Oliver Anthony announced on Facebook that he has canceled his upcoming concert at Knoxville’s Cotton Eyed Joe. Anthony cited high ticket prices as the reason for canceling the show. The concert was originally supposed to occur on September 27.
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“Cotton Eyed Joe has been cancelled. Ultimately, it’s my fault for not being more directly involved with the venues who have reached out,” Anthony wrote on Facebook. “My plate has been full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me book. I am not pointing fingers at Cotton Eyed Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunication took place. I’m just upset seeing those prices.”
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“We will find another place in Knoxville area that can do $25 ticket and free meet and greet. I will work to get your tickets refunded from my own budget if they can’t,” Anthony continued. “This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I am still learning how all of this works.”
Organizers at Knoxville’s Cotton Eyed Joe made a Facebook post of their own in order to defend themselves. “It’s a Damn Shame what the Worlds gotten to for the Customers of the World Famous Cotton Eyed Joe,” the venue wrote. “Most times we say a show has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control…well we are cancelling the Oliver Anthony show under our full control. All refunds will be made in the next few business days to your original form of payment.”
“The North Man of Richmond contracted to play the Cotton Eyed Joe for $120,000 for 60 minutes…. After doing the math and knowing we can only hold approx. 1500 people, paying the ticket website their fee to sell the tickets, paying the tax man, opening the JOE on a closed night…,” the venue’s post continued. “We set the ticket price to break even and bring our customers a show we thought would be fun. To our talent agency and promotor friends that follow us… Be careful booking the North Man of Richmond.”
Prior to canceling the concert, Anthony urged fans not to purchase tickets to the concert on Instagram. “Don’t buy $90 Cotton Eyed Joe tickets or $200 for a meet and greet. That’s not acceptable. Just saw the Facebook post and lost my shit,” Anthony wrote. “Miscommunication with my friend booking shows and I. My shows should never cost more than $40, ideally no more than $25. Hell, out of the 4 shows we have currently done, 2 of them have been completely free. This will get straightened out tonight. Hold off on buying tickets for now.”
Correction: The article originally had Cotton Eyed Joe’s located in Nashville. The Oliver Anthony show that was canceled was located in Knoxville. The story has been edited to fix the error.
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