LAist: No Giant Village?

Tipper

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 15:26:53 -0800

As of today (Thurs - 1/5), the thousands of people who did buy the $80-$150 tickets still do not know if/when they will be able to get their money back. They were left essentially stranded downtown because the event organizers failed to announce that the event was officially canceled until after it was planned to start at 8:00 p.m. (they finally posted a notice on the Giant website at about 11:00 p.m. Saturday). Retailers, including Virgin Megastore, continued to sell tickets until late Saturday evening. The fact is, the producers reviewed the event planning long in advance with City officials. The hour-by-hour weather report for the evening was pretty much unchanged throughout the day. And sure enough, the rain had dropped to light showers by the time the producers did their walk through - and stopped completely several hours before the 8:00 p.m. start time. It is a fact that pre-sales for the event were low, and that most tickets were expected to be sold on-site. THE PRODUCERS FEARED THAT THEY WOULD NOT MAKE THEIR NUMBERS DUE TO RAIN EARLIER IN THE DAY, SO THEY APPARENTLY DECIDED AT THE LAST MINUTE TO TAKE LESS OF A FINANCIAL HIT BY TRIGGERING THEIR EVENT CANCELLATION INSURANCE. In other words, canceling the event was most likely a business decision -- not a safety decision -- and Dave Dean is trying to blame the City in order to collect on his insurance. Rather than provide refunds, he is now working to schedule a "makeup" event. This guy screwed a lot of people over, and should, as the saying goes, "never work in this town again." In light of yesterday's LA Times story, there's a new groundswell of anger directed at the LAFD, Giant organizers and the ticket outlets who sold tickets long after the event had been canceled. I bought mine at 7pm (Vigin Megastore confirmed the event was still going on "rain or shine"). This can be found at: http://undergroundmine.com/jc-giantvillage06.htm The LA Times dropped the ball with this story yesterday. The AP everone else is writing from is also wrong. People have not seen a refund. We just want our money back and to know the real reason David Dean canceled the show. This isn't about one lousy NYE, it's about accountability. To see what some people are saying, check out: http://blogdowntown.com/ http://dancemusic.blogspot.com/ www.craigslist.com (Search Los Angeles, Under Tickets, Keyword "Giant") this comment was edited for length by LAist

Dave

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 15:39:57 -0800

I heard we have another contact about our refund for Giant Village - You can also contact one of the main marketing people (he's the one who was supposed to alert ticket sellers to stop selling tickets) - JC FRANCO DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Nightlife - Marketing - Promoter WWW.WIREDLA.COM http://www.wiredlife.org/ MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/jcluvsu jc@wiredla.com -or- jc@chemistryla.com

Brandi

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 15:17:32 -0800

Updated Contact Info for Giant Village refunds. The producer is Dave Dean - contacting this guy directly may be the only way to try to ensure you get your refund (his latest strategy is to "postpone" rather than cancel this event -- this gets Giant out of having to provide refunds). Let Dave know what you think. I just did, and I feel surprisingly better :) -- Don't forget to tell your friends - Dave Dean's Home [redacted by laist] Dave Dean's Office Giant 1735 N VINE STREET HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028 323.464.7300 davedean@giantclub.com

JT

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 13:04:19 -0800

According to today's LA Times, fire marshalls did not close last night's New Years Eve concert down. It was the producers who made the call well after 7pm. The producer is Dave Dean and to get a refund, contact him at - Dave Dean [redacted by laist]

tr

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 21:24:08 -0800

not cancelled by lafd, it was cancelled by organizers http://lafd.blogspot.com/2005/12/organizers-cancel-la-giant-village.html

Brian Humphrey

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:28:15 -0800

Thanks for sharing the word. I posted some information at the LAFD blog: http://www.lafd.org/blog.htm ...and was saddened to hear (mistaken) word on the street that blames the Fire Marshal's Office for the cancellation. Brian

eecue

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:06:36 -0800

I called the helpful Los Angeles Info Line: 311 and asked about Giant Village and the operator confirmed that the even is cancelled by the event promoters. =]