Photo by Mireya Acierto
I’ve had numerous people contact me about Lupe Fiasco’s Lasers show/event/celebration at the House of Blues this past weekend. Many wanted my take on the situation, some clarity, an explanation (as if I was Lupe’s publicist); others even wanted to throw me under the bus as if I was some sort of swindler involved in taking fans money. I moved over the weekend, and Comcast flubbed my cable/internet hook up, so I had no access to write something until now. However, at this point I’m sure you’ve seen Lupe’s tweets, read the reviews and heard the chatter – the show was pretty much a mess.
See, no matter the show, no matter the artist, no matter the location, these types of situations happen more than you’d think. And it’s not just a hip-hop thing – this happens all the time for pop artists, actors and celebrity DJs. An artist’s name and likeness are promoted on the flyer, and the ticket price and location are listed. Most would just assume that a Lupe Fiasco event at the House of Blues would mean concert, but if you looked at the flyer, you’d notice it only said “celebration”, not “concert”. It’s all about reading between the lines and understanding promoter jargon. You’ll also notice that Live Nation wasn’t at all mentioned in the promotions, which means that a third party came in to rent out the House of Blues from Live Nation (as they own the venue), meaning it was a “private” event, and the “renter” can do as they please. There’s also a difference between a “performance” fee and an “appearance” fee for artists, as the “appearance” fee pretty much entails the artist just showing up to make face, hanging out for the required amount of time, and then splitting. No performances required. This is basically the same thing as The Situation from Jersey Shore showing up at Enclave and partying for an hour and then dipping. You don’t get to actually party with him, you get to pay to watch him party like he’s some sort of zoo animal. You may remember this happened a few months ago with Nicki Minaj at Adrianna’s, and the crowd threw a stink about it, believing Nikki was to perform, not just do a walk through. Feelings get hurt, fans get pissed.
If you’ve attended music-related events in Chicago over the years, I’m sure you’ve fallen victim to this once or twice. Yes, you may feel burned, but this is nothing new. It sucks for those who spent their hard earned $40 for a ticket (even worse for those who spent $200+ for VIP passes), and I feel like most of the fans (late teens, early twenties) in attendance had never experienced anything like this, so they were completely taken off guard and in the dark.
This type of situation puts Lupe in a weird position, as he doesn’t want to let his fans down, but also doesn’t want the promoters to get over on him by only paying him for an appearance but getting a full blown concert out of him. What would you do? Would you perform a full set for your fans that waited hours to catch a glimpse of you, or would you take a stand for yourself and leave? I’ve never been in that position, nor do I know ALL of the facts, so I don’t know. Either way, I think I think there should be a better disclaimer for events such as these that could possibly confuse the general public. If you don’t know, now you know.
“This type of situation puts Lupe in a weird position, as he doesn’t want to let his fans down, but also doesn’t want the promoters to get over on him by only paying him for an appearance but getting a full blown concert out of him. What would you do?”
You don’t do it. It’s pretty simple dude. Nobody put a gun to Lupe’s head to get involved in this. He put himself in this fucked up position. When you charge $30 to $100 at the House of Blues, people expect a show. Who pays that kind of money for a “wave and smile” event? Nobody. That you would suggest that fans should take some responsibility for getting suckered by trying to discern the difference between a “show” and a “celebration” (whatever the fuck that means) is really insulting. If Lupe was really concerned about letting his fans down, he wouldn’t have shown up late, and he certainly wouldn’t have agreed to participate in a “celebration” when anyone with sense knew that fans were paying for a show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw6bZdwJl8Q
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I went to the show last saturday nite, it sucked that it wasn’t a “real” performance. but check it… get a refund! Yeah thats right, call LIVE NATION before Friday Apr 1st. I did it today and I’m getting the money put back on my card in 3-5 days. Its true. here’s the number…800-653-8000. Just have your order number, last 4 digits of your card, and billing address ready. Tell them you heard they’re giving refunds for the show; there’s a memo out on it. It didnt work for me the first call, but worked the 2nd call (the 1st rep just didnt see the memo). GET YOUR MONEY BACK! End this promoter BS, so this shit won’t happen again! peace
^^^dude speaks the truth, I just called and the rep talked to his supervisor who knew exactly what was going on in regards to the show being bullshit and they refunded my full order. thanks for the heads up!
i think lupe and his people did not follow up and really pay attention to what they were paid to do. maybe half these rappers assume people are NOT shady and expect promoters/event organizers to be doing everything on good faith. they just got the money and didn’t think of nothing else beyond that, since lupe seemed to be totally unaware of who was even going to be there. i don’t agree this happens often to other types of music, this is some hiphop type of bullshit that happens time and time again.
This happens all the time!! As fans, take responsibility and READ THE FLYER! It clearly said “celebration.” These were independent promotors, if this was to be a concert, TRUST ME, it would have been all over the flyer. Word choice is never vague by accident on promo flyers, posters, etc. It’s not Lu’s fault, hell he even performed a couple joints off the strength of his fans. Moral of this story, and every other situation like this in music… Pay attention!
Moral of the story is don’t go to rap shows. A show with concert prices in a concert venue means “concert” to just about anyone who has ever been to a show. If people are arguing the next day, trying to parse the true meaning of a flier, the promoter fucked up. You don’t put a rapper on the stage and then act like it’s not a show. You want to have a party? Do it at a nightclub, not a concert venue– that way there will be no confusion.
Andrew fuck u and your thoughts wigga. U a fuckin culprit in this shit bitch, bcuz u knew he wasn’t gonna really perform when u was pubbin’ up da show on this rosie o’donell ass website. Fuck u and Tupe Tabasco wit’chall honey glazed skunk eatin ass…
HILARIOUS ASS COMMENT BY PDJ but foreals, everyone was playing on peoples laziness or stupidity here. moral of story IS to not go to rap shows.
you all clearly don’t go out much…This shit happens all the damn time…weekly in Chicago.
The only reason people had this confused is the venue…
If you had said it was at victor hotel, or enclave or whatever…people would have paid the same thing, paid the VIP tickets, all that…they just wouldn’t have expected a concert…
Venue choice was bad, but the whole concept is a tried and true method promoters use to make some bread.
If y’all couldn’t real through the BS, you just weren’t paying attention.
Andrew is on point with this one.
Davy let me point this 40cal in your mouth and blow yo muthafuckin head off bitch. Stop acceptin target gift cards, and blow jobs from andrew monkey ass for that comment punk.
1991 – Metallica rents Madison Square Garden, gives away tickets for free, packs the place, and everyone “celebrates” the release of the new album by listening to it a few days in advance.
Tickets were free. The venue was rented at the expense of the band. Everything was free to the fans.
There is no excuse for raping the fans, because once radio, MTV, and the label has gone away, all you’ve got are the fans…and screwing them over for the all mighty dollar is a quick way to lose said fans.
i mean…. 40 dollars is alot to pay for a lupe concert. Let alone a “celebration”. Why someone would pay that amount is beyond me. But to each his own.
If LUPE gave a fuck, and I mean TRULY gave a fuck about his fans, he would’ve performed longer that night, he would’ve dropped FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE when he said he was (or at least by now), he would’ve been on album #5 instead of album #3, he wouldn’t have snapped at his fans and bloggers when they downloaded some new, leaked music from him when there was a drought….this man has proven time and time again that he cares more about the money than the fans. Just because this nigga raps about terrorism, world peace, and politics does not give him a pass to fuck people over like this.
I mean, c’mon son!…$100 tickets and you don’t even give ’em 45 mins? And how much of that money did you give to charity JOE? And what charity?…THE LUPE “FUCK YOU PAY ME” FUND?
Lupe is not a real dude. That’s what it all breaks down to. His contempt for his fans is really sad. I was never the biggest Lu fan in the world, but I atleast respected the young brotha when he first came out. Now I don’t give a shit for the dude. He’s the type of dude that expects his fans to come through for him when he needs em’, but when they need him to come through for them he’s nowhere to be found. His side of the story with the house of blues shit is so inconsistent too. I mean… the brotha is on live nation. Live nation ain’t no half assed off brand shit. It is a VERY litigious conscience company. Lawyer Armies galore. There is no way in hell Lupe could not have known the details to the show. Bottom line is Lu is fronting. He simply didn’t want to perform that night and cooked up this halfassed excuse to justify his laziness. And even if Lu really didn’t know, doesn’t his most fervent fans deserve a free show? Remember when Lu bussed in all those folks to label headquartersin attempt to create some sort of fake public outcry for his stalled album? On some tea party america shit? Those people came a great ways on Lu’s behalf, man. Then dude is gonna say he didn’t like the album after it came out. Gee, maybe he should of brought that shit up before he wasted everyone’s time. The least he could of done was throw them a fucking bone and done a proper show. And what REALLY confuses me is how he doesn’t have the sense to apoligies. On some sarah palin shit. Lu, I’m not trying to hate but c’mon son. You know you was wrong, kid.
word is he is spending the money from the show @HOB on GOYARD’S spring 2011 LUGGAGE line to get the fuck outta the country and move near Johnny Depp…
lol goyard. What a fag.