One year after cancelling the Nazareth concert in Nelson, former event promotor Roger Carruthers has announced what many ticket holders had long suspected — he will not be issuing refunds.
Carruthers, owner of Rockopolus Promotions, sent a brief email to the Star stating that he was filing for personal bankruptcy and shutting down his promotions company.
He said that “ongoing health problems with cancer” contributed to his decision, adding that he “deeply apologizes and is sorry for the inconvenience and momentary loss to the ticket refund holders.”
Carruthers did not respond to the Star’s request for an interview.
More than 400 people bought $25-$35 tickets to see the Scottish rock band play at the Nelson and District Community Centre last summer. The concert was scheduled for July 10, 2012 but was cancelled six days before the event due to low ticket sales.
The event was presented jointly by Rockopolus and Revolution Audio, a local business co-owned by Bill Stack.
The pair lost the $9,500 deposit they paid to Nazareth and their opening act, Headpins, because they didn’t provide sufficient notice to cancel the event.
Their plan was to promote a different concert — featuring a Pink Floyd tribute band — and allow Nazareth ticket holders an option to see that show instead. For folks not interested in the tribute band, there’d be money available for refunds, using the profits from that concert.
But ultimately that show was cancelled too. As was a third event Rockopolus was promoting at the same time — a Led Zeppelin cover band that was scheduled to play in Trail.
Months went by and Nazareth ticket holders were still without their refund. In November, Carruthers issued a statement to media saying he was still organizing smaller shows to raise money for refunds.
Over at Revolution Audio, Bill Stack had said he would shoulder half the cost of issuing refunds and started a list of people who he owed money to.
Earlier this week, he told the Star that the refunds had been “slow going,” but he was still committed to paying everyone on his list.
“This is my community, I’m not going anywhere,” he said, hinting at rumours that Carruthers has since left town. “If you’re on my list, you’re going to get your refund. A lot of people have been very patient waiting to get their money back, and I’m certainly grateful for that.”