Sting concert cancelled in contract wrangle

Sting's agent has pulled the plug on the star's Dubai concert just three weeks before it was due to take place, saying he had lost confidence in the event's promoters in the UAE.
Phil Banfield said the November 23 concert - set to be part of the Dubai Desert Rose Festival - will no longer take place.
He blamed the cancellation on local promoters, headed by Mark Baker of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Centre, for failing to live up to their contractual obligations.
"The promoters have let us down in certain clauses in the contract," he said. "But I can't elaborate too much for legal reasons at the moment."
The festival had initially been announced as a week-long event to promote tourism to Abu Dhabi, with the feature concert being staged at the Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club.
But just over a week ago Baker announced that the concert was moving to a Dubai venue which he had yet to confirm.
Banfield, speaking on the Emirates 2FM Power Breakfast Show, said he was not kept informed of the change, which was one of several reasons the show was being cancelled.
"Changing the concert from Abu Dhabi to Dubai without telling us was one reason," he said. "We also don't think they have got the right equipment for us and there are various other clauses that they haven't been able to deal with."
Banfield said Sting had expressed disappointment at having to let down his fans in the UAE, but would perform here next year - most likely in April or May.
"I have spoken to Sting and he is very, very upset," he said. "He was looking forward to coming and playing, but he will definitely be coming next year.
"We are exploring all availability of venues with various other promoters to see how we can fit it in."
He added that Sting and his management team were also considering taking legal action against the UAE show's promoters.
"That is being looked into at the moment but I can't really comment any further," he said.
Baker said he and fellow organisers only found out about the concert being cancelled when he heard Banfield on the radio telling listeners that Sting was no longer coming.
'What we heard was news to us," he said. "My immediate reaction was one of extreme surprise. I had no indication that this was going to happen and am extremely surprised that this announcement was made publicly without us being informed."
He said that his contact in America, who had been liasing with Sting's manager, had informed the star's management that the concert venue had been changed, which he said could not be avoided due to the huge interest the show had generated throughout the region.
"We were initially holding a concert for people from all over the UAE, but we got so many outside responses that we had to re-address the situation," he said.
"We had no idea that it was going to get that large and we couldn't put a show of the magnitude it had become into Ghantoot. It was in the interests of the fans and the show that it moved to Dubai.
"As far as people getting their money back is concerned, there will be no problem as no money has changed hands. What we have to address is the disappointment."
Baker denied claims that he had misrepresented himself to Sting's management and agent as having the backing of senior UAE figures.
"I completely deny that," he said. "I didn't know this was being said until two days ago, but that has never been the case. I strongly deny it."
He also refuted claims that the equipment needed for the show was not in place.
"The only thing we were sourcing from outside was the speakers and arrangements have been made to bring them to Dubai from Switzerland, but everything else is available locally," he said.
"At the moment we are being made to look like the bad party, but it's not a direct fault of ours that this concert has been cancelled. We have approached this in a very professional and thorough way."
Sting fans throughout the UAE voiced their disappointment yesterday over the star's Dubai concert being cancelled.
John Williams, a 28-year-old British advertising executive working in Dubai, was one of hundreds of fans looking forward to the concert.
"It's not everyday that someone as big as Sting comes to the UAE and there was so much hype surrounding the concert that you couldn't help but get excited about it," he said.
"It was announced in such a blaze of publicity as an event that would put Abu Dhabi on the map but then things went cold and then the venue was suddenly changed.
"In fact the next announcements made by the organisers seemed very vague. There was no venue and it did seem badly planned, so perhaps it's no surprise that Sting's management cancelled the concert. Surely you need to have all the details in place before you make big announcements like that.
"But it's a big shame. I just hope that Sting isn't put off coming here in the future."
Tyler Smith, 45, business development manager at the Popular Music Institute, said: "I am really disappointed. We were about to buy some VIP tickets but I'm glad we didn't."
He said the nature of the cancellation would affect the confidence of fans and may put big acts off coming to the UAE in future.
"People will be hesitant to buy concert tickets and they will only do it at the last minute as the fear of cancellation will remain high for some time," he said.
Sayeed Hossain, General Manager of Dubai's Cyclone Club, which hosted a lot of concerts in the club in the past, said: "This is a total disappointment. Sting is a big act you wouldn't want to miss. The timing of the concert was also right as his song is riding high on the charts.
"Dubai was becoming on a par with the rest of the Western world in providing quality entertainment, but this is going to effect that image badly.
"A concert of that stature is not an easy task and I can understand the complications. However, they should have overcome them."
Ruben Rego, 24, said: "It is a disappointment. We normally keep ourselves free for these events and wait anxiously to watch stars perform live."
He said the cancellation will shake public confidence for future events.
"We will have to wait until the very last minute, when the stars actually arrive and are seen in the newspapers, before buying tickets to make sure the concert is actually going to happen," he said.