"What she did was to not appear on stage at 8 pm as scheduled. Instead, she stayed in her hotel until that time and then decided to proceed with a sound check, irritating us and the audience. At some point we became fed-up with her fits. For example, we spent quite of a long time sewing a dress with crystals for her and minutes before the concert Mae decides that she didn't like it and will not be wearing it. And she approved it in advance! The problems with her started from the moment she set foot in Bulgaria. We paid fees and air tickets a week before the concert, "said Kurshumov.
I don't know but i suppose there might be misunderstanding between Vanessa and the organizers. Do you think so?
Vanessa quite often appeared a bit late on stage in several of her concerts including in Greece and Israel this year. I don't know why, but she has to manage her schedule carefully otherwise it would hurt many of her fans who already bought expensive ticket to see her live.
I found that article too one day after the concert took place. I want to make a few remarks regarding this story.
I went to many concerts of many different bands and artist, and actually none of them started on time exactly, sometimes the delay was within 10 minutes, which is certainly acceptable, but a start behind schedule of 20 to 30 minutes was absolutely not rare and occurred frequently. Sometimes an unexpected support act performed with a 20-30 minutes show without any upfront notice before the main act started - the main act is then easily 1 hrs behind schedule.
A delay is definitely annoying, but I found one thing to be true each time again: after the main act ended, all annoyance was gone and what remained was the excitement of a good show!!
All Vanessa-Mae's concerts that I attended started with delays of at least a good 20 minutes. She does sound checks till shortly before the scheduled time, and then she has to get changed into the concert gown, have her hair styled and have her make-up applied, all to create an impeccable presentation on stage - this all takes probable a good 30-35 minutes.
The following problems were mentioned in the article:
- there was an issue with Vanessa-Mae's dress.
- seats were doubled, so apparently sold twice.
- there was a lack of information.
Well, I don't understand the issue with vanessa-Mae's dress. It seems to me, seeing the youtube videos, that she wears a dress sewed crystals. Moreover, I assume that Vanessa-Mae has a spare dress available in advance in case something is wrong one.
The matters of doubled seats and lack of information is something the organizing company is to blame for, and not Vanessa-Mae: she is not selling the tickets afterall.
It all comes over to me as if the concert organizer messed up, and is now trying to blame it on Vanessa-Mae.
I would like to know Vanessa-Mae's comments on what happened.
To end, the audience got their performance that was paid for. So what is there to claim? They attended the concert that they paid for. Only if someone had a doubled seat, then of course refund of the money would be appropriate. For that, company's manager, Gani Kurshumov is the right person to complain to.
I don't think that we will hear about this issue again.
It is very natural that people are angry when they have to wait for more than 1.5 hrs for a concert to begin. On the other hand, they wouldn't welcome a show without a proper sound check done before.
Normally a sound check would be done in time of course but the article gives no clue about why this was not done properly in time to have the concert started as scheduled - or at least started within reasonable limits after 8pm. Maybe there were some technical problems with the installation in the venue.
In advance, sorry for my bad English. Here are my memories from the show:
The delay was about 90 min and the worst part was that there was no information about it. The concert was scheduled for 20:00h. But the doors stayed closed, and from the hall started sounds of the sound check.
We all have to wait till 20:55 before we entered the hall. The audience was first relieved and with applauds invited Vanessa on the stage. Then the audience started to whistle and shout - I personally felt ashamed of that, but there was about 5000 people, that was waiting more than 1 hour till that moment. Then about 20 min later again nothing happened and the audience started to go mad... By that time it was about 21:20!!! Then artists from the band started to appear on the stage and the public was relieved that the waiting is over... But avail - again nothing happened... And in 21:30 the people started to get out of the hall and to want their money back. Right at that moment Vanessa appeared on the stage. The audience was not gentle and started to whistle and shout. Vanessa started to play and after the first 3 songs make some apologies, but the mood in the hall was horrible.
Personally I am big fan and for me it was incredible experience. But the public was nervous and angry. Then after about 40 minutes of playing Vanessa just run out of the stage. Without a word. We just stared in disbelieve... Than was announced pause of 20 min. About 30% of the public, part of it with kids leaved. And after 30 min. Vanessa went on stage again and the show continued.
My feelings about all this are mixed.
Vanessa is extraordinary and listening to her playing was pure joy. But the experience from the concert was horrible and the public was mortified.
This is her third concert in Bulgaria and I doubt that there will be forth. But i would like to hear her version of the events, because i can't believe it was only her fault. But by now there is only one side spoken - of the organizers of the show.
It says: "According to the company's manager, Gani Kurshumov, the scandal was caused by the "irresponsible approach of the artist to the undertaken commitment."
"What she did was to not appear on stage at 8 pm as scheduled. Instead, she stayed in her hotel until that time and then decided to proceed with a sound check, irritating us and the audience. At some point we became fed-up with her fits..."
So organizers claim all delay was because of Vanessa being late. Sure she should leave hotel 2-3 hours before start of the show to leave her enough time to arrive to venue, make some sound checks, briefing, dressing and make-up, shouldn't she?
We don't know many details, maybe she was ill, maybe there were miscommunications with organizers or could be many other reasons. But 'no comments' from artist usually means that he/she hasn't any good excuse...
I understand fans and it's strange that such things happens...But I still love Vanessa-Mae,no matter what.Sometimes we make mistakes,because we are humans
I just found a video about her concert in Sofia, bulgaria two years ago which caused controversy..
The video clearly showed that the audience was so angry. The booing from audience was just so terrifying..
I'm glad that Vanessa finally was able to play in this horrible atmosphere..
Hopefully, Vanessa takes the boos from the audience as a lesson learned how important it is to be on time. In my view, ultimately the audience did NOT get what they paid for. The understanding is that her performance will begin at or around 8:00 pm, which it did not.
Unlike most artists, who depend on live concerts to generate interest in their music, Vanessa-Mae does not. She is already one of the richest female artists in all of the U.K., so she is not hurting for money. She is doing this because she wants to. I hope that she learns from this experience and place greater importance on doing things in a timely manner out of respect for her fans, band members, and all those involved in help making the concert possible.
It was not a very auspicious beginning, with boos and cat calls, etc.
But when Vanessa finished her first piece, there was a good applause.
A very good sign. It just shows that Vanessa's music "can calm the savage beast" !
The video left a lot to be desired, but the sound was ok.
