Anne-Marie, promoter at odds over Korea festival cancellation
British singer Anne-Marie put on a free concert for fans in South Korea, after the festival stage she was scheduled to perform on was dismissed as “structurally unsafe”.
The singer was due to perform on Sunday 28 July at Holiday Land festival in the Korean city of Incheon. James Blake, HER and Vince Staples also featured on the two-day festival line-up.
In a social media post, Anne-Marie apologised to fans, stating she was “not allowed” to perform due to safety issues. The singer stressed that the decision to cancel was not hers.
However, a spokesperson for Holiday Land organiser Fake Virgin tells IQ that the decision to cancel was made by the artists.
“The reason that Anne-Marie and Daniel Caesar [the artist billed to perform immediately before] cancelled their performance was [due to] ‘safety issues with the stage'”, says the spokesperson. “The issue did not affect any other artists during the whole event.”
앤마리 종이비행기 이벤트ㅠㅠㅠ pic.twitter.com/ch8q8tQmzW
— Ya (@oriariana) July 28, 2019
Anne-Marie later announced she would be performing at a local hotel instead, telling fans to “be there, it’s free” and stating that “no-one will stop the show”.
The concert, which took place at the Rubik Lounge at the Paradise City hotel, was streamed live for those who were unable to attend.
The festival had been affected by adverse weather conditions. The Holiday Land event page was updated earlier on Sunday, stating that rainfall was ”below the cancellation standard”.
The statement announced the cancellation of a set by DJ Light, the first act scheduled on the festival’s Holiday Square stage. No mention was made to other sets, or to the Sunset stage, on which Anne-Marie was due to appear.
Fake Virgin say an investigation into the situation “between the production company and artists” is ongoing.
Anne-Marie was nominated for four awards at the 2019 Brit Awards in London, including for best British female solo artist and British album of the year.
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