What up,
As I write you today, I’m on an emotional rollercoaster. Over the last few days and weeks, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of emotion. I want to start by making myself EXPLICITLY CLEAR in saying that ANGER is not one of them.
As you will hear from one media source or another over the next day or so, our Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant show with Ray Robinson and Kim Davis is postponed. I say “postponed” as we (myself, Patrick Lewis and Jay Martin), have yet to determine our next course of action. Unfortunately, before we were able to make an official statement or even formulate a formal position, one of our promotional partners pre-maturely released the “postponement”. Notwithstanding the fact that WE would have liked to have done so first, the show IS in fact now postponed. In lieu of current circumstances, we have decided that this is the BEST possible course of action at present.
Let me cut to the chase.
Over the course of the past few weeks, I have done every and all things that I have done on any large scale promotion that I’ve presented over the last few years. The flyer was everywhere - I appeared at radio, sent facebook and myspace messages as well as all other online methods, wrote on message boards, enlisted the assistance of the promotional community etc. If you know me, you know that I’m very hands on, and as such flyer my own events personally. As I flyered, I heard the comments - “he’s still alive?”; “WHY would I want to see Bobby Brown”; “He can’t cross the border!”; “Is that even real?”; “Isn’t he’s a a crackhead”; “look what he did to Whitney”; and the list goes on.
NONE of these is the reason that as I write to you today Bobby Brown and Ralph aren’t coming.
Bobby CAN cross the border. Bobby Brown is NOT a crackhead - despite the indelible images burnt into our collective psyche by media. Bobby can still sing and he can still perform.
Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant are not coming - and I want to re-iterate that I’m not angry as much as I am confused and disappointed - SIMPLY DUE TO LOW TICKET SALES. For whatever reason, I/we were unable to convince you, the patron, that he was worthy of a chance - worthy of being seen. The reason that I’m not mad is that you don’t HAVE to want to see every artist I/we present. Music is a SUBJECTIVE thing… A PERSONAL thing. And so the fact that I may love an artist, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to.
We will not, degrade members of musical history by putting them on stage in front of low numbers of people.
I guess my question is one of WHY it is that you didn’t want to see him. This is not a rhetorical question - I welcome your feedback - PLEASE WRITE BACK TO EITHER MYSELF DIRECTLY AT ian@amnesia.ca or channel it through one of the sources that will send this out.
I wonder if it was a simple question of waiting until you heard him on Flow this Thursday night on OTA, or on the Traffic Flow mixed show at 5pm with Ralph on Friday to confirm that he was ACTUALLY here? Was it a fear that he really can’t sing anymore? Are you of the position that you want to “remember him the way that he was”? Did you not think he could cross the border, or that he would come? Is his music just irrelevant? Or are you just broke this close to Caribana, and all the other events going on? Maybe you were coming - but funds were low, or you were waiting until Friday for payday? Is your summer over as you’ve partied too much? Was the price too high? Maybe we need proof - maybe after he performs Madison Square Garden with Keith Sweat, KRS-One and Rakim on October 2nd…
Or was it that you didn’t trust us?... Coincidentally, Patrick said, maybe we should have said in the promotion - “from the people who bring you Amnesia, Soul Kitchen, ICON, Big People, B-Boy Document, etc, the person who brought you New Edition, SWV etc, and Jamaica vs. Trinidad and Kama Sutra. He said - maybe you should remind them “that you’ve NEVER promised them something and not delivered it”, or “tell them that you wouldn’t put you money on the line when you have children to feed if you didn’t think it was possible”. I said that it is unnecessary to prove who you are to people who know who you are every single time you do something. By the way - I am not trying to illicit any sort of sympathy, I’m posing positions - but I know it’s difficult to sense tone in an email.
I am concerned that our heroes are disposable - and this theory has me feeling like Bill Cosby - the guy making sense that seems like he’s crazy. Again, I reiterate - there is no anger in my tone - only confusion. I am not trying to put ANYONE on blast, but I cram to understand why, for instance, Bobby Brown is a crackhead, but we are accepting that Lil Wayne walks around with a cup with a cocktail of cough syrup and alcohol. Is it because Lollipop is so addictive and Bobby hasn’t had a hit in years? Should we have given Mariah Carey another chance?
We judge and are unforgiving - we often give stardom and take it away - removing with it the contributions that the individuals make. The greatest rapper ever was a drug dealer from Marcy, but we’re okay with that - he makes INCREDIBLE music and doesn’t sell drugs anymore. Last week, one of the other challengers for the title of KING OF R&B, R. Kelly was acquitted. We step in the name of love to someone that married Aaliyah at the age of 15 and other things we all know of. I’m simply trying to show that we exert judgement unequally - coincidentally, in the process of getting his work permits done, I came to realize
I ask the questions - and make the statements to understand whether as one of the main promoters of things MUSICAL, whether Lauryn Hill or Whitney Houstan, D’Angelo, Superblue or even MICHAEL JACKSON are HUMANS that make mistakes and deserve our respect for the musical contributions they’ve made or whether their legacy’s are forever tarnished by the mistakes - however heinus those mistakes may be.
Being who we are - we will be providing FULL refunds to anyone who has purchased a ticket for this Saturday’s show. You can return to your point of purchase and receive a full refund - for instance Play de Record, including your service charge, or from the promoter you purchased it from in the first place. If you purchased on Ticketmaster, call and you will be refunded.
I can be contacted at 416.293.4812.
Extremely disappointed, yet still thanking you for your understanding, and looking forward to your comments,
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Ian Andre Espinet
per
Patrick Lewis
Jay Martin
ian andre espinet
ian andre espinet entertainment +
black star graphic design & communications
canada’s leading urban graphic design studio. period.
ian andre espinet 2008
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment