The I Am Blessed singjay Mr. Vegas expressed surprise when contacted this morning about a rumoured ban instituted against him by organisers of the Irie Jamboree concert in Queens, New York after it emerged that he had lambasted their poor organisation of the show on the social networking site, Twitter.
Vegas said that he was upset that he had not been allowed to perform even though he had arrived at the venue hours before his scheduled performance time. He reacted with anger to allegations by the promoters that he had walked out of the venue after being asked to perform during a different time slot.
"I did not walk out, I waited until the show ended, when Tarrus Riley went up to perform on Freddie McGregor's band and then I left. If they want to ban me, it is what it is," Vegas said.
No official word has come from the promoters yet, however, insiders say that they are peeved at Vegas' statements, especially in light of the fact that he performed on the Irie Jamboree float during the annual Labour Day parade. Mr. Vegas took the opportunity to apologise to his fans who wanted to see him perform at Irie Jamboree.
"I just want to apologise to my fans who wanted to see me perform but it was not my fault. I was at the venue at six pm and the lineup said I was going to go up at 8 pm followed by Sean Paul and Tarrus Riley would close the show. I was there waiting backstage and mi see the thing get drawn out, and then all of a sudden, Sean Paul arrive at the venue and the stage managers whisked him straight onto the stage," he said.
"That is the height of disrespect. I was there for more than two hours waiting. The stage manager suggested that I work with Freddie McGregor's band who knows nothing of my songs, or for me to work on a sound system. How could I do that? The man dem fly mi go New York, pon Air Jamaica flight that delay fi 32 hours, and then mi have mi band ah practice three times a day and den dem waan me go onstage without my band. How that fi work? How would it look for me to work on a sound system? I am a professional,” he ranted.
Mr. Vegas said that this was the second time that he was being slighted by the organizers of Irie Jamboree.
"The first time it happen I was at the peak of my career with Hot Wuk and Tek Weh Yuself, and they gave me only five minutes to perform. Now this time, I wasn’t even given a chance to perform. Sean Paul performed for 45 minutes and draw out the ting, and mi no get no chance to perform. All when the show done, the people dem stand up and ah look and a wonder if the show over," he said.
Mr. Vegas said that he is particularly incensed at this egregious disrespect in light of the fact that he had pulled out all the stops to make it to the annual show.
"I actually cancelled shows so that I could do Irie Jamboree and this is the thanks I get? Come on!" he said.
Posted on September 10, 2009 10:45
Sean Paul was LAAAAAAMMMMMEEEE
Posted on September 10, 2009 11:50
Mr. Vegas you stood up for professionalism and in some areas of Entertainment associated with Jamaican entertainment that is sadly lacking. If there is a line up it ought to be followed, I saw one report which indicated that Sean Paul got so much time that the Big Ship Artistes had ten minutes to perform and Tarrus Riley could only do one song what kind of foolishness is that. Someone needs to stand up for professionalism and I dont blame Mr. Vegas, Kudos to you Sir. Irie Jamboree ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Posted on September 10, 2009 15:07
@ Spuggy - u'r being kind. Sean Paul is always 10 level below LAME.
They did that for Sean bcuz the Irie Jamboree promoters r close friends with Sean's booking agent in Jamaica. Vegas is right, they acted disrespectful & unfair & if I were he, they wouldn't have to ban me, cuz I wouldn't be doing their show ever again.
Hold strong Vegas - as long as God is with u, no man cant stop u - ban or no ban.
Posted on September 10, 2009 16:09
VEGAS !! C'MON GUY, ARE YOU STILL MAD AT SEAN PAUL FOR TAKING CREDIT FOR THAT COMBINATION YOU DID SOME YEARS NOW , GET OVER IT HOMIE. I DIDNT GO TO THE SHOW THIS YEAR CAUSE IT WAS A WACK LINEUP. THEY HAD KILLA AND BEENIE IN MANHATTAN TOGETHER , SO I WENT THERE. NON OF THESE TWO MEN WERE ON THE JAMBOREE LINEUP AND THEY WERE IN THE CITY THE WHOLE WKND.
Posted on September 10, 2009 18:38
I still want my money back for IrieJamboree. It was a very very very boring show. The amount they charged for tickets didn't stand up to the quality of the show. I slept through Sean Paul's performance and actually waited for Mr Vegas to touch the stage and liven up the crow. When at 10pm I saw Tarrus Reiley start to perform I decided to leave the venue.
This was really the worst outdoor show in NY I have been to. The artist line up didnt make sense, the mc's, the music was all just one big lame attempt. They shoulda spent the money to get one artist worth the people's money!
Mr. Vegas was right to blast them. They kept trying to trick the people by showing us Beenie Man on the screen and so many artists like Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Serani, and Bounty Killer were in NY for the weekend, why were none of them on the show??
Come on Iriejamboree next year please do better or there will be even less people then there was this year cuz even the turnout was small.
I shoulda listened to my mind when I was hesitating to by the ticket.
Posted on September 10, 2009 22:40
I DON'T KNOW WHO THE F**K IRIE JAM, 93.5, AND THEIR PROMOTIONAL TEAM WAS TRYING TO FOOL WITH THIS LAME F**KING LINE UP, LAST YEAR THEY HAD BEENIE, MAVADO, SIZZLA AND ELEPHANT.... JUST TO MENTION AFEW HEADLINERS THIS YEAR WAS (SEAN PAUL) ARE U F**KING SERIOUS, OR UNUH TEK DI NEW YORK PEOPLE DEM FI EDAT.. THIS IS THE 1STTIME DIDN'T GO AND SO DID EVERYBODY I KNOW...THERE IS NO WAY THEY PULLED CLOSE TO 35 THOUSAND PLUS LIKE LAST YEAR
Posted on September 11, 2009 14:25
Check It...they did the same thing to the Five Star General back in 2002, when dem drag out the show and a ask him fi cum perform in a Shabba Ranks set, Bounty being the Artiste he is told them No and up til now dem still a bun fire fi di Man. Den dem come talk a bag a tings pon dem show bout the man. Kudos to you Vegas...dem a stage show Liad!
Posted on September 11, 2009 21:59
iriejam,a thief