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"Memories of Woodstock" Fan Updates Further to the message on the web site regarding cancellation of the above
event, I thought to let you know that despite a letter from Brian Davies
promising refunds, the same promise on the New Dawn Events web pages, and
a recorded delivery letter I sent to Brian Davies requesting a refund for
the two Sunday tickets I purchased through PayPal, I have yet to hear anything
or receive any refund. What an interesting insight from Ian’s point of view regarding the cancellation of the Memories of Woodstock festival. I think we tend to forget about the rehearsal time and logistics that each act invests just in order to give us, Joe Public, an evening to remember. The Memories of Woodstock was an ideal opportunity for myself and my wife to catch up with Jethro Tull. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen the band, somewhere between thirty and forty times, but not so much recently with three nippers under the age of ten. That’s why, when I saw this festival, I jumped at the chance. It was fairly local and boasted an excellent line up. This is the second concert I’ve bought tickets for in the last two years in order to see JT and both have been cancelled. Nothing to do with the artist I should add. The Acoustic Festival of Great Britain in 2006 was cancelled because the site was flooded. Why didn’t the organisers have relevant insurance policies? I wanted a refund (that was my prerogative) but it took me over two years to get any kind of remuneration. I eventually received tickets for a festival with a much lesser line up (no names mentioned). I didn’t even put the tickets on Ebay because it looked so dire. I simply didn’t go. Why is a promoter allowed to take two years to send me an alternative product that HE defines as a fair alternative? And why don’t promoters insure themselves for such events (or at least research the topography of the site they’re renting)? It seems to me just about anybody can become a promoter these days! I now realise that I’ve spoken to Brian Davies before in the not too distant past. I phoned him to order Fairport tickets at the West Mid Showground. He told me he’d had to cancel the show because he couldn’t sell enough tickets and he seemed incredulous when I said their gig in Chester had sold out. Obviously he’s a promoter who can’t promote! I should’ve realised then he was a ‘wannabee’. Anyway, this guy’s got seventy six quid of my hard earned cash. It’s just not fair. If I had the choice I’d rather give the money to charity than give it to some ‘fly by night’ (no pun intended). I received a letter from New Dawn Promotions stating they would be in touch soon and promising a refund. That was almost a month ago and I’ve sent five emails and phoned every day but am yet to receive any sort of answer. In my experience the Office of Fair trading are not much help. They just advise you to send a ‘Poor Services Letter’ which isn’t much use. There should be some sort of regulatory or governing body overseeing the promotion of such events. In fact, if there’s a crowd of us who don’t get our money back (I’m feeling a bit decadent now) lets camp next to this buggers house and play songs like Beastie and Two Fingers all night long. We could call it ‘Mammaries of Woodstock’.
Howard Layhe
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