(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The wrath of Hurricane Dennis forced evacuations and caused havoc throughout states along the Gulf Coast. Concert organizers were affected by the severe weather as well, as concerts and ticket sales were battered by the 100mph winds at the end of the weekend.
“The Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena postponed the Kelly Clarkson concert
scheduled on Sunday July 10 and postponed an on sale for Jesse
McCartney on Monday, July 11,” Marco A. Perez, GM of the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans told CelebrityAccess. “While the Duran Duran show is still scheduled for Wednesday, July 13, ticket sales did drop considerably due to the upcoming threat of
Hurricane Dennis.”
A second Clarkson concert, scheduled for July 12 at the Pensacola Civic Center in Florida was also postponed. New dates had not been set at press time.
Others in the area were also forced to cancel some performances.
“Many of our local jobs were postponed in advance in anticipation of bad weather” Jim McGinnis, President of Big J Productions in New Orleans, told CelebrityAccess. “For example, the performance of Steppenwolf at Six Flags in New Orleans was postponed to August 20.”
Other venue personnel were quick to point out the effect of weather on attendees for shows that went on despite the winds and rain.
“We sustained no damage,” Sonny Schneidau, a talent buyer from the House of Blues in New Orleans, told CelebrityAccess. “All shows played as scheduled, although we suffered poor attendance for several of the shows as people were focused on the path of the storm and not our musical offerings.”
Mark Bagnetto, talent buyer for Southport Hall in Jefferson, Louisiana, told us that “Dennis did cause people to evacuate and that hurt our shows this past weekend a little.”
At press time, CelebrityAccess had not been able to get in touch with any venue personnel located in the areas of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi along the Gulf of Mexico that President Bush declared disaster areas. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
