James Brown is/was trying to bring the Foo Fighters here to the illustrious Waterloo. I include “was” in my previous sentence because as I type this and visit his kickstart page it says (canceled). His Kickstart page that can still be found here (at least for now).
There are a few problems that I see with this whole situation….
1)The Foo Fighters need $350 000 to come to Waterloo! WHAT! That is quite the pay off for one night of rock. I have been working to get the Unicorns to come play in Waterloo just for the betterment of the city.
2) CANCON – I wonder if James Brown told the masses of Waterloo that a Canadian Classic band such as the Unicorns was opening for the Foo Fighters if it would have gotten more pledges. Although American music is great, I think that Canadians are waking up to the amazing Canadian culture that is right before them. We don’t have to pay the high prices to import culture anymore – WE HAVE IT!
3) What I think he thought would have happened (and still may) is that a big company like Blackberry or Manulife etc would jump on board and endorse the concert. Blackberry has brought in Huge bands in the past for its employees and has thrown some amazing concerts in the city.
Perhaps he can appeal to the creators of “Big Music Fest II” and get the Foo Fighters on that bill. But that is a rant for another time!
Our own plight: We have had some success with Canadian Indie bands to contact them and have them play concerts in the area but the Unicorns are difficult guys to reach. They broke up approx. 10 years ago and played a handful of shows this past August. If you are unfamiliar with their brand of music check out the podcast above! We have had our own radio campaign to have the Unicorns come and play here in Waterloo which is why I push for them to become the Foo Fighters openers! We also want the Unicorns on the Mano A Mano program (and I guess we would take members of the Foo Fighters too, but they have to work around the Unicorns busy schedule) Hopefully one day James Brown and MAM’s hopeful concerts can all be realized!
Perhaps you should have collected all the information before writing this piece as opposed to omitting the details that don’t align with your agenda thus leaving you looking egotistically uninformed and obnoxious. Allow me to address your “Problems” individually in order to provide anyone reading and yourself some much needed clarity:
1. “The Foo Fighters Need $350,000” is an incorrect statement. The $350,000 project goal was designed to be able to cover every cost required for the event (such as venue, insurance, ticketing, SOCAN fees, paying the band, etc).
Congratulations on your continued quest to get a band I’ve never heard of to come play in Waterloo…..
2. Addressing CANCON and the Unicorns – Who? I’ve never heard of The Unicorns and as someone who was attempting to boost a project that would have mass appeal as opposed to niche appeal, having the right supporting band in place was not as important as the headliner. That being said, a Canadian band had been contacted and agreed to perform if/when the show would take place.
3. What you think doesn’t matter. I was trying to bring Foo Fighters fans together by offering them the opportunity to help pay for a show and be rewarded a ticket to play that show.
The kickstarter was cancelled after a conversation with the Foo Fighters management occurred outlining that their schedule would not provide the opportunity to squeeze in another show for their upcoming North American tour and for the foreseeable future. As a result of the project cancellation, all backers have been refunded their donations.