Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
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Posted 30 Oct 2004 6:18 am |
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Toby Keith cancels Casper concert
By WILLY ZIMMER
Star-Tribune staff writer Friday, October 29, 2004
Country music star Toby Keith disappointed his Wyoming fans Thursday by
canceling his upcoming and much-anticipated concert.
Keith and fellow Nashville headliner Terri Clark were scheduled to perform at
the Casper Events Center on Nov. 4 as part of Keith's "Big Throwdown Tour."
Clear Channel Entertainment promoter Michele Gibson said, however, Keith will
not appear in Wyoming because his doctors have advised "he needs to be on vocal
rest. They didn't say specifically what's wrong, but that's what the doctor
has recommended."
Gibson admitted that appearances in Denver and Salt Lake City on subsequent
days, however, are still on, fueling speculation slow ticket sales scared Clear
Channel off.
Events Center spokesperson Tiffine Canepa said just over 2,500 tickets had
been sold with a week to go. Keith drew over 7,500 fans when he last played
Casper on Jan. 31, 2003.
"I don't have any reason to believe there is anything other than that," said
Events Center Director Max Torbert of Keith's vocal problems. "... But we were
looking forward to it. We spent a lot of time trying to talk them back, but
promoters don't accept us when we tell them this is a last-minute market."
Wyoming country music fans are sure to feel let down. Keith has been one of
Nashville's top ticket sellers in recent years and has six Country Music
Association (CMA) nominations this year, including Entertainer of the Year and Album
of the Year for the quadruple platinum effort, "Shock 'N Y'All."
He has also been nominated in the Best Male Vocalist and Best Country Album
categories for the American Music Awards.
Keith's signature single, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry
American)," written shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, struck
a chord with country listeners, and became an anthem of sorts for troops
engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Clark has her share of fans in the Cowboy State. She has appeared at the
Sweetwater County Fair's Big Show, and with Clint Black in 2000 in one of the
top-selling final performances in the history of Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Clark is the only female country artist with two No. 1 hits in 2004 -- "I
Just Wanna Be Mad" and "Girls Lie, Too." The Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada native
is one of five nominees for the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.
Ticket holders may obtain refunds by returning purchased passes to the Events
Center Box Office, at 1 Events Dr., or by contacting the box office at (307)
577-3030 or (800) 442-2256 for instructions on mail refunds.
New box office hours are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as the
first day of sales and the day of any ticketed events.
Assistant features editor Willy Zimmer can be reached at (307) 266-0524 or
William.Zimmer@casperstartribune.net.
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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047
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