By Ahmad Muto
Jamaican dancehall act Beenie Man’s concert is one that will be used as a case study for years to come, especially by concert organisers.
TopBoy Entertainment Records, the organisers of the concert, have received so much heat from the public over the show, which some claim promised so much, but delivered so little.
Through a long account, explaining their frustration, they accused their detractors of plots to frustrate them right from the second they zeroed in on bringing down the Girls Dem Sugar hitmaker.
According to them, the same energy was used to duplicate the concert tickets, a thing they figured out way too late, that only 753 genuine ones were sold, yet 15,500 people turned up for the show at the Lugogo Cricket Oval. Here, they accused some of their sponsors and staff of the act.
That they invested $300,000 (over sh1b) and with a huge lineup of artistes, hoped to use proceeds from early bird tickets and gate collection to cover South African stars Mellow and Sleazy, and Focalistic who were also on the lineup to perform.
With tickets having allegedly gone for between sh100,000 and sh150,000, and only 753 genuine ones sold, they collected only sh100million.
Topboy also claims they paid twice more than they had initially agreed for one of the artistes they lined up because a local promoter who has a good relationship with their management team sought to frustrate them.
And on claims that they didn’t pay Beenie Man fully, they asked if there is any artiste of his caliber that can accept to step on stage without receiving full payment.
Nigerian singer Oxlade was in the country, but did not perform and put up a statement on his socials after the concert, asking the promoters to explain to Ugandans why he didn’t perform.
He accused them of signing a booking agreement, but refusing to honour it, and also cancelling his flight back to Nigeria. That aside, the Kulosa singer has promised to return to Uganda to stage a concert.
