A bit of mysterious trouble for our favorite 'World Star' Rain. Several weeks ago his Honolulu concert was canceled just a few days before scheduled date. Rain didn't show up to a press meeting, which ended up being used by his promoters to announce that the concert was off. No reason was given for the cancellation and ticket holders were told they could get refunds for their tickets.
The final sentence in that article:
Promoters would not say how many tickets were sold. The venue would have been set up to hold a crowd of 20,000 to 25,000.
Oh what a mystery! The concert is abruptly canceled without any reason
and promoters are not willing to say how many tickets were sold. Local promoters have apparently filed a lawsuit.
A Rain concert in Toronto which was to be held a few months ago was also canceled, and promoters were unable to give refunds. This is from the first link above:
Jay
Lee, South Korean representative for the promoter of a Toronto concert
that was also canceled, said at the press conference that he has not
been able to refund money to Canadian ticket-buyers, since he has not
yet been reimbursed for his $250,000 deposit.
"And it's been 40 days since the cancellation," said Lee.
Translation: You've all been screwed. Thanks for participating in the Korean Wave.
And why was the Toronto show canceled so suddenly? Apparently there was no official explanation given. Five minutes of intensive Internet searching didn't come up with any solid information, but I did stumble on a blog which claims that Rain canceled the show because the stage was too small. I guess they didn't figure this out until after the venue had been booked and tickets were sold. That could happen...I guess...
The San Francisco, New York and Atlanta concerts were canceled because they faced a copyright challenge in Nevada (There is another band in the States called Rain). However, that was thrown out of court last month and there isn't any word on rescheduling those concerts.
And now the LA concert has been canceled as well just a few days before the scheduled event. The reason this time?
The Saturday night show at the Staples Center
was called off "due to issues related to the show's production,"
according to a statement from Rain's promoter, V2B Global, posted on
the Staples Center Web site.
'Issues related to the show's production'...what could that possibly mean? Why so vague?
So basically the entire North American tour has been canceled for various excuses reasons.
Hey, and didn't Rain's manager just quit suddenly about a month ago without giving any specific reasons? Hmmm.......
That's just a bit too much coincidence. I've come up with several theories that could possibly explain this strange series of events.
A. Rain's management is profoundly incompetent.
B. 'World Star' Rain isn't even popular enough among Asian-Americans to sell enough tickets to have a concert outside of Asia.
C. Rain injured his wrist in a jogging accident several months ago, but will be back to his full strength sometime...soon...
D. This is all a part of a greater conspiracy to keep the Korean super-mega star down.
I don't even have to check the Naver discussion boards for this, the answer is clearly D. What would happen to the North American music industry if it got out that there is an Asian singer who can imitate such legendary acts as Justin Timberlake and Usher? How could the West handle the painful truth that no matter what kinds of acts we produce, 1-3 years later Asians can come up with their own version that is kind of almost as good (sort of)?
Comments from previous blog
Comments
Hey! You wouldn't make fun of Bi if he was an American performer like Carrot Top or Wayne Newton, you racist! You ex-pat ESL burger flippers are just jealous of Bi's talents! Like wearing one glove and walking backward! Name one U.S. performer who ever did that!
Posted by: Pawi Komerican Super Han Man | July 02, 2007 at 10:20 PM
I wore one glove and walked backward many times. But I'm not going to tell you my name, because you might be a stalker.
Posted by: One U.S. Performer | July 03, 2007 at 12:52 AM
"Hey! You wouldn't make fun of Bi if he was an American performer like Carrot Top or Wayne Newton, you racist! You ex-pat ESL burger flippers are just jealous of Bi's talents! Like wearing one glove and walking backward! Name one U.S. performer who ever did that!"
LMAO!
Posted by: littlebrownasian | July 04, 2007 at 04:29 AM
Toronto promoter's statement of how they got ripped is here, Hawaii tells a similar story:
http://rainscoming.ca
In L.A. the concert was actually canceled just before show time with fans waiting outside the Staples Center.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-rain3jul03,1,317437.story?ctrack=3&cset=true
Lots of good reading here in the comments section:
http://popseoul.com/2007/07/01/rains-la-concert-cancelled/
Posted by: rainedout | July 05, 2007 at 03:34 PM
I live in Hawaii (leeward Oahu) and the local talk radio station covered this for a few minutes, er seconds. According to the station (AM830) only about 1,500 to 2,000 tickets were sold. Not sure how many were the $300 (for crying out loud!) variety.
Posted by: Matt | July 07, 2007 at 09:48 PM
I sat next to a guy on the plan last week who was one of the guys who picked Rain up from the airport in Los Angeles and had something to do with his entourage.
The fans were told that he was sick. Truth was that the venue was less than half sold-out, and he didn't want to perform to a small audience.
Posted by: joe | July 09, 2007 at 03:49 AM
The fans were told the L.A. Fire Marshal or some inspector shut down the show at the Staples Center because some of his stage equipment wasn't certified under U.S. safety standards.
Basically Rain's tour promoters from Korea have been running this schtick on the North American tour of getting paid the fee from the local promoters, then right before the concert they complain that the local promoters' are not doing an adequate job of getting the staging just right etc. Then they cancel out and refuse to refund the fee to the local promoter.
Posted by: rainedout | July 09, 2007 at 01:14 PM
Sweet. Bi will remain the thousands of miles away from me the way he should be.
Posted by: Angel Wings | July 09, 2007 at 04:57 PM
Carrot Top, Wayne Newton, and Rain: the Bi-list.
Posted by: Brat | July 12, 2007 at 07:54 AM
haha.
people remember,
just becuz you dont like them doesnt mean asia doesnt like him.
if you hate him so much then stop reading about him.
sheesh.
Posted by: park hae man | May 01, 2008 at 10:09 AM
FUCK RAIN! i bought 3 tickets for the toronto show, and its been more than a year now, i still havent got my money back!! he is nothing but a son of a bitch that robs money! i want my money back, my money doesnt fall outta the sky! fuck him!
Posted by: k | May 20, 2008 at 10:16 PM
I didn't get my refund back either! I'm so mad! And I cannot find the promoters anywhere. I'm sure they are lurking around somewhere in Toronto. They totally ditched their office and the site is down too. I would never buy from these promoters or from Rain again! It may not be his fault but I'm sure he should know how bad the concert management has been.
Posted by: A | June 01, 2008 at 09:19 AM
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