Oliver Anthony cancels concert over high ticket prices: 'This will never happen again'
Oliver Anthony has canceled his show at Nashville's Cotton Eyed Joe due to high ticket prices.
"Cotton Eyed Joe has been cancelled (sic). Ultimately, it’s my fault for not being more directly involved with the venues who have reached out. My plate has been full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me book," the "Rich Men North of Richmond" singer told fans on Facebook Monday night. "I am not pointing fingers at Cotton Eyed Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunication took place. I’m just upset seeing those prices."
He added: "We will find another place in Knoxville area that can do $25 ticket and free meet and greet. I will work to get your tickets refunded from my own budget if they can’t. This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I am still learning how all of this works."
Why did Oliver Anthony cancel his show at Cotton Eyed Joe?
Hours before canceling, the "Ain't Gotta Dollar" singer told fans on social media not to buy tickets to his scheduled concert on Sept. 27 because they were $90 and $200 for a meet and greet. "That's not acceptable," he wrote on Instagram. "My shows should never cost more than $40, ideally no more than $25. Hell, out of the 4 shows we have currently done, 2 of them have been completely free."
Anthony explained that he's had his friend working as his booking agent and there was a miscommunication about how much his tickets should sell for.
"These are supposed to be affordable shows. Please don’t pay $90 for a ticket. I’m going to work out the details with him and if we have to reschedule this event somewhere else we will,” Anthony said in a post.
The country singer vowed to only do shows with $25 ticket prices and free meet and greets for future shows, excluding his upcoming appearances at festivals Poppy Mountain and Louder than Life.
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Cotton Eyed Joe fires back at Oliver Anthony
Cotton Eyed Joe slammed Anthony's cancellation on Facebook, claiming they sell ticket prices to break even.
"Most times we say a show has been cancelled (sic) due to circumstances beyond our control...well we are cancelling (sic) the Oliver Anthony show under our full control," the venue said. "All refunds will be made in the next few business days to your original form of payment."
Explaining the cost for the concert, the venue said, "The North Man of Richmond contracted to play the Cotton Eyed Joe for $120,000 for 60 minutes.... after doing the math and knowing we can only hold apprx. 1500 people, paying the ticket website their fee to sell the tickets, paying the tax man, opening the JOE on a closed night... we set the ticket price to break even and bring our customers a show we thought would be fun."
"To our talent agency and promotor friends that follow us... be careful booking the North Man of Richmond," they added.
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