Triangle Glitched In NY

Although Triangle Talent has put together this year’s lineup for the New York State Fair, its contract with the fair has been ruled void because it does not conform with the request for proposals.

David Snowden and his team at Triangle have scheduled Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Mötley Crüe, Big & Rich, Jeff Dunham, Boyz II Men and other acts for this year’s fair and all systems are a go, but the state comptroller has ruled the contract between Triangle and the fair to be null, according to the Post-Standard of Syracuse.

“I know nothing at all about this,” Snowden told the paper April 8. “As far as I know, everything has been fine and we have met every single item requested.”
The promoter, who could not be reached at press time for further comment, added that he was certain the concern would be resolved.

Triangle was the low bidder for the 2009 state fair contract. However, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office told the paper that the contract between Triangle and the Department of Agriculture and Markets, which runs the fair, was rejected because it did not conform with the request for proposals issued by Ag and Markets.

The fair operator required companies to submit bids based on a fee they could charge the fair for each concert ticket sold, according to the Post-Standard, and bidders were required to forgo payment for shows with fewer than 5,000 concert tickets sold. Triangle reportedly submitted a flat fee for each show and the fee was not tied to the number of sold concert tickets.

Still, the shows are expected to go on and tickets are scheduled to go on sale April 25. The fair is Aug. 27 through Sept. 7.

The situation comes on the heels of a controversy, with the fair drawing fire because of a no-bid contract with Live Nation last year. Although LN was said to have done a great job of bringing talent to the 2008 fair, it opted to not submit an RFP for 2009, and Triangle reportedly is saving New York more than $600,000 over last year’s production costs.