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Garth Brooks' canceled Ireland tour could damage the country's economy and tourism

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D

Dram

Member
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/entertainment/all-five-garth-brooks/1246130.html
All five mammoth comeback concerts by country music superstar Garth Brooks, planned to take place in Dublin later this month, were scrapped on Tuesday following a licensing dispute.

Last week local authorities granted a licence for only three of the five planned gigs at Dublin's Croke Park stadium, leading Brooks to issue an "all or nothing" ultimatum.

Some 400,000 tickets for the concerts, billed as a "Comeback Special Event" before a promised world tour by the US singer later this year, had sold out in record time in January as Brooks-mania swept Ireland.

Last week, Dublin City Council granted permission for the first three concerts at the end of July but not the last two, stating the "scale, magnitude and number" of the gigs was unprecedented.

Despite intense negotiations for the past few days, the council said it was legally impossible to "amend or appeal" its decision.

Ticket sales company Ticketmaster said the scale of the shows was "unprecedented in the Irish entertainment industry" and urged ticket-holders to be patient as it finalises its returns policy.

No artist has ever played five consecutive nights at the 82,000-capacity Croke Park, including local band U2, who used the home of Gaelic sports for their last two world tours.

Brooks, who played two packed-out shows in Croke Park in 1997, is one of the biggest stars in country music and one of the top selling artists of all time.

The cancellation of the concerts is a blow to Irish tourism, with as many as 70,000 tickets sold to fans outside the country.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce said the concerts were worth up 50 million euros ($68 million) to the local economy.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland said the fiasco could damage Ireland's reputation abroad.

"The cancellation of all five concerts disrupts the travel plans of thousands of concert-goers who have already booked flights, hotels and tours," said RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins.
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http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/taoiseach-garth-brooks-situation-was-very-badly-handled-all-around-30415714.html

Politicians and public figures have criticised the cancellation of the five Garth Brooks concerts, saying there will be significant damage to Ireland's economy and reputation.

Councillor Nial Ring believes the decision to cancel has left a local community divided, 400,000 fans desolate and an economy deprived of millions of euro.

"I hold Garth Brooks fully responsible for this debacle. He was happy to do two concerts and the accountants would have assured him that this would have yielded a nice profit. Then he got three - the icing on the cake. Then five - super profit territory. Then five - almost enough profit to pay off our national debt."

"But following Dublin City Council's decision to restrict the concerts to three Garth issued an ultimatum - five or none. Still three, so Garth decided to throw a strop and cancel all shows despite the "love affair" he has with his Irish fan base. Maybe seventeen years of absence didn't make the heart grow fonder after all," he continued.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has said that the cancellation of the concerts is “an embarrassment” for the country.

Labour’s Joe Costello criticised the singer for cancelling all five shows. “His determination to have ‘five or none’ smacks of petulance and arrogance, with scant regard for his fans.”

Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan has said the cancellation of all five of Garth Brooks’ Croke Park concerts is an embarrassment to the country,

The minister said the cancellation of the Comeback Special event is not only a huge loss economically, but has caused ‘reputational damage’ to Ireland as well.

Fianna Fail senator Averil Power has said the Government should have taken the Garth Brooks concert debacle seriously because of what it meant to the country’s economy.

“The city will now lose €50m and secondly, damage has been done to our international reputation as a tourism destination.”
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K

krazen

Member
LOL.

Not even a fan but #teamGarth on this one.

If there's demand for 5...why can't he do 5?
If they can pull off 3...why can't they pull off more?

If it's an issue of infrastructure...etc...just charge the asshole to alleviate local government spending so he can throw the shows.
 
R

rjinaz

Member
So he was told he was doing five, then was told after some time that he could only do three? I'd be pissed too. Plus Garth Brooks is huge, you accommodate people this famous, it goes with the territory.

That being said, he is an entertainer paid by his fans and his fans should be his priority. Three shows for his fans is better than nothing at all. I'm not sure he is in the right here with this one especially considering the economic implications.
 
T

TetraxShards

Member
rjinaz said:
So he was told he was doing five, then was told after some time that he could only do three? I'd be pissed too. Plus Garth Brooks is huge, you accommodate people this famous, it goes with the territory.

That being said, he is an entertainer paid by his fans and his fans should be his priority. Three shows for his fans is better than nothing at all. I'm not sure he is in the right here with this one especially considering the economic implications.
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The promoter did not apply for a licence until April. They knew full well they would not get a license for all five gigs. Under the agreement Croke Park (run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, an amateur [in the original sense of the word] sports organization that runs Irish traditional sports) were allowed to hold four concerts per year. There were three One Direction concerts announced months before these ever were. Initially, it was only two, then more dates were added. In the grand tradition of Irish farces, everyone got greedy and in the end, the worst result for everyone is what happened.
 
G

glaringradio

Member
Promoter gets greedy and thinks they can bend the rules. Turns out, they can't. Regardless of the potential money lost, integrity has won.
 
R

rjinaz

Member
TetraxShards said:
The promoter did not apply for a licence until April. They knew full well they would not get a license for all five gigs. Under the agreement Croke Park (run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, an amateur [in the original sense of the word] sports organization that runs Irish traditional sports) were allowed to hold four concerts per year. There were three One Direction concerts announced months before these ever were. Initially, it was only two, then more dates were added. In the grand tradition of Irish farces, everyone got greedy and in the end, the worst result for everyone is what happened.
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That's a shame. It's too bad things couldn't get worked out after the fact.
 
K

Koomaster

Member
Why not issue all the licenses? If the city is earning tons of tourist dollars and Garth Brooks gets paid and people are happy - why not bend the rules or whatever and get those licenses issued. Not sure what the big deal is here.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Koomaster said:
Why not issue all the licenses? If the city is earning tons of tourist dollars and Garth Brooks gets paid and people are happy - why not bend the rules or whatever and get those licenses issued. Not sure what the big deal is here.
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From how NPR explained it today... people don't like the traffic and hussy bussy business of concerts, so they only allow 4 per year without an advanced permit or whatever it was.

too much noise!
 
T

TetraxShards

Member
Koomaster said:
Why not issue all the licenses? If the city is earning tons of tourist dollars and Garth Brooks gets paid and people are happy - why not bend the rules or whatever and get those licenses issued. Not sure what the big deal is here.
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Some (not all) of the local residents objected. Croke Park is situated in a built-up area which was going to be locked down for nine days (five concerts, plus two days set-up and takedown). Add in 85,000 people going to and from the gigs, getting drunk and probably pissing and vomiting in your garden and making a general mess and people weren't keen. Croke Park also broke a written agreement that there would be a max of four gigs per year which was agreed when the stadium was rebuilt around ten years ago.

Also, the place takes 20-80K people every Sunday from May to the end of September for hurling and gaelic football games. That's enough disruption.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Koomaster said:
Why not issue all the licenses? If the city is earning tons of tourist dollars and Garth Brooks gets paid and people are happy - why not bend the rules or whatever and get those licenses issued. Not sure what the big deal is here.
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The stadium is in a residential area and those people are notorious bastards for kicking up a fuss in cases like this.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
funkystudent said:
The stadium is in a residential area and those people are notorious bastards for kicking up a fuss in cases like this.
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A stadium in a residential area....... I cannot even wrap my head around it. Theres no way they couldn't have seen that kind of conflict coming ahead of time. Maybe thats why they had an agreed limit of events per year beforehand though.

Oh well, the artist isn't obligated to do shows there. I don't subscribe to this idea that he has to perform somewhere out of 'obligation' to his fans. You can't and won't control a persons actions like that, no matter how famous they are. He owes you a good performance should he host a show, but you don't get to demand that he does a show in the first place. Thats his prerogative.
 
B

Bubble Metropolis

Member
Cipherr said:
A stadium in a residential area....... I cannot even wrap my head around it.
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ZdwhB8Z.png


Aside from the bit to the south, which is parking for the stadium, it's seemingly nothing but suburban-style houses for miles, like the kind you see directly flanking the stadium. Unbelievable.
 
T

TetraxShards

Member
Cipherr said:
A stadium in a residential area....... I cannot even wrap my head around it. Theres no way they couldn't have seen that kind of conflict coming ahead of time. Maybe thats why they had an agreed limit of events per year beforehand though.

Oh well, the artist isn't obligated to do shows there. I don't subscribe to this idea that he has to perform somewhere out of 'obligation' to his fans. You can't and won't control a persons actions like that, no matter how famous they are. He owes you a good performance should he host a show, but you don't get to demand that he does a show in the first place. Thats his prerogative.
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The residents said they would object the day after the third gig was announced, IIRC. It was laughed off in the media here.

Croke Park has been around since 1913, they can't move it because it's an important part of the nation's heritage. The GAA was founded in responce to British oppression of Irish culture in the late 19th century. It symbolises traditional Ireland to a lot of people. There is a second national stadium, the Aviva Stadium (once called Landsdowne Road) where the national football and rugby teams are based. It's only 55K capacity though and the rights are owned by a separate concert promoter.
 
F

Fari

Member
7mJOO6p.jpg


This has been the biggest news story in Ireland for about a week, but it seems like it's picking up some international attention now.

Nobody comes out of this looking well, but the whole situation is fucking hilarious.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Fari said:
7mJOO6p.jpg


This has been the biggest news story in Ireland for about a week, but it seems like it's picking up some international attention now.

Nobody comes out of this looking well, but the whole situation is fucking hilarious.
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That picture is killing me.
 
D

Dryk

Member
glaringradio said:
Promoter gets greedy and thinks they can bend the rules. Turns out, they can't. Regardless of the potential money lost, integrity has won.
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I like to think that at one point the promoter yelled "Don't you know who I am?" at the council and stormed out after they were told that it didn't matter
 
C

ConfusingJazz

Member
How is Garth Brooks this important to the national economy of Ireland?

I mean, the Taoiseach has had to comment on a stupid concert cancellation. Why is the head of government commenting on Garth Fucking Brooks? Is he the friend in low places I hear so much about?

This is surreal on so many levels.
 
M

Mully

Member
I think Ireland really needs to look itself in the mirror and ask, "Do we really want more Garth Brooks fans here?"

They'll know the answer.
 
K

Konka

Banned
ConfusingJazz said:
How is Garth Brooks this important to the national economy of Ireland?

I mean, the Taoiseach has had to comment on a stupid concert cancellation. Why is the head of government commenting on Garth Fucking Brooks? Is he the friend in low places I hear so much about?

This is surreal on so many levels.
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400,000 people brings in a loooot of money.
 
C

ConfusingJazz

Member
Konka said:
400,000 people brings in a loooot of money.
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Its Garth Fucking Brooks! Its so....just....

Did Chris Gaines not make it over there or something? Did he not torpedo his career?

The idea that there are emergency talks on the national level over Garth Brooks is just amazing to me.
 
R

RandyBobandy

Banned
ConfusingJazz said:
Its Garth Fucking Brooks! Its so....just....

Did Chris Gaines not make it over there or something? Did he not torpedo his career?
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€10 million per show he would've brought in. Plus all the tourism Ireland would've gotten.

They really fucked up on this one.

You have to laugh at the people who decided to live beside beside a friggin' stadium complaining.
 
C

Circle Jerk

Member
Boy I wonder who people are going to blame, Garth Brooks or politicians... lucky for them, they have a few attacking Garth Brooks already! Seriously, if you're losing that much money, and has turned into this big a story, I cannot even imagine how stupid you would have to be to come out on the side of restricting his amount of shows.
 
B

BruiserBear

Banned
Two things:

1) I'm shocked to hear Garth Brooks is that famous in Ireland. Crazy.

2) Love these douche politicians trying to blame this all on him, as if authorizing those final 2 concerts was impossible. If you needed the money so badly you could have authorized those final two concerts, idiots.
 
K

Kusagari

Member
ConfusingJazz said:
Its Garth Fucking Brooks! Its so....just....

Did Chris Gaines not make it over there or something? Did he not torpedo his career?

The idea that there are emergency talks on the national level over Garth Brooks is just amazing to me.
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An estimated SEVENTY THOUSAND people were going to travel to Ireland for those five days. That's an insane amount of tourism bank to lose.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Oh right.. I didn't realise he was only meant to play 2 dates when they announced the shows but then they added a third.... then two more.

The whole thing is a mess. Maybe a few years ago the promoter would have gotten the go a head but not now.

ConfusingJazz said:
Its Garth Fucking Brooks! Its so....just....

Did Chris Gaines not make it over there or something? Did he not torpedo his career?

The idea that there are emergency talks on the national level over Garth Brooks is just amazing to me.
Click to expand...

Things got real weird in the 90's in Ireland for people who where too old for the 90's rock revival / pop stuff.
 
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