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Reggae singer Glen Washington recently faced challenges with his UK and Germany tour bookings. After encountering issues with a booking agent, the Kindness for Weakness singer decided to personally cover over US$8,000 in ticket costs for his team to ensure a UK show could proceed as planned, despite no contractual obligation to do so.
“This is a small price to pay for my loyal fans, and to protect my brand ... and preserve my business relationship with this promoter who would have lost a lot of money and damaged his reputation,” Washington said.
Jackie Whyte-Washington, Washington’s partner and manager, described the move as helping to avoid a potentially difficult situation for UK promoter Cecil Reuben.
“Glen is a man of integrity and a man of his word, and he didn’t want to disappoint his fans because of unscrupulous actors in the business. We have to take this loss ... we cannot let him be a no-show again in the UK,” she said.
Whyte-Washington explained that Reuben had booked the show at Fox and Firkin with the understanding that there would be at least three other tour dates for Washington in Germany and the UK. However, those shows failed to materialise after the booking agent ghosted Glen Washington’s team and stopped responding to calls.
“This individual, a Jamaican, used to manage another artiste who I won’t name now. He told us that a promoter was interested in booking Glen for a tour in Europe and the UK, and we granted him permission to represent us. We never received a deposit for the UK shows for Cecil Reuben, but we realised that the shows were being promoted. So we jumped on a plane without the deposit,” Whyte-Washington said.
Washington, who is known for his distinctive sound that seamlessly blends influences of soul, mento, and gospel, has a particularly strong fan base in the United Kingdom.
GERMANY SHOW
Unfortunately, his fans in Germany will have to wait several months to see him, after a planned concert in Stuttgart had to be nixed at the last moment.
“We realised that the promoter in Stuttgart was also promoting his show as part of the package with the UK tour, but the booking agent refused to give us any information. He also stopped taking our calls after we did one stress-filled show with him in the Cayman Islands ... this guy has cost us a lot of money, “ she explained.
They became aware of the Germany show when the artiste’s fans from Stuttgart started sending him messages on Facebook saying that they got their tickets and “can’t wait to see him”.
“We eventually tracked down the promoter who informed us that the booking agent had claimed that Glen got his visa for Germany and would be travelling three days before the show with his band of eight people. We were shocked and very concerned at the level of unprofessionalism and misinformation,” Whyte-Washington said.
Washington acted quickly by recording a video and apologising to the fans affected. The promoter also promised a new date for the show. However, the promoter had already sunk thousands of Euros in promotion costs, plus the non-refundable deposits for rental of the venue for a show that would never happen.
“It’s a big loss for the Stuttgart promoter, but I will ensure that this show will go forward because we are now in direct contact,” Glen Washington said.
The UK show will be held on June 1 at the popular Fox and Firkin venue in Lewisham, London. Artistes Tasha T and Patrick Junior will open up for Washington.
Well-known booking agent Cabel Stephenson has now been employed by the singer’s management team to avoid a repeat of this situation.
“We need more professionals in the reggae industry. We have to protect the brand, we have to safeguard the product from hustlers who would attempt to destroy an industry built up by the blood and sweat of countless Jamaican musicians and artistes,” Stephenson said.
English (US) ·