Ottawa Pulls Plug On Bolton

Officials in Ottawa, Ontario, are facing the music for a pair of recently canceled concerts that have reportedly cost the city nearly $100,000.

Michael Bolton was set to perform August 21st and Gregory Charles was booked for an August 25th date at Lansdowne Park Civic Centre as part of a new concert series organized by the city and park. But organizers apparently pulled the plug on Charles’ and Bolton’s shows when tickets failed to move.

At the time of the announcement, organizers reportedly estimated the city would lose about $10,000 in upfront fees for the cancellations.

But according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, the city shelled out almost 10 times that estimate for the canceled gigs.

Bolton was paid a deposit of about $43,000 two months before his concert, the Citizen reported, and was contracted to receive $82,500 for the show.

Charles received a $30,000 advance and his contract stated he would be paid a total of $60,000 for his show, the paper said.

In total, Bolton received $66,191 and $30,000 went to Charles to get the artists out of their contracts, according to the documents.

Doug Moore, manager of Venture Properties, which operates the park, told the Ottawa Sun organizers made an unfortunate misstep with the shows.

"We looked at the concerts and, after analysis, decided we could make money off these ventures," he said. "Some were successful and others weren’t, unfortunately."

Organizers had reportedly been anticipating sales of around 4,000 tickets for the concerts, but Moore said neither sold more than a few hundred.

"Rather than embarrass the entertainer – Bolton, or anyone else – we looked at what it would cost to cut our losses early, given the number of tickets sold versus bringing him into town and have to pay the full shot," he said.