film / tv / politics / social media / lists celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / web / celeb

EOSEPCY4TAINZNUPLOFIRWFXAY.jpg

'Lovers And Friends' Concert In Las Vegas Canceled 12 Hours Before It Starts

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | May 6, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | May 6, 2024 |

EOSEPCY4TAINZNUPLOFIRWFXAY.jpg

Since 2022, Lovers & Friends Fest has been a one-day-long concert held at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, with an extensive lineup of rappers and R&B singers on stage to perform their biggest hits. This year, the lineup included (takes deep breath) Usher, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, Gwen Stefani, Ludacris, Ashanti, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Ciara, Nas, Method Man and Redman, TLC, Backstreet Boys, Keyshia Cole, Brandy, Monica, Cam’ron, T-Pain, Sean Paul, Jodeci (I assume without Martin Lawrence showing up to interrupt their set), Xscape, Fat Joe, Ginuwine (a.k.a. Donna Meagle’s cousin), and many more, with the concert scheduled to happen on May 4 from 11 AM to midnight.

65bebd2ea4d1806f474a58c7_L&F Update.jpg

GMfy_VvW4AEPkb4.jpeg

Twelve hours before Lovers & Friends Fest was scheduled to begin, the Instagram account for the concert announced that the entire show was canceled due to dangerously high winds that could potentially put the lives of the artists and the audience in jeopardy.

From the website for Lovers & Friends Fest:

Saturday’s Lovers & Friends Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds has been canceled. Lovers & Friends Festival organizers have been monitoring the weather for several days and proactively preparing for a windy Saturday. However, the National Weather Service has now issued a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-35 mph sustained winds with gusts potentially more than 60 mph. Following advice from the National Weather Service and in consultation with local public officials, we must make the safest decision for our fans, artists, and staff, and cancel tomorrow’s Lovers & Friends Festival.

Regardless of the reason why the event was canceled, many people were understandably disappointed and pissed the f-ck off by this news, not just because of the cancellation, but how the news of the cancellation was handled. It was done at the very last minute, with no e-mails or text messages sent out to ticket holders, and then, they were told that refunds for tickets wouldn’t go into effect for an entire month. The amount of money that ticket-holders spent on plane tickets, hotel rooms, and brand-new outfits to wear while two-stepping and shaking their asses (while watching themselves)? All gone. Some didn’t learn about the cancellation until they landed in Vegas. The money they spent on hotel rooms wouldn’t be refunded, since the hotels had nothing to do with Lovers & Friends Fest, so it wasn’t their responsibility. All vendors with loads of merchandise they were planning to sell at the concert? Completely assed out.

Some people hoped that the artists scheduled to appear at Lovers & Friends Fest would do pop-up shows around Vegas to make up for the festival’s cancellation and do something to lift their spirits after receiving the terrible news. However, it doesn’t look like any pop-up shows occurred, though one of the artists expected to perform at the festival had a brief interaction with a fan this past weekend.

Usher went on Twitter to express his disappointment that Lovers & Friends Fest wasn’t going to proceed as planned, while also pointing out that it wasn’t entirely his decision to make.

Screenshot_20240505_171009.jpg

Reading about the cancellation of Lovers & Friends Fest reminded me far too much of the massive catastrof-ck that was Universal FanCon back in April of 2018. The last-minute cancellation announcements; the huge lineup of performers and events that convinced people to spend money and make plans to attend; the lack of a backup plan to make up for any sudden obstacles; and the amount of people online expressing their anger and disappointment about their plans suddenly going pear-shaped. There is a vast difference between why Universal FanCon failed (piss-poor planning and handling of finances), and why Lovers & Friends Fest was canceled (potentially dangerous weather that could ruin an event held at an outdoor arena), but both resulted in a lot of customers being broke and unhappy, and caught completely off-guard with the news that their plans were going nowhere. No matter what the event is that you have planned (a concert, a comic book/pop culture convention, an interactive experience based on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), there should be no reason whatsof-ckingever for anyone to compare it to Universal FanCon.

There was also talk on social media about how Lovers & Friends Fest has seemed incredibly shady, even for those who had attended in the past. The festival had announced that artists like Monica would be there to perform on stage … except that Monica said she was never actually booked to perform by the festival organizers. Other artists shared similar stories about their names being used to sell tickets for a festival they weren’t even signed to be a part of.

Twitter was also divided as to just how bad Saturday’s weather was, and whether it was even necessary for Lovers & Friends to be canceled in the first place. But one Twitter user shared their input as to what could’ve easily happened if the festival went ahead as planned.

The cancellation of Lovers & Friends Fest wasn’t the only concert-related news that became public this weekend. Brian McKnight, who recently revealed himself to be a f-ck nigga of biblical proportions, was scheduled to perform at the Motor City Casino Hotel in Detroit on June 9. But it was just announced that McKnight’s concert has been canceled as well, and it is largely believed to be because of the cruelty and disrespect that McKnight has expressed toward his adult children on social media, even referring to them as “products of sin.” McKnight’s fanbase has been dwindling as quickly as his hairline ever since, and when Motor City Casino Hotel announced on Facebook that his concert wasn’t happening, the response was so overwhelmingly negative toward McKnight that the original post ended up being deleted.

Now please excuse me as I take a moment from expressing sadness on behalf of everyone who bought a ticket to Lovers & Friends Fest, so I can express my joy at something bad happening to the R&B singer who will never win the award for “Father of the Year,” and who has cursed us all with an actual song called “Let Me Show You How Your Pu—y Works.”

No, I am not making that last part up.