Nas ... Postponed

Visa issues delay Nas' April 25th Shanghai show... - By Morgan, Apr 15, 08

I, of course, am a big fan of jokes -- large-scale, bombastic ones that anger fans of adult contemporary music and incite local Swedish goons to twisted threats of physical retribution. But what follows is no joke:

Nas' show on April 25 at Racks will not be taking place.

First thing's first. Everyone that has purchased a "door pass" for the April 25 "Hip Hop Party" at Racks, featuring Nas will be fully refunded. Here is the press release from the party organizers explaining their reasons:

"Due to visa issues amongst the entourage of guest star, NAS, the date of the Solid Hip Hop Party has been pushed back. The event promoter is working on a four to six week delay..."

So Nas or his entourage couldn't get a visa. There was rampant speculation about the probability that this show would go through from the get-go, and despite the overwhelming warning signs that it wouldn't, everyone -- from the organizers, to the promoters, and fans -- was hoping for the best.

In our beloved adopted home the rules about this sort of thing are a little hazy (anyone remember when Ice-T -- "Bodycount" -- was able to perform at Pegasus? Coolio? He was here too wasn't he?), and if you go ahead and take a chance you might get lucky and be able to do something cool. This was one of those "unlucky" times.

Concert organizers are scrambling to try and reschedule the Nas "hip hop party" at which time they'll have another go at it. Good luck to them. It's good to have people in Shanghai at least trying to do stuff like this.

I would suggest for the promotional flyers for the next one, big blown-up images of Nas' plane ticket, performers license, and visa.

REFUNDING: SmartTicket is refunding all the tickets. Here is how this works: if you have paid for and received tickets, SmartTicket will be contacting you over the phone tomorrow to arrange a time to deliver your refund. If you have ordered tickets but have not received them yet, you won't be.

RESCHEDULING: Organizers are still optimistic that the event will take place at a rescheduled date [they're estimating a four-six week delay], and are taking all the measures they can to make it happen. If, and hopefully when, this later date has been confirmed, people who have ordered door passes to this show will have the advanced opportunity to buy tickets again.

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