Sep09
Elton John at Fashion Cares: will he be there tonight? Organizers say yes..
Bob Leahy on what went down in Peterborough last night, where Elton John’s concert was cancelled at the last minute, and what it means for Fashion Cares.
Patrons who paid $1,500 to see Elton John will be wondering today whether tonight’s Fashion Cares, a glittering fundraiser from the AIDS Committee of Toronto, will be a let-down. The question is will Elton John, the much touted headliner, appear?
Xtra Canada posted this afternoon on twitter "ALERT! #EltonJohn still confirmed as "attending " FashionCares and is still "scheduled" to perform say organizers."
Elton’s tour took him to Peterborough, Ontario last night (Saturday) where thousands of fans left disappointed after the show was cancelled at the moment he was due to take the stage. The reason cited was “sickness.”
The event was widely promoted in the local LGBT and HIV community. PARN (Peterborough AIDS Resource) in particular had promoted the event by offering the chance to win tickets to their AIDS Walk’s top fundraisers. (I was lucky enough to win a pair of those tickets.)
So I was at that show at Peterborough Memorial Centre, a rather uninviting arena holding 5,000 people who’d paid $160 each to see the star. Here’s the odd sequence of events. The lights went down promptly at 8pm to cheers and whoops of enthusiasm. His intro music started up, played for a few minutes – and then the lights went on again. They stayed on for ten minutes. At precisely 8.10 pm came a voice over the loudspeakers with an apology. ”Ladies and gentlemen, the show has been cancelled, Sir Elton John is sick, he has lost his voice. Please keep your ticket stubs and listen for details of when the show will be rescheduled.”
Ptbo.com reports "Fans were in shock and many thought the announcement was a prank as it was announced at the last minute to a capacity crowd."
The issue is hot on social media today. One "source" suggests his last second cancellation may have been a hissy-fit, reporting the lights were turned out in his dressing room, presumably a mistake. On twitter, a popular tweet today is "In @Ptbo_Canada we no longer call in sick we call in #EltonJohn." His appearance at Holt Renfrew at 11am that day, and later at TIFF and at a private party are also being widely reported.
It was a bummer of an evening. But will it be a bummer too for the A-list crowd who’ve paid $1,500 for Fashion Cares tickets tonight where Elton is the star attraction?
Fashion Cares, scheduled for Toronto’s Sony Centre tonight, is the AIDS Committee of Toronto’s principle fundraiser, expected to raise $2-3 million.
All in all, it’s a bust. If he doesn’t play tonight, all those A-list fashionistas will be left disappointed. It will be devastating for the good folks at the AIDS Committee of Toronto too. If he does play, Peterborough fans will be left wondering whether they were given the bum’s rush last night.
The AIDS Committee of Toronto was unavailable for comment at press time.
For more on the Peterborough cancellation, read The Peterborough Examiner here.
- Tags: ACT, AIDS, Fashion Cares, HIV+ HIV-positive, Peterborough show cancelled, PositiveLite_com, September 2012, Toronto
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About the Author
Bob Leahy - Editor
Award-winning blogger Bob Leahy first made his social media mark a decade ago on LiveJournal.com where there are still to this day almost 3,000 entries of his available to be read. He was a featured blogger on Ontario’s HIVStigma.com campaign, along with PositiveLite.com publisher Brian Finch. He joined PositiveLite.Com at its inception in 2009 and became it's Contributing Editor a year later.
Born in the UK, Bob’s background is in corporate banking, which he gladly left in 1994, after being diagnosed with HIV the previous year. He has chaired the board of PARN (Peterborough AIDS Resource Network) and has been an executive board member of both the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) and the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS). He was inducted in to the Ontario AIDS Network’s Honour Roll in 2005. Bob is currently a member of Ontario’s GMSH (Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance). He also writes for TheBody.com.
In 2012, Bob was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for his work and commitment to HIV/AIDS in Canada.
Bob continues to write for this site while in the Positivelite.Com editor’s seat, with a particular interest in HIV prevention, theatre and the arts in general. He is accredited media for a number of Toronto theatres. He lives in Warkworth, Ontario with his partner of thirty years and three dogs.
