(UPDATED) Bon Jovi Vancouver concert cancelled due to production issues

Dec 20 2017, 12:54 am

Vancity Buzz reported that Jon Bon Jovi’s Stanley Park concert on Saturday, August 22 was postponed, but it seems now it’s cancelled and the star’s representatives are blaming Paper Rain Productions.

[am2_see_also]

A spokesperson with Bon Jovi Tours Inc issued the following statement:

“The band was ready and willing to give a great performance on Saturday. Unfortunately, the local promoter, Paper Rain Performances, has proven unable to guarantee a properly-produced event. We have recently learned that Paper Rain Performances has failed to procure staging materials and failed to pay the band, staging, security, lighting vendors, etc. As such, they have not met their contractual obligations.”

[am2_see_also]

The City of Vancouver said that the producers did not have the proper permits in place for the show, but stressed that wasn’t the reason for the cancellation.

The Park Board provided the initial approval for the event and made every effort to assist organizers in meeting our protocols in the past months,” said Parks Board acting manager Jonathan Snoek.

The Park Board was fully supportive of this event and regrets the cancellation.”

Paper Rain productions is keeping mum on the reason for the cancellation, simply saying “we regret that we have been unable to gain the agreement of the artist’s management at this time regarding this postponement. We remain hopeful that a future date can be confirmed.”

The event was expected to draw around 14,000 spectators and was set to break attendance records for a Stanley Park concert.

The tickets were sold in association with Tourism Vancouver, and many ticket holders from out of town were expected to attend the show. Partial proceeds from the ticket sales were going to go to imagine1day, a charity started by lululemon founder Chip Wilson.

UPDATE: Nat and Drew with QMFM had event organizer Dennis MacDonald on their show. MacDonald claimed Bon Jovi’s representatives had aspects of the story wrong, claiming the band had, in fact, been compensated already. When asked why they would say that, MacDonald claims it was retaliatory.

“They’re not happy that we’ve postponed,” he said.

MacDonald said the postponement was a result of several circumstances, including lacklustre sales.

“The tickets weren’t selling the way they should have sold – we had sold a little over 60 per cent.”

He said he isn’t sure if the show will happen at all now.

Below is the full interview with Dennis MacDonald.

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

+ News
ADVERTISEMENT