Rain's Intro to the US

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:38 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Unbelievable... They're saying that the stage at Aloha Stadium was inadequate? I totally don't believe that for one second. I'd like to hear the details and to what they felt was lacking there. I recently saw U2 and Pearl Jam at that same venue, and the stage was HUGE! Of course, everything at that concert was flown in using a dozen or so 747 airplanes. I'm assuming Rain doesn't have that kind of a budget. Also remember that this is a stadium, and you can play football or even soccer in this place. So you can basically do anything regarding size. And, they had at least two months to design and prepare the stage to Rain's specifications. So I believe Mark Russo when he says the stage was just fine.

I'm starting to wonder if this Rain thing is some kind of a scheme, and the stage bit is just a cop-out (much like Michelle Wie's wrist injury.) A few years ago, a small promotion company tried to bring NASCAR to Hawaii. And then with just a few days until the event, the event was canceled.

--- groink

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:30 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I think it makes a lot of business sense. I remember watching Full House, the American comedy where an old ladies group named "REM" performed at the club and fans of the rock band "REM" came and was dissapointed. I know the situation is different here, but it just makes business sense.

If coke or any other drink companies name their product milk, it would be settled in court as well. There is only one milk drink and to have some soda named milk could confuse ppl and if there is a problem with the drink, such as not being as healthy, it will make the original milk look bad.

However, it's okay if it's of a different business...can be tricky at times. The perfume "rain" shouldn't sue "rain", the band cuz they're of different industries.

I think this is a good example that Asians should learn from. I've been saying it for years that there would be copyright problems with Korean music. This is nothing compared the the actual music.

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:19 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

$300, $225, & $115 tickets? Thats nutz.

I only paid $35 to see Namie, and $60 to see DAI.
Even Avex Summer Festa is in the $60 range.

I would never pay 3 digits for any concert, foreign or domestic. That is disrespectful of the fanbase, IMO.

Posted on: Thursday, June 14, 2007

K-pop star Rain victim of poor sales

By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer

FOR REFUNDS

# Refund requests for $300 VIP tickets will be accepted beginning June 20 at the Click Entertainment office, Samsung Plaza, 655 Ke'eaumoku St. Phone: 941-8870.

Less than two weeks after tickets for K-pop star Rain's Aloha Stadium concert went on sale, local organizers had sold just 1,500 of the event's 20,000-plus tickets, according to a consultant for concert organizers.

Danny Kim, a consultant for local promoter Click Entertainment, said Aloha Stadium officials told him about three weeks ago that fewer than 1,500 tickets had been sold. Typically, Aloha Stadium concerts by international pop stars such as Michael Jackson, U2 or the Rolling Stones are sold out within days.

"Everyone was worried that tickets were not selling," Kim said. "We were very disappointed that things turned out like this."

Stadium officials yesterday declined to provide overall ticket sales figures but said 257 tickets had been sold at the stadium box office as of Tuesday.

On Tuesday, promoter Click Entertainment postponed tomorrow's concert but couldn't say whether the concert would be rescheduled. Click Entertainment officials said they have been given no official explanation from Rain or his South Korea-based handlers.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, is a leading pop icon in South Korea and is known for his glitzy, sold-out concerts and his starring roles in popular television dramas. Tickets went on sale May 15.

Dong Il Min, creative director of TFD Big Band, a Seoul-based organization assisting Click, declined to provide current ticket sales figures but said that enough seats had been sold for the event to go on.

He said local promoters became aware of problems on Saturday when the Korea Times reported that Rain's U.S. concert dates, including Honolulu, were being scrapped.

"Everything was ready to go but the Rain didn't show up," Min said.

Honolulu is one of five U.S. cities on a six-city tour to be put on hold. Concerts in San Francisco; Atlanta; New York; and San Jose, Calif., had been postponed and no new dates had been set.

A June 30 concert at Los Angeles' Staples Center will go on as planned, according to Christina Yoon, a spokeswoman for the Mainland concerts' promoters, Revolution Entertainment and V2B Global.

Yoon said she did not know the reason for the postponement of the Honolulu show but she said the Mainland concerts ran into production scheduling conflicts.

Rain's sets use many of the same designers who work on concerts by Michael Jackson, U2 and Madonna. Yoon said that the production teams felt they didn't have enough time to set up.

Kane'ohe resident Grace Ogawa said she is upset by the cancelation.

Ogawa, who purchased a $300 VIP ticket and volunteered to place concert posters around town, said people at Click worked hard to market the event to a local audience.

She said it's unfair that Rain's handlers in South Korea haven't given them a full accounting.

"It's just disappointing," Ogawa said. "Everyone was excited that he was coming here."

Most of the concert's $55 general admission tickets and $225 and $115 reserved seats were sold by Ticketmaster.

Shirley Alexander, Ticketmaster's general manager in Hawai'i, declined to disclose the number of seats sold by her company. But she said customers can obtain refunds by taking their tickets to their point of purchase, which includes Times Supermarket locations and the Blaisdell box office.

Buyers also can request refunds at the stadium box office.

Click Entertainment officials wouldn't say how many $300 VIP tickets were sold. Under its contract with Aloha Stadium, the local promoters are entitled to sell as many as 2,000 tickets on a consignment basis.

VIP ticket holders can request refunds starting Wednesday at Click's offices.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070614/NEWS01/706140366/1001

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:21 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

An article came out today in Pollstar about Rain's postponed concerts. You can read the article here.....

http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=8024

If you guys read the whole article you will see that the different promoters disagree on the reasons for the postponement. One promoter cited the logistics of setting up such a huge concert. Another, who is a friend of Rain's, said...

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:27 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Yeah, Japanese ppl seem like they know what's going on. I watch some Anime and it seems that they have a pretty good relationship with those that upload on the internet. If they license something, the majority of the uploaders will stop distributing.

I think Japanese music is very influenced by western music, but they don't copy either. I listen to a lot of J-music, and rarely do i think that a song is copied.

Pat on the backs of the japanese.

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:41 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

It's really sad that it turned out that way. I live in Montreal and I was so happy when I found out that Rain is coming to Toronto. I immediately bought my ticket for Toronto, but it got cancelled. My heart was broken. Luckyly, I found out he is having a concert in NYC, so I bought another ticket. Now, it is postponed...everyone has been telling me that it wasn't meant to be...it's already my second attempt to go see him. Do I really have to go all the way to Korea if I want to see him????

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:04 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I'm just glad that he's still going ot be in LA because i'm flyng there next week from TX just to attend his concert.

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:48 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted on: Friday, June 22, 2007

Cussing

Pop star Rain accused of fraud in Hawaii
StoryChat: Comment on this story

By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer

Less than a week after Korean pop star Rain's canceled Aloha Stadium concert, the event's local promoters have sued the Korean mega-star and his Seoul-based handlers, saying they "never actually intended to produce a concert in Hawai'i."

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court yesterday, Hawai'i-based Click Entertainment Inc. alleged that Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, and his South Korea-based producers, JYP Entertainment Co. and Star M Entertainment, defrauded it of more than $500,000 paid in licensing fees and other costs.

The suit, which was filed by local attorneys Eric Seitz and Ronald Kim, also said that Rain and his South Korea-based promoters "sought to defraud the general public by aggrandizing and exaggerating the scope of the 'Rain's Coming' world tour."

The concert was scheduled for last Friday but was canceled three days before it was supposed to go on.

"There seemed to be just a number of ... acts of bad faith that we have concluded in all likelihood that the people did not have the capacity to provide the entertainer or never intended to do so but took the money," Seitz said in a news conference yesterday.

Representatives for Rain, JYP Entertainment and Star M could not be reached for immediate comment.

A spokeswoman for Rain's North American promoter, Revolution Entertainment, which also was named in the suit, declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, Click reached an agreement this year with Revolution and Star M to stage a Rain concert here in July and wired more than $500,000 in licensing fees to Revolution's executives in South Korea.

Less than a month before the scheduled show, an executive with Star M, Rain's South Korea-based promoter, told Click that the stage setup at Aloha Stadium was inadequate.

Seitz said his clients addressed concerns about the staging but the South Korea-based promoters still canceled, saying there was not enough time to go on with the concert.

Star M, JYP and Revolution have refused to return the licensing fee, according to Click.

Seitz said that ticket sales were not a major factor in the cancellation.

The Advertiser reported on June 14 that local promoters sold just 1,500 of the event's 20,000 tickets two weeks after they went on sale. Seitz said promoters had sold about 5,000 tickets by the third week.

"We expected that there would be thousands more ticket sales right before the concert," Seitz said.

The Honolulu concert was one of five in Rain's six-city U.S. tour that was shelved. Concerts in San Francisco; Atlanta; New York; and San Jose, Calif., had been postponed and no new dates have been set.

A June 30 concert at Los Angeles' Staples Center will go on as planned.

Seitz, who estimated that Click suffered between $1 million and $2 million in general damages, said he will seek to attach the proceeds from the Los Angeles concert.

"If we get a judgment, he's not going to be able to perform in ... entertainment contracts in the United States because we will follow him wherever he goes and tie up all of the proceeds," Seitz said. Argue

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070622/NEWS01/706220374/1001

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:37 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Bi's LA concert was canceled 1 hour before it was to start this evening at the Staples Center. My friend called me on the phone and she was mad as hell. After paying all that money for air fare and hotel reservations.

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:17 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:34 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

haha...he's getting sued over something else and they cancelling more concerts? Good luck everybody.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 1:32 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0