| Last updated at 12:34 AM on 11/07/07 |
Rockers are for adults: Green 
City tourism official worried publicity over singer's bad words will hurt Festival of Lights
WAYNE THIBODEAU
The Guardian
Festival of Lights organizers are making no apologies for a foul-mouthed concert by rockers Nickelback over the Canada Day weekend in Charlottetown.
Kim Green, CEO of Tourism Charlottetown, says the concerts were never billed as a family act and whether Charlottetown city council likes it or not — rockers swear.
During Charlottetown city council Monday evening, Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee described the f-word-filled concert by Nickelback as ‘totally unacceptable.’
His concerns, carried in The Guardian Tuesday, made national headlines. The Canadian Press’s national news wires, The Toronto Star, the largest newspaper in Canada, and the Globeandmail.com all carried the story.
A Toronto call-in show used it as a basis for its morning call-in segment on Tuesday.
Green said that’s publicity the city doesn’t need and she’s growing increasingly frustrated having to defend the Festival of Lights every year.
“I think there’s a huge misconception that we market the concert series as a family event and we certainly did not,’’ Green told The Guardian.
“I would never promote it as a family event. In fact, when people ask me ‘would you bring your children? I would say probably not. We wouldn’t have a beer garden, we would have never booked those bands and we would have had a family or children’s rate —which we didn’t — if it was a family event.’’
Green said chart-toppers like Nickelback generate economic spinoffs.
“You have to think of big name acts and a lot of these big name acts are rock bands and these rock bands, often times, will curse on stage. It’s happened year after year. Blue Rodeo did it. Jann Arden cursed on stage when she was here,’’ she said.
“If they want me to book the Tommy Hunter Show, then we’re not going to see the economic impact.’‘
Green said she wished they hadn’t cursed on stage. She said the band was warned before the show.
“Just as your mother always said to you, you can’t control what other people do.”
Nickelback headlined this year’s Festival of Lights, which includes family events such as SandLand throughout the day, and a series of rock concerts at night.
Lee said he’s been deluged with complaints from people who were appalled by the language used by the rockers.
“People were really, really disappointed and really upset,” he said.
Green said the Festival of Lights is a huge economic generator not only for city businesses but for other Tourism Charlottetown events, including the money-losing Jack Frost Festival and the $50,000 Canada Day fireworks display.
The Festival of Lights usually makes money, but this year organizers had to pay $50,000 for a private jet to bring Nickelback into the city because of problems with commercial airliners. That will eat into the festival’s profits but the festival is still expected to make money.
“Be careful that you don’t cut off your nose to spite your face because there’s a whole lot more going to suffer if the Festival of Lights goes down the tubes.”
Green is worried the negative publicity could hurt her chances of getting big name acts next year, adding it’s always difficult to get big name acts to P.E.I.
Nickelback is managed
by Union Entertainment Group of Thousand Oaks, California. In Canada, The Agency Group is Nickelback’s agent.
Neither returned The Guardian’s phone calls or e-mails Tuesday.
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