When Eminem cancelled his Slane concert, he disappointed not just fans but also organisers, who have to recoup costs, writes Jim Carroll
After this week's events, it's doubtful if Eminem will ever receive a personally guided tour of Slane Castle from owner Lord Mount Charles.
On Tuesday, the American rapper cancelled all shows on his European tour, including a date at the Co Meath venue on Saturday, September 17th which had sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.
A statement from his record label cited "exhaustion, complicated by other medical issues" for the cancellation of the September tour. On Thursday, the label issued a second statement, saying that the rapper had been admitted to a Detroit hospital to be "treated for dependency on sleep medication".
Lord Mount Charles said he was "very taken aback" by the cancellation - the first time a Slane Castle headliner has cancelled an appearance in the event's 24-year history. While live shows are cancelled for many reasons, from illness to court appearances, it's extremely rare for a tour of this magnitude at Eminem's level to be scrapped in its entirety.
Many times, there are genuine medical reasons for a cancelled show by a leading name. Bob Dylan pulled his show in Cork's Millstreet Arena in November 2003 on the day of the show following doctor's advice. An "extremely severe" sore throat forced Rod Stewart to postpone an appearance at Dublin's Lansdowne Road in June 2002 for 24 hours and then to cancel it completely the following day.
But many shows are pulled simply because not enough tickets have been sold and filling the venue has proven to be beyond the skills of the promoter or the appeal of the artist. In these cases, any excuse will be used by the promoter or artist to get out of the commitment rather than go ahead with a show in an empty hall. The public's lack of interest in the act in question is never mentioned.
Eminem's European shows were due to come on the back of what turned out to be a very disappointing US tour for the rapper. Considering that the rapper's latest album, Encore, has sold in more than three million copies there, industry observers expressed surprise that the 23-date Anger Management tour slumped.
Live music trade magazine Pollstar listed the tour at No 3 in its ranking of bestselling US summer tours, putting Eminem behind the Dave Matthews Band and Kenny Chesney, a somewhat inauspicious showing for the multi-million album-selling artist.
Many blamed high ticket prices for the under-achieving tour, but there's also a growing belief amongst rap fans that Eminem is no longer as much of a draw as he once was. Such rising stars as 50 Cent, The Game and Kanye West are now seen as more interesting or controversial than Eminem.
Rumours of his imminent retirement also did little to shift those tickets for the American shows, although it was a somewhat different story in Europe where sales for the upcoming tour were said to be brisk.
For the 80,000 Irish fans who had paid €64.50 each to see Eminem at Slane, the cancellation will be a huge disappointment. They will get their money back, but those involved directly or indirectly in the show may be nursing a financial loss as a result of the American rapper's failure to tour.
While the actual concert at Slane Castle may still have been a month away, there would already have been considerable expenditure on preparing the site, acquiring the necessary event licence, hiring production crew, administration of ticket sales and other pre-event arrangements.
Event cancellation insurance may go part of the way to covering these costs. This insurance applies to those occurrences which are beyond the control of the organiser, including, no doubt, the main attraction checking himself into hospital on the eve of a tour.
Like every insurance policy, the cost of acquiring such a policy naturally depends on a whole range of variables, from the size of the event or the act in question. It's quite common for certain acts, due to a prior history of cancellations or no-shows, to command a much higher premium.
Should Eminem ever decide to go on tour again in Europe, the cost of insuring him will be greatly increased. And he shouldn't count on a bed for the night if he turns up at Slane Castle.