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Fans react to Bon Jovi's Vancouver concert relocation to Rogers Arena

DH Vancouver Staff
DH Vancouver Staff
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Dec 20 2017, 12:58 am
Fans react to Bon Jovi's Vancouver concert relocation to Rogers Arena

The reaction to Thursday morning’s announcement by Bon Jovi’s management team that the Vancouver concert will go on at Rogers Arena has been largely positively received.

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Ticket holders have been taking to social media to show their appreciation for the 53-year-old and his team. One tweet said Jovi is “a true rocker who looks out for his fans” while others praised his professionalism and class.

The concert on Saturday was originally slated for Stanley Park’s Brockton Oval, but complications with the Vancouver-based promoter and event organizer Paper Rain Productions led to the event’s cancelation on Tuesday.

The following day, Paper Rain released a statement saying it would be filing for bankruptcy due to poor ticket sales. It also shifted blame to Jovi’s team and the City of Vancouver.

Over a 48 hour period since Tuesday morning, Bon Jovi’s management team and Tourism Vancouver, which owns Tickets Tonight, worked around the clock to ensure the show would continue.

Bon Jovi will not be making any money from the relocated concert as it will come at a premium cost to the artist, according to Jovi’s tour manager Paul Korzilius.

“It does cost money to do shows,” Korzillius told Vancity Buzz in an interview. “Trust me, everybody’s come in, everybody’s covered the party. We’re paying cost and cost only. It’s not an income opportunity.”

While all tickets for the canceled Stanley Park concert will be honoured at the Rogers Arena gates, with ticket holders assigned to seats based on the level of their ticket, a small number of fans have voiced their disappointment over the cancelation confusion and decision not to refund customers.

Some out-of-town fans canceled their flights and accommodations immediately after Tuesday’s concert cancelation announcement. Others are also unsatisfied that they paid hundreds of dollars per ticket to see a concert at a stadium instead of an outdoor concert site.

Sixty per cent or 8,400 of the 14,000 tickets available for the concert have been sold. No new tickets will be issued for the new event at Rogers Arena, which has a seating capacity of up to 19,000 in concert mode.

Comments

Effy Katahan: While I applaud Ticket Tonight and the Bon Jovi team for working so hard to still hold the concert, in many ways I would have preferred a refund. I paid for VIP seating and this concert is not providing me with the service or product that I paid for. If you cannot provide me with what I paid for I should be refunded. What about those people that cancelled flights and now cannot get to Vancouver? Bon Jovi is perhaps not at fault but the product of Bon Jovi is not as bright and shiny as was once perceived. The option of a refund should be available to those who do not or cannot attend this event due to inconsistent messaging by all parties involved. Still very disappointed.

Laura Ducharme: Awesome that he did his part but for us to still be waiting 4 days to see about refunds is wrong most of us come from far away and have cancelled plans by now and are now with no places to stay or not going . so what are you going to do? we deserve reimbursement the hassle alone is worth that! That concert should be free!

Rob McLean: I also feel there should be a refund. A large stadium versus outdoor show at Stanley Park is not the same regardless of the artist. We should be refunded.

Carol McDonald: First it was postponed. Then it was cancelled. Then I received an email saying tickets would be refunded. So I cancelled my flight, hotel room and other arrangements. So I now have 2 VIP tickets that I can’t use. Are there still going to be refunds for people that had to travel? An answer would be appreciated. What a mess.

Theresa: I am happy that the show is going on, however I am from out of town, cancelled my flight and hotel on Monday when it was originally cancelled. I have tried to re-book my flights but as it’s only 2 days away the flights have gone up by $200 per person, plus a $75 change fee (due to cancelling on Monday). There were 4 of us going so no longer an option cash wise so unfortunately we won’t be able to go. Do we have the option of getting a refund on our tickets do to this circumstance?

Jason: Im happy that JBJ found his venue… BUT I did not pay 3 x $375 to see him play an impromptu show at the Rog. I paid that price to enjoy the outdoor Stanley Park Venue, I paid to see Robby Kreiger from the doors and I paid to enjoy the VIP Tent from 430pm on that included both gourmet food and beverage service all included in that tag. I hope they don’t think that this is acceptable practice to seat us willy-nilly when we show up? Ridiculous.

Nick: I am happy JBJ has made good and is still putting on a concert for his fans. That is awesome, but the fact that some of us paid a lot of extra money for additional service, which we won’t see, is not cool. I also really don’t like that fact that by showing up to the concert at Rogers we are agreeing to these crap and give up the right to any refund or compensation. I really hope they do or have something extra going on for the people that purchased the VIP sections for this show.

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