VIDEO: Tarrus Riley Finally Apologizes And Explains His Side Of The Kenyan Concert Fiasco(PS: It’s Completely Different From What The Organisers Said)
So as you all know by now, there has been a sweeping drama surrounding the recent Tarrus Riley/ Alpha Blondy concert no-show.
First, Big Tunes Festival, the organisers of the gig, said that they would refund the revellers all their money. Then the message changed. Big Tunes said that they are going to be organising a make-up “free” concert for all those who paid last Saturday. Now Tarrus Riley, while currently in Germany, has come out with his side of the story, plus a deserved apology.
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“Yes Kenya, this is your singer Tarrus Riley, continuing our tour, seen? We travel over distant land and see to be there with you. We there from Thursday. We don’t see the promoter until it was time to leave, and the business them already shattered. Apology to everyone who probably got hurt in the riots, and you know we’d never disrespect you. I know we don’t want to disrespect you. Sorry to disappoint you. And hopefully, the president or the powers that be can line up something for us to come back and give you a FREE show. We’re all about Africa, we’re all about Kenya, one family, you naaw mean? We soon come forward again hopefully. See big up Alpha Blondy, big up the whole crew, seen? Shaka Zulu pickney here Tarrus Riley.”
The part in bold is completely different from what the Big Tunes Festival founder, Otieno Macko’ochieng said in an earlier press release. Compare and contrast:
“Regrettably as a result of the actions of a few individuals at the event and the fact that so far we have been unable to respond to some of the comments or accusations raised by some against us and our good reputation, the wall between fact and fiction has become quite blurred. For example, it is a fact the artist Tarrus Riley and band were paid by Big Tunes Live Limited a total of euros 14 thousand before the date of the event based on a contract that required the artist to receive 80% of the payment before departure and 20% before the show. As represented on our poster and marketing collateral the show was a Dusk to Dawn affair, beginning from 6pm till 6am and it is a also fact by the time a few misguided individuals decided to disrupt the show, we still had over three hours before conclusion of our event. The rest is history.”
While Tarrus blames the failure on negligence by the promoters, Big Tunes are pointing the finger at an impatient crowd who didn’t wait long enough for the main event. So who is fooling who? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below:
