Features
Don’t Mess With Texas
Since causing an uproar in April for telling Houston-area concert-goers that Mexicans who don’t speak English should live in Mexico, the rockin’ outdoorsman has been dropped from KISS‘ upcoming concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion at the Woodlands.
Nugent’s comments, made at the Houston-area shed and the Alamodome in San Antonio during the initial leg of KISS’ farewell tour, incensed the League of United Latin American Citizens and others, resulting in concert officials drafting provisions for Nugent’s August 22 return to the pavilion.
Nugent recently told the Houston Chronicle he is performing at the concert, triumphantly declaring, “The crybabies lose. I win.” But promoter Pace Entertainment issued a recent statement saying otherwise.
“Pace Entertainment and representatives for Ted Nugent have confirmed that the singer will not perform with KISS at the Houston concert on August 22,” the statement said.
Doug Banker, Nugent’s manager, said the rocker’s absence from the date is due to the “totally unacceptable” terms of the provisional agreement, details of which were undisclosed.
“The Woodlands has demanded that we sign an agreement before they will let Ted perform,” Banker told Pollstar. “I’ve read the agreement and it’s totally unacceptable.”
He continued, “We feel it’s an infringement upon Ted’s rights to an opinion and First Amendment free speech right.”
C.W. Mitchell Pavilion CEO David Gottlieb said the provisions, which were drafted on behalf of the venue, “reflected our concerns with his behavior when he was here (in April).”
“Eleven years we’ve been in business; we’ve had over 600 concerts and events, and this is the first time we’ve ever had to simply say to somebody, ‘That’s not appropriate and that’s not acceptable,'” Gottlieb told Pollstar.
Other Nugent dates with KISS were unaffected by the Houston controversy or the performer’s comments, Banker said.