Pensacola Promoter Wants Do-Over

The Santa Rosa Island Authority lost about half a $105,000 loan it provided William “Cadillac” Banks for the concert featuring Johnny Gill, Will Downing, Dru Hill, and Average White Band, and then attempted to recoup $10,000 from the promoter. Banks questioned whether he owed anything, telling the Pensacola News Journal he wasn’t liable for any more payments and “lost just as much as the Island Authority” paying for travel costs, hotels, security and the like.

Now, the promoter wants a clean slate and is looking ahead to next year’s Gulf Coast Summer Fest. Banks recently went before the Island Authority to ask to use Casino Beach again next year. Board members declined his request, the News Journal reported. It seems there’s still some debate over how much Banks still owes the island, as the contract for the show did note the fee for using the beach would come from money from ticket sales.

The concert needed 2,000 paying customers to break even but reportedly sold only 960 tickets.

Banks seems optimistic everything will be settled.

“We’re working things out,” he told the paper. “I’m coming back to the next committee meeting in October. This is all going to get straightened out.”