Two German dates cancelled for ‘Deadly Alliance’ tour
rrDesignZ said
20:06 04/01 2008
The Deadly Alliance tour is struggling under a sustained public relations campaign by highly motivated gay rights organizations targeting Bounty Killer. One876 understands that two of the Warlords concerts in Germany were cancelled this week, bringing to four the number of cancelled shows since the campaign began.
Bounty was supposed to play three shows in Germany, but the two in Essen and Berlin were cancelled due to pressure from various gay rights organisations. Only the show in Munich did happen thanks to the local promoters that stood up to the pressure. I know that before he came to Germany, a few shows were cancelled in the UK, I havent heard of any other cancellations of shows in Europe, one journalist based in Germany told One876Entertainment.com this morning.
Another promoter confided that, the tour is losing money, lots of it and other promoters are contemplating pulling out because Germany and the UK are the markets where hardcore dancehall, as opposed to roots reggae, is supposed to be more viable.
By his count, four dates have been cancelled out of a possible six, two in Germany and two in the United Kingdom, an equation that has put promoters on edge.
"Promoters put on shows to make a profit, there is not much sentimentality about it, and if they don't see it is feasible to continue this tour, they would rather swallow their losses now than take a bigger hit later, and it's all about the network. We are going to see just how strong the Killer's network is in Europe," another promoter mused.
Apart from the gay issue, hardcore dancehall is struggling to get into larger, more respectable venues with proper infrastructure, sound and lighting -- a necessary requirement if dancehall is going to emerge from its underground status and claim a bigger slice of the international marketplace.
Some of the venues are pretty scared of hosting 'hard-core' dancehall artistes. Seems the word on the streets is that they tend to attract the 'shottas', who are actually giving the system a run for its money here. The show in Bradford for example, was moved to Huddersfield because it's too near to Leeds, which is very unruly and the police were afraid of 'public order' issues arising from having so many 'yardies' in one place, former manager of the Abyssinians and reggae musicologist in the United Kingdom, D. Phillips told One876via email today.
The unruly aggressive following that dancehall attracts remains a serious problem for local law enforcement authorities and the owners of venues.
The Stratford Rex in London was something else--they actually kicked-off in spite of the massive police presence, and during the show at that. The vibes is not doing reggae any favours, dem a try banton the music awn ya already, this is just providing ammunition for further sanctions, particularly for dancehall. So many venues in London will only host proper reggae eg, Max Romeo/Scratch Perry/Freddie McGregor/Abyssinians etc. But to be honest, other dancehall acts have been through London/UK recently with no problems, Mr. Phillips said
However, he believes that dancehall ought to fare better in Europe which does not have the same concentration of Jamaican immigrants who may be prone to violence and anti-social behaviour.
In Europe there is a different vibes--firstly no heavy concentration of Yardies; the shows are held in venues with proper infrastructure; and audiences are predominantly white, who are just there for the vibes/beats, and do not actually even understand most of the lyrics anyway, he said.
the doc said
20:23 04/01 2008
what people need to realise is in the UK especially hardcore acts like bounty, mavado and even beenie are not getting large attendances. in london you may get 2000 people, but the other areas are lucky to scrape 1000. police cannot be bothered with all this headache for a small minority, instead of work with promoters they choose to cancel there events as it is cheaper for them and less hassle..
sad situation, sadder still dont see any change coming
Another promoter confided that, the tour is losing money, lots of it and other promoters are contemplating pulling out because Germany and the UK are the markets where hardcore dancehall, as opposed to roots reggae, is supposed to be more viable.
By his count, four dates have been cancelled out of a possible six, two in Germany and two in the United Kingdom, an equation that has put promoters on edge.
"Promoters put on shows to make a profit, there is not much sentimentality about it, and if they don't see it is feasible to continue this tour, they would rather swallow their losses now than take a bigger hit later, and it's all about the network. We are going to see just how strong the Killer's network is in Europe," another promoter mused.
Apart from the gay issue, hardcore dancehall is struggling to get into larger, more respectable venues with proper infrastructure, sound and lighting -- a necessary requirement if dancehall is going to emerge from its underground status and claim a bigger slice of the international marketplace.
Some of the venues are pretty scared of hosting 'hard-core' dancehall artistes. Seems the word on the streets is that they tend to attract the 'shottas', who are actually giving the system a run for its money here. The show in Bradford for example, was moved to Huddersfield because it's too near to Leeds, which is very unruly and the police were afraid of 'public order' issues arising from having so many 'yardies' in one place, former manager of the Abyssinians and reggae musicologist in the United Kingdom, D. Phillips told One876via email today.
The unruly aggressive following that dancehall attracts remains a serious problem for local law enforcement authorities and the owners of venues.
The Stratford Rex in London was something else--they actually kicked-off in spite of the massive police presence, and during the show at that. The vibes is not doing reggae any favours, dem a try banton the music awn ya already, this is just providing ammunition for further sanctions, particularly for dancehall. So many venues in London will only host proper reggae eg, Max Romeo/Scratch Perry/Freddie McGregor/Abyssinians etc. But to be honest, other dancehall acts have been through London/UK recently with no problems, Mr. Phillips said
However, he believes that dancehall ought to fare better in Europe which does not have the same concentration of Jamaican immigrants who may be prone to violence and anti-social behaviour.
In Europe there is a different vibes--firstly no heavy concentration of Yardies; the shows are held in venues with proper infrastructure; and audiences are predominantly white, who are just there for the vibes/beats, and do not actually even understand most of the lyrics anyway, he said.
in london you may get 2000 people, but the other areas are lucky to scrape 1000.
police cannot be bothered with all this headache for a small minority, instead of work with promoters they choose to cancel there events as it is cheaper for them and less hassle..
sad situation, sadder still dont see any change coming
-- Edited by the doc at 21:24, 2008-04-01