Hello And Goodbye

Former Deep Purple manager John Coletta popped his head above the parapet long enough to issue a statement saying the cancellation of shows in Spain by Jamiroquai and Bryan Adams isn’t his company’s fault and he hasn’t run off with the punters’ money. However, he seems to have gone underground again.

Coletta’s name was splashed all over the local and national papers as they reported that he’d disappeared with an estimated half a million dollars of box-office money following the cancellation of the second half of a series of shows he was promoting in Malaga.

Soon after the Sur and Diario de Malaga papers began publicizing Coletta’s disappearing act, Coletta broke silence.

In a written statement, he denied that he’d absconded with promoter Seabreeze’s funds or the box-office takings, and claimed the only reason the company hasn’t come straight out and filed for bankruptcy is because the Malaga courts are closed in August.

Coletta also said he’s Seabreeze’s biggest creditor, which doesn’t sound like good news for the 7,000 or so fans who bought tickets for Jamiroquai, Bryan Adams, or the English National Orchestra.

According to Sur, the press statement said the company was forced into canceling the concerts because, among other reasons, “sponsorship funds” toward the concert production from Mijas Town Hall, Unicaja and the Costa del Sol Tourist Board were allegedly received by “other parties” and not the organisers.

It also refers to “a partnership” Seabreeze claims to have with Carrera Entertainment Limited, part of the Majestic Group, which operates the Mijas horse racing track where the shows were to be staged.

Racecourse director Frank Mani said, “The contract with Seabreeze stated that we provided the venue and organised access.”

Pollstar was unable to get through to Coletta to clarify the contract situation or the matter of the seemingly misdirected “sponsorship funds.”

Meanwhile, around 200 of the ticket-holders who bought for Jamiroquai or Bryan Adams have hired consumer lawyer Francisco Damián Vázquez Jiménez to bring a class action to “recuperate the money paid and damages done.”

Jiménez reckons that euro 600,000 or more was paid by would-be concert-goers who now hold worthless tickets.

He hasn’t ruled out taking action against Tick Tack Tickets, the agency that handled most of the sales, but Tick Tack’s Eugenio Casamilia said his company is not to blame.

“When there is a cancellation, it is the promoter who has to return the money; we pay it back as soon as we receive it; we are merely the administrators,” Casamilia said.

Casamilia is also on the hunt for Coletta, telling Spanish papers that Tick Tack is suing Seabreeze for the return of euro 300,000.

— John Gammon