10%) of the proceeds. The first time we heard about this RAG and the REAL relationship with the foundation was the day of the show. That's tantamount to deceptive practices IMO. P wasn't deceptive, the promoter was.

And like I said earlier, EVEN if P and EB wanted to perform, which I know SHE did, the hotel wouldn't allow it because they had not been paid.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:35pm]

Nothing, apparently.

Though, it does make me wonder, what percentage of the proceeds, was to go to the guy waiting in the limo, going...

[img:$uid]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/SexyBeautifulOne/BBHM-1.jpg[/img:$uid]

And if this...

They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

is somehow the case.

How is it not, at the very least...questionable...that Pimpin' and his lawyers, apparently weren't all over and handling that...BEFORE the day of?

.

[Edited 2/6/11 19:19pm]

sweething said:

electricberet said:

How about this for a solution: Prince comes back to Dallas, holds a normal concert with reasonably priced tickets at the American Airlines Center (which he sold out the last time he came here), and lets the Goss-Michael scholarship winners perform as part of the concert. Everybody's happy. PR problem solved. What do you think?

Perhaps the Promoter and sponsors should pony up and send the scholarship winners on a quick overnight flight to New York to take in the Prince concert.

I feel bad for them more than anyone. Imagine what it would feel like to be a young musician who is getting ready to perform as a opening act for Prince, the chance of a lifetime, only to be told at the last minute that the concert is off:

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._after.php

electricberet said:

sweething said:

Perhaps the Promoter and sponsors should pony up and send the scholarship winners on a quick overnight flight to New York to take in the Prince concert.

I feel bad for them more than anyone. Imagine what it would feel like to be a young musician who is getting ready to perform as a opening act for Prince, the chance of a lifetime, only to be told at the last minute that the concert is off:

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._after.php

Yes. Ultimately rational people understand "stuff happens" but the promoter and sponsors could erase this gaff by making it up to the kids.

[Edited 2/6/11 15:48pm]

2elijah said:

babynoz said:

Yeah, that's why I said "in the future".

The organizers were clearly out of their league as I explained in my other post. The bottom line is that they failed to raise the funds to cover the event itself, much less having anything left over to donate. It also appears that they were not truthful up to the last minute and are still not being entirely truthful about what happened.

This debacle is not on Prince IMO, but I still think that going forward, it makes sense to do some research on any group he enters into a business arrangement, with especially when his name is the main draw.

I agree with you on that, and the point that the event organizers may not have been truthful about the information they were giving Prince's team, leading up to hours before the event was to take place. I'm not at all surprised that many would blame the artist for what went wrong, because of his name being attached as the main performer. I also agree with you that maybe his business manager/team should have done more extensive research on the organizers of the event. As one orger "Scndls" noted in another thread in the Concerts forum that Chris Arnold incorporated his company just a few days after he announced the event.

For what it's worth, at least those that paid to attend the event, will get a refund for the tickets they purchased.

I believe what SCNDLS had to say about that Chris Arnold character...she's lives in Dallas and has a handle on the lay of the land. Electricberet has also more or less confirmed what I believe went down.

I just hope that something can be done for those kids because it sounds like Arnold basically used them as props to justify those ridiculous prices. Maybe Erykah will step in and make some arrangement that will actually benefit them.

SCNDLS said:

And I'm not buying that the weather had ANY impact on this. If they hadn't sold more that a few 100 tix by Monday, when they changed the location, there's no way in hell they woulda sold significantly more in four days before the show, even with good weather. They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

Another thing, there were several events that went on just fine in tents despite the weather. Even the one at fair park where the tent was torn down on Wednesday in the storm.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:45pm]

Do you know how to read? The lighting and sound people refused to set up because they had not been paid and the hotel had not been paid and the promoters made no travel arrangements for the performers.

The promoters fucked up and no show anywhere was going to take place.

laurarichardson said:

SCNDLS said:

And I'm not buying that the weather had ANY impact on this. If they hadn't sold more that a few 100 tix by Monday, when they changed the location, there's no way in hell they woulda sold significantly more in four days before the show, even with good weather. They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

Another thing, there were several events that went on just fine in tents despite the weather. Even the one at fair park where the tent was torn down on Wednesday in the storm.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:45pm]

Do you know how to read? The lighting and sound people refused to set up because they had not been paid and the hotel had not been paid and the promoters made no travel arrangements for the performers.

The promoters fucked up and no show anywhere was going to take place.

Isn't that what SCNDLS is saying no?

wonder505 said:

laurarichardson said:

Do you know how to read? The lighting and sound people refused to set up because they had not been paid and the hotel had not been paid and the promoters made no travel arrangements for the performers.

The promoters fucked up and no show anywhere was going to take place.

Isn't that what SCNDLS is saying no?

I do not know what the fuck SCNDLS is try to say?

laurarichardson said:

SCNDLS said:

And I'm not buying that the weather had ANY impact on this. If they hadn't sold more that a few 100 tix by Monday, when they changed the location, there's no way in hell they woulda sold significantly more in four days before the show, even with good weather. They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

Another thing, there were several events that went on just fine in tents despite the weather. Even the one at fair park where the tent was torn down on Wednesday in the storm.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:45pm]

Do you know how to read? The lighting and sound people refused to set up because they had not been paid and the hotel had not been paid and the promoters made no travel arrangements for the performers.

The promoters fucked up and no show anywhere was going to take place.

Do you know how to read?

The person you are criticizing understands what you said perfectly and agrees. Take that jumbo-sized spike out of your orifice and chill the fuck out.

[Edited 2/6/11 16:53pm]

SCNDLS said:

Haterina, I think Joyce must have mis-spoken or was mis-quoted on that quote because she said in the original cancellation on Friday that the PROMOTER River Alexander Group approached them to be the beneficiary.

In a nutshell:

1. This was NOT a charity event. It was primarily a FOR PROFIT concert by an organizer who USED the charity's name as a FRONT promising to give them a SMALL portion of the proceeds from the show. The foundation had nothing to do with the planning and neither did Prince.

2. The River Alexander Group is a fly by night production company that was ONLY incorporated in the state of Texas a few days AFTER the concert was announced. The "manager" of the company is a rooty poot muhhfucka named Chris Arnold who was the sports reporter for the local hip-hop radio station and is currently the sideline reporter at the local Mavericks basketball game. Chris is a huge Prince fan but has ZERO experience doing this type of thing.

3. Prince was at the hotel, sitting in his limo, waiting for word that they had his money and that the place was ready to go. Of course, neither occurred so no show. Chris Arnold himself said Prince was there after announcing the cancellation. My peeps saw the two white limos, one of which EB came out of, and the other that Prince was in.

4. Another reason there was no show was because the hotel was ALSO not paid for the facilities, food, alcohol, equipment, etc. Hotel reps told the organizers that if they didn't get paid they were pulling the plug on it, which is I think the REAL reason there was no performance. Even if EB and Prince were willing to perform, the hotel was not having it because they had not been paid. They apparently stationed employees to block people's access into the ballroom.

5. Performers almost NEVER peform for free at ANY charity event even when it's really for charity. They also commonly charge their OWN organizations back for their expenses. Furthermore, I don't think George has anything to do with this foundation. This is really Kenny and his mother's deal and they continue to use George's name. I attend most of the Goss-Michael gallery events and it's been a long time since I've seen George at anything.

[url]http://prince.org/msg/12/352010?&pg=1[url]

[Edited 2/6/11 10:55am]

Scndls, I have to say you've done your homework. Not only did the event organizer shaft Prince and his people, and the customers who paid, but the charity the organization they claimed they would give a portion of the profits to, and the hotel they did business dealings with. It is clear, from all what you've researched about the event organizers, that this cancelled event was not Prince's fault.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:35pm]

laurarichardson said:

SCNDLS said:

And I'm not buying that the weather had ANY impact on this. If they hadn't sold more that a few 100 tix by Monday, when they changed the location, there's no way in hell they woulda sold significantly more in four days before the show, even with good weather. They woulda needed to sell at least 666 tix @ 1500 to get P's million, not to mention a whole lot more to pay the expenses. This is what happens when you have an amateur trynna do big things.

Another thing, there were several events that went on just fine in tents despite the weather. Even the one at fair park where the tent was torn down on Wednesday in the storm.

[Edited 2/6/11 14:45pm]

Do you know how to read? The lighting and sound people refused to set up because they had not been paid and the hotel had not been paid and the promoters made no travel arrangements for the performers.

The promoters fucked up and no show anywhere was going to take place.

Laura, if you had read further, you would have noticed that Scndls already mentioned that. See a portion of what she posted in one of her posts on this thread:

SCNDLS said:

4. Another reason there was no show was because the hotel was ALSO not paid for the facilities, food, alcohol, equipment, etc. Hotel reps told the organizers that if they didn't get paid they were pulling the plug on it, which is I think the REAL reason there was no performance. Even if EB and Prince were willing to perform, the hotel was not having it because they had not been paid. They apparently stationed employees to block people's access into the ballroom.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:30pm]

electricberet said:

sweething said:

Perhaps the Promoter and sponsors should pony up and send the scholarship winners on a quick overnight flight to New York to take in the Prince concert.

I feel bad for them more than anyone. Imagine what it would feel like to be a young musician who is getting ready to perform as a opening act for Prince, the chance of a lifetime, only to be told at the last minute that the concert is off:

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._after.php

You know, considering that so many flights had been cancelled and delayed because of the weather in Dallas at the time, there was a possibility the show would have been cancelled because of that, other than the reason that the organizers just did a bad job organizing the entire event.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:36pm]

2elijah said:

electricberet said:

I feel bad for them more than anyone. Imagine what it would feel like to be a young musician who is getting ready to perform as a opening act for Prince, the chance of a lifetime, only to be told at the last minute that the concert is off:

http://blogs.dallasobserv..._after.php

You know, considering that so many flights had been cancelled and delayed because of the weather in Dallas at the time, there was a possibility the show would have been cancelled because of that, other than the reason that the organizers just did a bad job organizing the entire event.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:36pm]

If the show had been cancelled due to weather, and everyone given appropriate notice, I don't think many people would be upset. The scholarship recipients who were supposed to perform are upset because they were treated as insignificant and no one bothered to keep them informed. Watch the video in this link:

http://www.wfaa.com/sport...99269.html

I'm also wondering whether Chris Arnold was the key culprit here. Watching him in this video, he doesn't seem like the sort of person who could have come up with this scheme on his own. But this is the most troubling sentence for me:

"Arnold said ticket holders should start getting their money back next week."

Start? What does that mean?

electricberet said:

2elijah said:

You know, considering that so many flights had been cancelled and delayed because of the weather in Dallas at the time, there was a possibility the show would have been cancelled because of that, other than the reason that the organizers just did a bad job organizing the entire event.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:36pm]

If the show had been cancelled due to weather, and everyone given appropriate notice, I don't think many people would be upset. The scholarship recipients who were supposed to perform are upset because they were treated as insignificant and no one bothered to keep them informed. Watch the video in this link:

http://www.wfaa.com/sport...99269.html

I'm also wondering whether Chris Arnold was the key culprit here. Watching him in this video, he doesn't seem like the sort of person who could have come up with this scheme on his own. But this is the most troubling sentence for me:

"Arnold said ticket holders should start getting their money back next week."

Start? What does that mean?

Arnold and his people should take the blame. Even Arnold's investors pulled out long before the event was to be scheduled, so it seems to me Chris Arnold and his folks didn't have anything solid/finalized between the business arrangements. It was Chris and his people who should have told the students that it wasn't going to happen, when they left them sitting in their hotels for that long. Joyce Goss says in the article that they were assured by the River Group that the show would go on but also states that the River Group was not able to fund the event.

Chris admits that some of the reasons behind the cancellation was "weather and money", so he knew ahead of time there were money issues, and he should have cancelled it, point blank.

Based on what one of the students said, it seems she's trying to put all the blame on Prince, instead of the organizers of the event. Even the lady reporting this, doesn't seem to have all the facts to the story, but from showing images of Prince, the symbol stage and images of the W2A press conference, it seems many in the media already blamed Prince for the cancellation of that event.

Here's the article from the link you posted:

ADDISON — It's Super Bowl party central this weekend, but it's the party that didn't happen that has everyone talking.

Prince canceled his $1,500-a-ticket performance last night in Addison. Three students — including violinist Scarlett Deering and guitarist Annie Dingwall — were scheduled to be part of the event.

They sat in a hotel room for nearly two hours waiting to hear from organizers about their opportunity of a lifetime.

"I was very angry and upset, and I felt like it wasn't fair that no one ever came and told us what was going on," Deering said.

The two scholarship recipients were scheduled to go on stage and be recognized at a Friday night concert headlined by Prince at the Intercontinental Hotel in Addison.

The event was canceled Friday night, something that didn't surprise attorney Steve Khoury.

"It was pretty clear, pretty early, that this party boat wasn't coming in," he said.

Three of Khoury's clients — potential investors — dropped out three weeks ago. "My investors were willing to put up the kind of money they were asking to be invested," he said. "The fee being negotiated by Prince was on the order of a million-five, a million-seven — with benefits."

Khoury said he saw the written agreement, which was not signed.

Event organizer Chris Arnold of the River Alexander Group maintains there was a signed contract, but he refused to discuss it.

"I don't want to go into any of these details that are confidential," he said, adding that there were several problems leading up to the planned event — including weather and money.

The concert was intended to benefit the Goss-Michael Foundation, which "exists in order to provide a forum for British Contemporary art by presenting exhibitions, programs and resources to educate, engage, and inspire youth and adult audiences in the Dallas area and abroad," according to its Web site.

"Kennny Goss and I are extremely disappointed," according to a statement issued Saturday afternoon by the foundation's executive director Joyce Goss. "It continues to be our understanding that River Alexander Group, the event organizer, was unable to fund and produce the evening. Up to the very last minute they assured us the 'show would go on.'"

Arnold says he accepts the blame. "Hindsight is 20/20, and we're guilty of believing in the event," he said. "Everybody believed in it so much, and I want to say I'm personally responsible."

Deering and Dingwall will have their expenses reimbursed by the foundation. Still, they told News 8 their talents are worth more than the treatment they received.

"Even if you aren't Prince, everybody, their time is worth something, and so I just say... maybe think of other people next time."

Arnold said ticket holders should start getting their money back next week.

"I'd hate to be someone now trying to get my money back," Khoury said.

Prince's manager told the New York Post that his client was excited about the performance, but that organizers were not able to bring him and his band to Dallas on Friday.

[Edited 2/6/11 18:24pm]

Prince should have just passed on this its too close to his last MSG per4rmance. Which is way more organized than this fiasco I'm sure......LiveNation is all about there business months in advance..

I have actually found the reporting on WFAA to be pretty balanced. It's the random commenters who jump in and slam Prince as a "has-been" without knowing all the facts. New facts are still emerging. Chris Arnold is acting as the public face of the "River Alexander Group" but there were others involved. For example, email messages sent to princedallas.com got an automatic reply from someone named Eric Dunn.

If the ticket holders aren't reimbursed next week, I expect we'll be finding out a lot more about what happened, and I will be surprised if anyone comes out of this looking good, other than the kids who were invited to perform.

electricberet said:

I have actually found the reporting on WFAA to be pretty balanced. It's the random commenters who jump in and slam Prince as a "has-been" without knowing all the facts. New facts are still emerging. Chris Arnold is acting as the public face of the "River Alexander Group" but there were others involved. For example, email messages sent to princedallas.com got an automatic reply from someone named Eric Dunn.

If the ticket holders aren't reimbursed next week, I expect we'll be finding out a lot more about what happened, and I will be surprised if anyone comes out of this looking good, other than the kids who were invited to perform.

Well Chris Arnold needs to get with the people who collected the money to start refunding that money to customers who paid for the event, and he needs to compensate the students who showed up in some kind of way. It is obvious the River Group handled this event in an unprofessional manner.

electricberet said:

2elijah said:

You know, considering that so many flights had been cancelled and delayed because of the weather in Dallas at the time, there was a possibility the show would have been cancelled because of that, other than the reason that the organizers just did a bad job organizing the entire event.

[Edited 2/6/11 17:36pm]

If the show had been cancelled due to weather, and everyone given appropriate notice, I don't think many people would be upset. The scholarship recipients who were supposed to perform are upset because they were treated as insignificant and no one bothered to keep them informed. Watch the video in this link:

http://www.wfaa.com/sport...99269.html

I'm also wondering whether Chris Arnold was the key culprit here. Watching him in this video, he doesn't seem like the sort of person who could have come up with this scheme on his own. But this is the most troubling sentence for me:

"Arnold said ticket holders should start getting their money back next week."

Start? What does that mean?

I found quite a few of the sentences rather troubling, myself.

This one:

Prince canceled his $1,500-a-ticket performance last night in Addison.

These:

The event was canceled Friday night, something that didn't surprise attorney Steve Khoury.

"It was pretty clear, pretty early, that this party boat wasn't coming in," he said.

Three of Khoury's clients — potential investors — dropped out three weeks ago. "My investors were willing to put up the kind of money they were asking to be invested," he said.

"The fee being negotiated by Prince was on the order of a million-five, a million-seven — with benefits."

Khoury said he saw the written agreement, which was not signed.

These:

Event organizer Chris Arnold of the River Alexander Group maintains there was a signed contract, but he refused to discuss it.

"I don't want to go into any of these details that are confidential," he said, adding that there were several problems leading up to the planned event — including weather and money.

Sounds like those $12,000 and $25,000 tables...didn't sell like hotcakes, to me. Because they would have had to sell a whole lot of them...on top of all of the $1500 tickets. Just to cover Prince's fee —"with benefits". Which WE all know...could be just about any damn thing.

This one:

Arnold said ticket holders should start getting their money back next week.

This one:

"I'd hate to be someone now trying to get my money back," Khoury said.

And especially...this one:

Prince's manager told the New York Post that his client was excited about the performance, but that organizers were not able to bring him and his band to Dallas on Friday.

Then WHO in the fuck...was the guy...reportedly...waiting in the limo, going...

[img:$uid]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/SexyBeautifulOne/BBHM-1.jpg[/img:$uid]

.

[Edited 2/6/11 19:20pm]

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But

Excellent questions! That deserve answers...at the very least! From ALL parties concerned!

LMAO @

I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

Good post. I agree 100%.

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

There was at least one major superbowl sponsor listed on the site; with that kind of backing anyone would agree, at least at the onset.

The promoter couldn't pull it together.

x

[Edited 2/6/11 19:41pm]

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

That would have been my wife and I's 1st P concert. Drove up from south OC for it. No news until we got there. Definitely bummed on that one.

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

What exactly do you expect Prince to do about any of this? It's not his responsibility to micro-manage the people managing the event. Was he supposed to supervise the sound and light tech as well? If that's the case then why not just fire everyone else involved and call it 'Welcome 2 America - Dallas'. Prince isn't all powerful and he's obviously not the control freak everyone accuses him of being all the time. The event was poorly handled and there was nothing Prince could've done about it. He wasn't the chairperson of the charity or the promoter. He was a guest performer at a charity event, nothing more or less.

HonestMan13 said:

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

What exactly do you expect Prince to do about any of this? It's not his responsibility to micro-manage the people managing the event. Was he supposed to supervise the sound and light tech as well? If that's the case then why not just fire everyone else involved and call it 'Welcome 2 America - Dallas'. Prince isn't all powerful and he's obviously not the control freak everyone accuses him of being all the time. The event was poorly handled and there was nothing Prince could've done about it. He wasn't the chairperson of the charity or the promoter. He was a guest performer at a charity event, nothing more or less.

What do I expect Prince to do about this? Well, to quote the man himself: 3 minus 3 = absolutely nothing. He agreed to perform for a certain fee and the fee obviously was not paid. There are gestures that he COULD make if he wanted to minimize the public relations fallout, like invite the scholarship recipients to perform or come back to Dallas sometime for a regular concert, but I don't expect him to do those things. My point was that the news media have every right to characterize this as a story about Prince, and the scholarship recipients have every right to be mad at Prince. He allowed his name to be used for this project and he could have smelled a rat a long time before the rest of us did. I love Prince's music and, if he comes back to Dallas, I will try to see him if I can. But I don't see why we should blame the media for the way they've reported this.

sweething said:

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

There was at least one major superbowl sponsor listed on the site; with that kind of backing anyone would agree, at least at the onset.

x

[Edited 2/6/11 19:34pm]

LOL! That makes me wonder...

Which came first?

The...at least one major superbowl sponsor OR the reason...that...at least one major superbowl sponsor...would have ever considered it? Being that the promoter supposedly was inexperienced and severely...lacking in competency.

.

[Edited 2/6/11 19:56pm]

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

They are off base, because he was a guest performer, not the event organizer. He apparently attached his name as a guest performer as well as Erykah. It's obvious both performers had nothing to do with announcing or arranging the event. Blame the event organizers. They arranged this whole event. That's the bottom line, and the event organizers are the ones who will obviously be refunding the money to those who purchased the tickets, not the guest performers.

[Edited 2/6/11 20:07pm]

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

sweething said:

There was at least one major superbowl sponsor listed on the site; with that kind of backing anyone would agree, at least at the onset.

x

[Edited 2/6/11 19:34pm]

LOL! That makes me wonder...

Which came first?

The...at least one major superbowl sponsor OR the reason...that...at least one major superbowl sponsor...would have ever considered it? Being that the promoter supposedly was inexperienced and severely...lacking in competency.

.

[Edited 2/6/11 19:56pm]

This is a good point. The deal would have been a nonstarter had it not been for Prince's involvement. Just like in Hollywood where the attachment of a major star to a script can make it a hot prospect even if the actual script is mediocre.

2elijah said:

electricberet said:

I suppose it's possible that Prince, Erykah Badu, and the Goss-Michael Foundation were all blissfully unaware of the problems that were emerging with regard to this event until the day it was supposed to happen. But does that seem likely? I'm not in the music business, but I would be reluctant to buy a used car from Chris Arnold based on the little I've seen of him, let alone enter into a multi-million dollar financial arrangement that would risk damaging my reputation if it went badly. Prince has been in the music business for about as long as I've been alive, and I'm no spring chicken. Did he think this was a sure bet? If not, couldn't he have foreseen how things would look for him if the promises being made turned out to be wildly inflated? Wouldn't he have insisted on being paid up front? As for the charitable foundation, why didn't they do some due diligence on this company that magically sprouted up overnight in their own backyard?

I'm not saying Prince is the bad guy here and the organizers are the good guys. I have zero sympathy for the organizers and I completely blame them for spreading misinformation. But I don't think the news media are completely off base in framing this as a story about Prince. He attached his name to this project to the first place. If he is completely blameless, then he can tell us his side of the story in his next song.

They are because he was a guest performer, not the event organizer. He apparently attached his name as a guest performer as well as Erykah. It's obvious both performers had nothing to do with announcing or arranging the event. Blame the event organizers. They arranged this whole event. That's the bottom line, and the event organizers are the ones who will obviously be refunding the money to those who purchased the tickets, not the guest performers.

[Edited 2/6/11 20:03pm]

I am happy to blame the event organizers as long as they do in fact refund my money. We'll find out soon enough.