To The Fans In Helmond

[Susi]

Regrettably, last night’s concert in Helmond had to be cancelled due to circumstances well beyond the band’s control. But the decision was not made before exhausting all possible solutions to a situation that, unless rectified in a satisfactory manner, would have compromised not only the sound of the band, but also the safety of the individuals on the stage. Be assured that, despite the adverse conditions presented, absolutely every effort was made in an attempt to make this concert happen and the band would like everyone to know that the decision to cancel the show was, and remains to be, a very painful one to make, as every show on this tour is as important to the band as it is to the fans, and this kind of decision would only have been made as an absolute last resort!
But the truth concerning the events of last night , and not the propaganda that was offered to the fans at the time of the cancellation ("the band refused to use the equipment provided"), is as follows;
Contractually, the venue is responsible for certain requirements to be met in order for any concert to take place. Unfortunately, in this instance they were not. Specifically the question of the power. It seems that the power was in such a poor state of affairs as to produce a horrendous array of sounds, completely unrelated to anything of a musical nature, and consequently would have resulted in an evening of noise! After being made aware of the problem, no attempt was made by the venue to fix the problem until it was too late in the day, and even then, there was no guarantee that their potential solution would have offered any different results. In other words, it was not until it was too late that an alternative was even offered. Also, considering the gravity of the electrical problem, there was also the question of the personal safety of everyone on the stage regarding the potential for electrical shock! With that in mind, the decision to cancel was made. At this point it should be noted that the decision produced reactions from the local "help" ranging from outrage to threats of a physical nature! So much so that the police were called and responded to what could have become a very ugly situation!
Be that as it may, to put it quite simply, the quality of the show and integrity of the band would have suffered greatly, not to mention that the safety of the individuals on the stage could not be guaranteed and therefore both band and crew would have been at great risk!
This is indeed an extremely unfortunate turn of events, and one that could have probably been avoided. Unfortunately for you, the fans, it was not, and for that the band is deeply sorry!
Once again, the band and crew were both saddened and deeply disappointed with the news of the cancellation, especially since it was out of their control, and are presently trying to find a way to make it up to everyone involved.
Thank you for your understanding!


SAGA

[saga30]

Hi
Je trouve honteux d'avoir annulé ce concert , le groupe doit avoir plus d'égard pour ses fans. Comme aucun concert n'était programmé en France et Belgique ,nous avons fait 600 kms aller / retour pour s'entendre dire "Technical problems" : l'info qui nous a été transmise est que le groupe n'a pas voulu jouer avec du matériel prêté par le Plato. Même si le son avait été pourri, j'aurais préféré tout de même faire avec mais au moins les VOIR !!! surtout que c'est la dernière avec Michael Sadler. 22 dates sur novembre et 1 ratée : c'est pour nous, le top !!!Je ne comprends pas bien les problèmes évoqués : ... sureté du groupe ??? En ce qui concernent les fans, il n'y a pas eu d'émeute à l'annonce de l'annulation du concert mais un sentiment d'écoeurement et d'abandon et nous sommes repartis de la où nous venions ... 600 bornes + maintenant galérer avec ticketservice.nl pour essayer d'être remboursé, thanks you very much SAGA and goodbye for ever !!!

[sagalady]

From your last few words and the punching smiley I understand that you are upset, oui? unfortunately you've written in French and my school french is loooong forgotten.

However - having been through what the band went through in Helmond, I feel for the band. I have had to delay concerts due to equipment failure, which is a hard thing to do. I was lucky to not have to cancel but had the show gone through with the equipment in the venue I would have jeopardized the safety of the artists.

As for last night, my understanding from Suzi's post, the promoter did not fulfill his/her contractual obligation to provide safe and adequate power for the concert to proceed. If the problem could not have been rectified in time a cancelation would be the only thing to do.

A cancelation is always a last resort (with the odd exception - see below). If the safety of human life is at risk then a cancellation will be done. If the power is so inadequate that there is a risk of lives then not only is it he band who is at risk, nor just the crew but the entire audience. Electrical equipment pushed beyond it's limits can (and more than likely will) cause fires and they can appear in the most random places depending on how the wiring is done.

Cancellations are a fact and something every touring band/artist (with the odd exception - see below) will avoid but sometimes they are unavoidable.

It's a case of "damned if you do - damned if you don't". If the band had gone a head with the concert and the only thing that would have happened was bad sound, you'd walk away complaining about that. If they had gone ahead with the concert and worst case, a fire had started, you or one or several of your friends could have been severely injured or even died and you (provided you had survived) would have been royally upset about it and probably sued the band. They made a decision based on the safety of band and crew (and very likely the audience too) with the awareness that there will be fans who are highly upset. Rather that one cancelled date than injured/dead fans, right? Or injured/dead artist and a cancelled tour.


The odd exception: The sold out venue was already filling up with audience and we were all set to go to our follow-spots and do the show. Just a final coffee and snack in the catering. Suddenly we are told to be all set to do a runner and forget about the equipment should there be a riot. We got the word from the stage manager that the artist (not related to Saga at all) would not attend the show this night. This particular artist was in a limo on his way to the airport at the capitol city (no where near where we were) to meet his girlfriend who had called and said that he'd better be at the airport picking her up considering the tabloids were plastered with pictures of the artist and his ex-wife looking really cozy. Girlfriends and ex-wives *sigh*.

Lesson to be learned: A show is never confirmed until the band is on stage.

[kuschelhawk]

... what a horrorfull message For you all in the Netherlands, the cancellation hurts so much, I can understand you

A show is never confirmed until the band is on stage.

a very wise fact, lady ...

[Trudes Oude Voshaar]

thank you Kuschelhwak.

yes first we were very dissapointed but I know the reason now and Saga can;t help it.
We just were so dissapointed because we wanted so much to see Saga.

and I can't forget the face of Susi she was really looking afraid.

[eddtheduck]

Hi everyone,

I, together with a friend, was one of the fans that were deeply disappointed by the cancellation. For us no real harm was done, since we live nearby and had not yet bought a ticket. I contacted the venue earlier that day and asked them about the concert and if there were any tickets left. They said that there were about 50 tickets still for sale, but we had to come early to make sure that we could buy one of the remaining tickets. So we did... One hour before opening time we que-ed up. People from Germany and France (or Belgium) were already in front of us. After waiting for more than an hour the door opened and the people from Plato told us that the show was cancelled. After all the remarks i read from both the band and the venue I can only conclude that the problem didn't arise during the time we were waiting. But well before that. I think it's regrettable that no-one informed the fans outside of the problems that were going on inside since early in the afternoon. We were told at about quarter to eight. Fifteen minutes after the doors should have opened. Very wrong by the Plato people, I think.

But there are two sides to every story. After reading the Plato statement I have the strong idea that Saga (or/and their management) had a considerable hand in the way things went. According to the venue's manager, Saga told them that the sound/electricty problem had been fixed and the show could go on. They asked for their money and the venue decided to pay in advance. After receiving the money the crew started packing and told the people from Plato that they were leaving. The Plato people got mad and than called the police to claim their money back. As far as I can tell without result. So the only people who actually received something are Saga and their management.

So, i don't exactly know what has been going on but i fear that both sides can be blamed for the situation. What i also don't understand is why Saga came to this venue if it's so bad. They could have known, since they played there only last year...???

I'm a big fan of Saga and have been since the first time I saw them in Holland in 1982. I've seen them about twenty times since then. But i'm very disappointed in how things went in Helmond. I feel especially sorry for the people from France, Germany, Belgium and the whole of Holland who had to travel for a long time to see the band's farewell tour. It's surely not the way we wanted or hoped to say goodbye to the band.

So, farewell, guys...

[Trudes Oude Voshaar]

Yes I hope Saga will play another concert in Holland, this is not the right way to say goodbye.

[rockbats]

I too was at Plato (and fortunately earlier this tour in Zoetermeer too). This evening was going to be special, not only was this to be the last Sadler show in the Netherlans, also I finally got my wife to come and see a Saga show (after numerous shows of me visting with "just" my friends). She even studied the band's music in advance. And then the show got cancelled...

And I got the same questions and doubts also mentioned by others. Why is that the band performed without any problems at Plato before (Trust tour)? The venue hasn't changed, nor has the band's equipment as far as I can tell. Also I have visted various other bands' shows at Plato too and never have I noticed any agressive behaviour by the people involved there. And no other shows were cancelled because of the electrical system. I love the band but this "reeks"...

I'm very curious what the band's plans are to make this up to us (as mentioned above). Should I get my tickets refunderd yet?

[Trudes Oude Voshaar]

Yes in holland there is hardly a fan left.
They are all very dissapointed!!!!

You should check this forum all the fans are dissapointed.

http://sagaplanet.siteboard.de/sagaplan ... 7-150.html

[rockbats]

And you know what, Saga could have come out winners out of this all. The fans were there to say goodbye to Michael. They couldn't care less if the band's sound wasn't up to normal standards. Saga could have done a short acoustic set, the band's more than capable of doing that. It would have been something special and I'm sure the fans would have been very thankful.

[Social Orphan]

It sucks I know guys. You guys are very disappointed and so is Saga. They wrote a nice message on the site illustrating their disappointment.

But, this happens all the time. I myself have driven to two concerts (bands other than Saga) gotten there and found out the show was cancelled. And you know what I never got a nice explanation like you guys did. Other times I was more fortunate to have a little more notice but still concerts cancelled hours or days in advance.

Everything kinda becomes a bigger deal because we all want to see Saga one more time with Michael and realize that in a couple weeks those opportunities will be gone forever.

As for an acoustic set, I am sure that would be impossible in the place but also those of you spending full money trying to get the final concert experience with Michael would probably not be happy either as you pay full price and would get a 'smaller' version of Saga.

Look Saga isn't happy, the club I am sure isn't happy, and the fans are not happy. this is an unfortunate situation. It happens. Look at many of those in the USA who haven't seen Saga since 1985 or never.

[sagalady]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I feel really sorry for the band.

[Acai]

It´s sad and disappointing for the fans and Saga likewise. But I don´t think it´s right to blame the band for this unfortunate cancelation. Shit happens! It´s not Saga´s style to cancel concerts the very night of the event (BTW, have they ever in 30 years???) and we all know that. So there must have been good reasons to cancel the venue and these reasons are well explained in their message to the fans.

[Kenny Gus]

It´s sad and disappointing for the fans and Saga likewise. But I don´t think it´s right to blame the band for this unfortunate cancelation. Shit happens! It´s not Saga´s style to cancel concerts the very night of the event (BTW, have they ever in 30 years???) and we all know that. So there must have been good reasons to cancel the venue and these reasons are well explained in their message to the fans.

At least one sane person!

[Maik41]

Oh my god.... Saga30, you remind me of school, conditionnel 1, passé, futur simple, c'est difficulte....

Il faut que Saga joueraient plus de concert!