(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Several European news sources are reporting that former Deep Purple manager John Coletta and his new Spain-based company, Seabreeze Productions España SL, have bailed on a series of concerts scheduled for the Mijas racecourse on the Spanish Costa del Sol.
Concerts affected include a scheduled appearance by Jamiroquai on August 6th, Bryan Adams on September 11th, and the English National Orchestra on September 24th and 25th.
According to English language papers from t he region Sur and Costa Del Sol News, Coletta owes approximately 300,000 euros in ticket money, but has not been heard from since.
Seabreeze sent out an initial press release on August 5th, the night before Jamiroquai were due to take the stage, to announce the cancellations, citing “circumstances beyond our control.” Both papers say that attempts to contact the company have failed, and it appears the reasons behind such a drastic decision were purely financial.
The press release originally claimed that money would be returned by the ticket outlets where ducats were purchased, but the 6,000 ticketholders for the two pop music shows have yet to see any of the money they had paid to see the performances.
While not offering any indication of how it will move forward, whether creditors will be paid or disgruntled ticketholders given refunds, Seabreeze issued a second release this past week, denying any wrongdoing on Coletta’s part.
“John Coletta is personally the principal creditor of Seabreeze Productions, and he denies any accusation of misappropriation of funds,” reads the statement, according to Costa Del Sol News. “Seabreeze Productions categorically denies that it continued to sell tickets after August 5 once the decision was taken to cancel the events.”
The company goes on to say its lack of response to the sharp criticism it has faced in the aftermath of the concert cancellations is “due to the fact that the courts are not in operation during the month of August” and thus the company has not been able to begin the formal legal process necessary to address the situation
A group of affected ticketholders have banded together to fight for refunds by hiring a lawyer, Damián Vásquez Jiménez, to file a class action against the company.
“There are cases of English-speaking people who bought nearly 20 V.I.P. tickets, for which they paid more than 2,000 euros that they have been unable to recover,” he told Costa Del Sol News. He says he is still looking for more people to join the suit.
Eugene Casamilia, director of the intermediary firm responsible for distributing tickets, Tick Tack Ticket, told Sur that his Seabreeze had 15 days after the cancellation of the concert to return the money, but nothing has been seen.
“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 told the paper.
While the tickets for Jamiroquai cost 47.50 euros, fans who had already paid to see Bryan Adams could have paid up to 103 euros per ticket from the company.
Due to the lack of response so far from Seabreeze, Tick Tack Ticket has announced that it will also take legal action against the company.
“As well as the ticket money, we will also demand compensation for damages because our reputation has been flawed,” Casamilia told the paper. Tick Tack Ticket has asked for the money owed three separate times in writing.
After shows by Elton John, Rod Stewart and Lenny Kravitz had opened what promised to be a stellar summer season of concerts at the racecourse, things started to go wrong when a UB40 concert scheduled for mid-July was cancelled for what Seabreeze called “logistical reasons.” That time, however, it took the company only one day to pay back the ticket money.
A spokesperson for Jamiroquai issued a statement that read: “Promoters of Jamiroquai’s scheduled show in Marbella have today announced that they are unable to pay the costs of putting on the show. Jamiroquai, who along with their crew, trucks and equipment have been in town for two days, were ready willing and able to play tomorrow night’s concert and were extremely disappointed to be told the news.
“The promoters of the show, who have also cancelled several other scheduled shows with other artists through the remainder of the summer, were unable to fund the costs associated with putting on the show, including power, security, staging, policing and first aid.”
Both Mijas Town Hall and the managers of the Mijas racecourse, Majestic S.L., have made it clear that they have had nothing to do with the cancellations “given that it was a unilateral decision made by Seabreeze,” according to Sur.
The director of the racecourse, Frank Mani, echoed this statement by pointing out that at no point had he thought a “situation such as this” could occur.
“The contract with Seabreeze stated that we provided the venue and organized access,” he added.
Attempts to reach Coletta or Seabreeze by CelebrityAccess have so far been unsuccessful. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
