Lord Of The Dance

Le_Dieux

Been hearing about this show being staged at the Cliffs of Moher on the radio. Will people have to be out in the elements for this? Good setting for it, but €75 plus booking fee per ticket to brave the elements is way over the top IMHO.

Sh1t, I saw Roger Waters while sitting in comfortable surrounds for a few quid more at the o2 recently.

Guess the COM are desperate for money these days.

Clareman

My parents are going to that, there's a park and ride setup and everything, I think it'd be a great night myself, and as shows go, €75 is ok, it was €15 to see intermediate hurlers play the other evening

Le_Dieux

Clareman wrote: »

My parents are going to that, there's a park and ride setup and everything, I think it'd be a great night myself, and as shows go, €75 is ok, it was €15 to see intermediate hurlers play the other evening

Agree about the setting for the show - would love to go, although I have my doubts the sounding would be the best, bearing in mind the setting. What do You mean by 'P+R & everything'?

Are You kidding about the cost?? As I said, I saw a gig in the o2 a/c controlled, and sitting for a few quid more. If You think €75 + to suffer the elements is ok, then go for it. I just get the feeling this is a way for the leeches that run the place to wean a few quid to shore up their ineptitude ever since they decided to screw around with the parking charges.

Clareman

It's a once in a lifetime kind of gig, Mrs. Clareman went to see Take That in Croke Park recently and that was nearly €80 a ticket

Le_Dieux

Clareman wrote: »

It's a once in a lifetime kind of gig, Mrs. Clareman went to see Take That in Croke Park recently and that was nearly €80 a ticket

Thats fair enough. BIG difference though between Croke Park in June, and the COM in September, & standing on the edge of the World. As I say, the setting must be awesome, and I WOULD be going, if only the leeches weren't involved - they must be as they are the propietors of the COM. Regarding the P&R...whats the set up on that Clareman?

Please don't get me wrong here, it kills me to knock the COM, I love everything about Your county, its just the money hungry scavengers running the COM who have ruined the most beautiful county in Ireland's reputation as far as 'a fair deal' is concerned.

Clareman

I don't know if the COM are fully to blame, they are supplying the venue. I'm not 100% sure of the setup, I'm fairly positive my folks are getting dinner and the P&R, I'll be speaking to them tomorrow, I'll find out more then

Le_Dieux

Clareman wrote: »

I don't know if the COM are fully to blame, they are supplying the venue. I'm not 100% sure of the setup, I'm fairly positive my folks are getting dinner and the P&R, I'll be speaking to them tomorrow, I'll find out more then

Thanks Clareman, I would appreciate that. I agree with You, this IS a one off, and I would really be tempted.....EXCEPT it ( until its stated otherwise) means the leeches running the COM are having a cut. For me, anything they are invloved in means there is an ulterior motive, that being MONEY - screw joe public grrrrrrrr;)

maiden

Im going with a few girlie friends!!! Ive never seen riverdance etc and this is on my doorstep so i pounced on a ticket!

We have booked into a hotel in doolin too and making a night of it!!!

Fantastic for the area!!

willow tree

i was watching this thing on tv (the news/a documentary, cant remember) but the reason tickets are so expensive here is because artists are charged stupid money for insurance. thats why the same gig in dublin is going to cost double what it costs in belfast.
anyways i think if you are into that kind of thing it'd be great. cliffs would be an amazing venue:)

Clareman

Oops, meant to reply to this earlier, sorry. I asked my mother about this, there is a Park and Ride but she doesn't have any information about it, she hasn't gotten a ticket yet either, in other words, she knows less than we do

maryb26

Talking to a few people who work at the cliffs. No mention of anything about Lotd up there. No sign of any physical preparations being commenced and only about two weeks to go!

Lady Chatterton

I have a feeling that Michael Flatley's retirement has or will hamper ticket sales for the "Lord of the Dance" at the COM. He was interviewed by TV3 last night and it was mentioned he will not be dancing at the event. I have noticed that the radio has been full of adverts for the event in the last week, obviously there are still lots of tickets available.

Sunday Independent
August 14 2011

One of the world's greatest performers, Michael Flatley, has shocked his global fanbase by proclaiming he is done with dancing.

The maestro of Irish dance, who last performed for an audience in February, has just turned down a mutli-million euro tour of America, instead choosing to focus on his expanding business ventures, saying: "I don't see dancing in my future."

The Chicago-born performer made the dramatic proclamation as he threw open the doors of his lavish Castlehyde Estate in a bid to help put the Cliffs of Moher on top of the world.

Flatley is determined to help the Clare attraction capture the prized designation as one of the Seven Wonders of Nature -- which would see it join the Grand Canyon, the River Amazon and Great Barrier Reef on the list.

To help the campaign, Flatley's Lord of the Dance show will be staged at the cliffs on September 1 and 2, with more than 10,000 people expected to attend -- but Flatley has said he has hung up his dancing shoes.

finbarrk

I think it will be a 'wait untill we see the weather forecast' sort of an effort for most locals.

INEEDANID

Travel Arrangements to the concert

http://www.pkexectravel.com/The_Lord_Of_The_Dance_Cliffs_Of_Moher.html

maiden

It was very well advertised the fact that M Flatley may not dance at the cliffs, before people bought tickets. So dont think it will have a huge affect

mel.b

finbarrk wrote: »

I think it will be a 'wait untill we see the weather forecast' sort of an effort for most locals.

Yep. My mum is coming to visit from Australia and we have this penciled in. Don't really fancy sitting out at the cliffs if it is blowing a gale or raining.

Clareman

Normally the week when the schools are back is 1 of the best weeks of the year

georgem25

This is now cancelled

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/recession-blamed-as-plug-pulled-on-flatleys-cliffs-show-2854189.html

Clareman

Just saw that now, my mother isn't going to be impressed

Balagan

I'm sure that the cancellation has brought disappointment to those who brought tickets and no doubt many are upset that it might lessen the chance for the cliffs to win the wonders competition thereby reducing money into the area. But, at this stage, there must not be a person in Clare who doesn't know someone who jumped off the cliffs, or know someone who knows someone who did, or who is not aware of the hell that Doolin Rescue people go through in retrieving the many bodies. I, for one anyway, am actually greatly relieved that this particular show will not be held at the spot which, although of stunning beauty and rightfully attracting so many visitors, is also associated with the grief of many families, quite a few of whom are grieving the loss of people lost there in very recent times.

youngblood

And so now its all cancelled, or in their words postponed!

Ridiculously over priced tickets was the shows main problem
75 e

Lady Chatterton

I feel very sorry for the people who had purchased tickets for the Lord of the Dance Edge of the World show and who were very much looking forward to attending. It is also tough on the local businesses who no doubt will be will dealing with lots of cancellations in the coming days, particularly the B&Bs, Restaurants, Hotels and Bus operators.

I agree with Balagan, it is very difficult to think about the Cliffs of Moher without also being reminded of the awful tragedies that have occurred there, particularly in the last ten years. Mattie Shannon of Doolin Search & Rescue was given a community champion award earlier this year for the work he and his team have done throughout the years. These volunteers are true heroes in my opinion.

MATTIE Shannon is the officer in charge of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard. The unit is one of the busiest in the country and last year its boat was launched a total of 85 times.
The boat crew was the only one in the country last year to be awarded a distinction, the highest possible accolade, in an Operational Readiness Inspection. 2011 has already been a good year for Mattie and the unit. Mattie was one of six members of the Doolin Unit to pick up a long-service award in January, while the unit was recognised by Clare County Council at a civic reception in February

Anyway back on topic, I felt when Michael Flatley announced his retirement from dancing a few weeks ago that that was going to have an adverse effect on bookings and judging by the huge amount of advertising in the last two weeks, there seemed to be lots of tickets still available.

Unfortunately, for many people the COM image has also been tarnished by the controversies over admission/parking charges and labour disputes.

haybob

Surprise surprise consider the promoters bit much to be advertising it on RTE this morning while the promoter is on John Murray and the indo carries the story.

Le_Dieux

haybob wrote: »

Surprise surprise consider the promoters bit much to be advertising it on RTE this morning while the promoter is on John Murray and the indo carries the story.

Think thats bad Haybob? Logged onto http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/ @ 16h15 this afternoon, and the link to buy tickets is still on their site - though it seems that when You click on the link, it brings You to ticketmaster's site and it has been removed there. But utterly unprofessional IMHO.

Really sad to see this gig fall by the wayside but have to concur with MrsD the charges have totally damaged this wonderful spectacle's reputation.

haybob

Le_Dieux wrote: »

Think thats bad Haybob? Logged onto http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/ @ 16h15 this afternoon, and the link to buy tickets is still on their site - though it seems that when You click on the link, it brings You to ticketmaster's site and it has been removed there. But utterly unprofessional IMHO.

Really sad to see this gig fall by the wayside but have to concur with MrsD the charges have totally damaged this wonderful spectacle's reputation.

That’s not great but remembers your dealing with Clare county council dressed up as the private sector. I wasn't actually getting at the cliffs if I was I'd be on about the state of the roads leading to it, the NAMAed Park and ride facilities, the strike etc etc I was pointing to the individuals involved in promoting the, I'm local to the area and there had been whispers for a while but it's a bit much to blame staging costs two week out.

Any Rep from the cliffs to answer the charges their Management and Sales department is big enough

poppyvalley

MrsD007 wrote: »

Unfortunately, for many people the COM image has also been tarnished by the controversies over admission/parking charges and labour disputes.

MrsDOO7, you put that very diplomatically. They were a greedy shower of opportunists.

finbarrk

I don't think the COM parking charges were the reason for this cancellation.
The bottom line is who wants to pay €75 to an event that you aren't sure you can stay dry at it. It's not the Oxegen crowd you are dealing with.
Poor ticket sales I'd say.

CptSternn

If the COM loses it bid to become a world wonder, can we all blame Flatley?

Lord of the failed wonder blunder.

Lady Chatterton

Irish Independent today.

Flatley gig promoter ‘ran out of cash’

Tuesday August 23 2011

THE promoter who pulled the plug on an epic Cliffs of Moher dance show claims he was scuppered by cashflow problems despite "thousands" of tickets being sold.

The reimagining of Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the Dance’ spectacular was due to have been performed at the iconic cliffs on September 1 and 2.

But the ‘Edge of the World’ event has been indefinitely postponed by MPO Promotions. The Irish Independent understands the promotions firm had never staged a concert series of such size and complexity.

Around 3,000 tickets at €75 each were already sold – with several thousand more expected to sell before the concerts.

Last year, ‘Lord of the Dance’ sold out its run in Dublin. However, there had been criticism over the ticket prices of the Co Clare event.

The two concerts had a 10,000 ticket capacity and had been predicted to give the region a €10m economic boost. MPO director Oliver O’Connell insisted the company was not to blame and the failure was out of its control.

“It was not badly planned? we just couldn’t get it over the line,” he said. Loss MPO Promotions and Clare County Council have been left with a combined loss of quarter of a million euro.

Mr O’Connell said that given the economic climate and the tough stance of the banks, contractors have implemented stricter payment schedules.

He said that “everyone else wanted to be paid up-front and we didn’t have the money and that is what resulted in us deciding to postpone the event”.

He added: “We are living in 2011, and times are much different – if it was four or five years ago I wouldn’t have had any difficulty because I would have been able to fund it myself.”

However, he insisted: “I won’t rest until we stage something at the Cliffs of Moher.”

MPO confirmed all ticket purchases would be refunded and paid tribute to the support the event had received from Clare County Council, Michael Flatley, and the people of Clare.

Mr O’Connell revealed yesterday that Michael Flatley offered to stage the production at no cost last week. He said: “We are very grateful for Michael Flatley’s offer, but we couldn’t take him up on that.”

Flatley said he was “very disappointed” that the shows were postponed and expressed hope that the Cliffs of Moher will still secure the heritage designation.

Mr Dollard of Clare County Council said: “The council is obviously very disappointed the event isn't going ahead.”

- Ralph Riegel and Gordon Deegan

Lady Chatterton

finbarrk wrote: »

I don't think the COM parking charges were the reason for this cancellation.

Of course the parking charges had nothing to do with the cancellation of the Lord of the Dance event but the parking charges and the labour disputes have not been good for the COM image. Some of the large tour operators were avoiding the cliffs over the charges, I'm not sure if this is still the case or if it has been resolved now, I hope it has.

maiden

Im soooooo disappointed!! I was really looking forward to it, had to cancel my hotel room in Doolin!

philstar

CptSternn wrote: »

If the COM loses it bid to become a world wonder, can we all blame Flatley?

no but lets blame him anyway, cocky big head that he is

CptSternn

philstar wrote: »

no but lets blame him anyway, cocky big head that he is

I was thinking the same thing but sure, the promoter has continued to dig himself a grave at this point and MSO appears to be the problem.

Flatley offered to do the show for free and they still said no. How fecked is your planning when the entertainment for an event says they will do it for free and you still can't get the event going?

What I want to know is the media is reporting Clare coco is out a quarter mill - is MSO going to be paying that back to us and is the coco going to go after him for it? If not, why? The county complains about lack of funds and yet is willing to piss away a quarter mill on a failed venture and not say boo about it?

If they make no effort to recover their losses, or should I say our losses, I would see that as someone criminal. I know if I cost the county €250,000 they would say something sure.

Lady Chatterton

CptSternn wrote: »

What I want to know is the media is reporting Clare coco is out a quarter mill - is MSO going to be paying that back to us and is the coco going to go after him for it? If not, why? The county complains about lack of funds and yet is willing to piss away a quarter mill on a failed venture and not say boo about it?

If they make no effort to recover their losses, or should I say our losses, I would see that as someone criminal. I know if I cost the county €250,000 they would say something sure.

Your figures are incorrect. Ger Dollard of Clare County Council has confirmed that the Council invested €50,000. I agree with you though, we are probably at the loss of that money now


http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/250k-loss-on-ill-fated-lord-of-dance-gigs-165103.html

haybob

MrsD007 wrote: »

Your figures are incorrect. Ger Dollard of Clare County Council has confirmed that the Council invested €50,000. I agree with you though, we are probably at the loss of that money now


http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/250k-loss-on-ill-fated-lord-of-dance-gigs-165103.html

BULL I don't believe Mr O'Connell what I want to know is who the council gave the 50k to.

Lady Chatterton

haybob wrote: »

BULL I don't believe Mr O'Connell what I want to know is who the council gave the 50k to.

It would appear that the €50,000 has been blown on marketing and advertising the event.

CptSternn

MrsD007 wrote: »

Your figures are incorrect. Ger Dollard of Clare County Council has confirmed that the Council invested €50,000. I agree with you though, we are probably at the loss of that money now


http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/250k-loss-on-ill-fated-lord-of-dance-gigs-165103.html

They are not my figures, I just reposted what was in the Indo.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/flatley-gig-promoter-lsquoran-out-of-cashrsquo-2854678.html

Loss MPO Promotions and Clare County Council have been left with a combined loss of quarter of a million euro.

I find it hard to believe the promoter is taking a larger hit than the county on this.