Deep Purple Explain Nepal No-Show
Deep Purple have explained the reason behind cancelling their appearance in Nepal planned for March 15.
The band say they were keen to keep the date, but felt forced to call it off after the promoter breached their contract, leaving them “truly miserable.”
A statement explains: “The agreed fee was not paid as per the contract they had with the promoter of the show, Richard Coram, of Talent Brokers in Dubai.
“Despite several assurances, Talent Brokers failed to deposit the fee into its registered escrow account, even though the band’s management allowed extra time for payment to be made.
“Deep Purple are deeply concerned that fans may feel that the band have let them down, and that those who bought tickets may not have been refunded. The band wish to make it abundantly clear they were ready, willing and able to come to Nepal. Nevertheless, in view of Talent Brokers’ failure to comply with its payment obligations under the contract, the band had had no alternative but to withdraw from the performance.”
Frontman Ian Gillan explains: “I hate it when this sort of thing happens – the first time ever in Nepal and it gets cancelled.
“I want to assure everyone that our management and agency bent over backwards to make this work. But every promise from the promoter was broken. Things dragged on to the last minute and then went past the deadline for our equipment to be delivered.
“Deep Purple will go through hurricanes, earthquakes, riots, and all kinds of hazards just to get there and do the show – but you do need competent connections to be able to achieve this.
“We are truly miserable that we couldn’t get there and would love to come over at the first opportunity.”
Purple will release new studio album Now What?! on April 29.