In September and October of last year, there was a buzz around the south of Tenerife when two concerts were announced at the Piramide de Arona on the Golden Mile in Playa Las Americas. One was for 90s music lovers featuring UK boy bands 911 and Five, and the other was with Tony Christie, celebrating ‘A Life of Music’, plus two local acts who jumped at the chance to perform on a big stage.
However, it is coming to light that all is not what it seems. Canarian Weekly has been inundated with messages asking if we can help people who have bought tickets, or if we are involved in the concerts, or if we know what is going on as one has been cancelled and the other is supposedly moving venue.
The first event was scheduled for Saturday 3rd February at the Piramide de Arona with 911, Five, and local act T2K, with tickets available via TicketSource. This concert was cancelled in December by the promotors, Canary Islands Live SL, allegedly due to a lack of ticket sales.
It is usual in this situation in Spain, including the Canary Islands, that the ticket company automatically issue refunds to clients. However, TicketSource, a UK company based in Cardiff not a Spanish based ticket company, states that:
“When an event is cancelled or postponed, TicketSource can initiate the refund process for the event organiser. However, it is the responsibility of the event organiser to issue refunds to their customers as they are liable for all ticket monies. We initiated customer refunds and the 14 working day period that we allow for monies to be returned to customer’s accounts has since passed.”
“If customers haven’t had any success contacting the event organiser regarding the progress of their refund, we would advise raising a charge dispute.”
This means that, in theory, the event organisers, Canary Islands Live SL, have all the ticket monies to initiate refunds for that cancelled event. According to the emails and messages we have received, and the numerous angry threads on social media, it seems most of these refunds have not been made and people haven’t received their money back as yet.
If we fast forward a couple of months to January of this year, it looks on face value as though lightning could be striking twice with the Tony Christie event which also features local singer Frankie Mack.
This event was also publicised as taking place at the Piramide de Arona with tickets again via TicketSource, but something seemed strange when the new History show was announced as being at the same venue every Saturday from tonight, February 24th, including March 16th. This meant that it was now possible to buy tickets for two events at the same venue on the same night.
With further investigation, and by contacting the relevant parties, Canarian Weekly has had it confirmed that although a contract was in place for the Tony Christie event on March 16th at the Piramide de Arona, payment was never received so it was null and void and the date given to History.
The Mare Nostrum have explained that two contracts were in place for the two concerts and an initial non-returnable deposit was received for the 911 and Five event on February 3rd before it was cancelled. However, as per their contract terms, no deposit was received for March 16th when the contract was signed, nor as the second payment date of January 16th was passed (two months before the event).
They have categorically stated that the concert would not have taken place at the Piramide de Arona regardless of Canary Islands Live SL notification on February 9th of a change of venue due to “logistical complications”.
This ‘official’ notification read:
“Due to logistical issues with the venue after careful consideration, we have had to make the decision to change the venue for the Tony Christie concert. All bookings remain valid and the seat remains the same. VIP will remain the same, and your booking is valid. The venue will be in the same area and we will send all the info in the next few days we are just updating the booking system. Should you wish to cancel your booking and receive a full refund, please email [email protected] with your booking reference, and we will process that. Once again, we apologise for the change but the concert and booking remain valid.”
Over two weeks since this was sent out, no alternative venue has been announced even though it is just three weeks until the event. At the same time, people who bought tickets for 911 and Five have still not been refunded, and understandably, people who bought tickets for Tony Christie (some who have told us they paid 125 euros each) are getting very concerned as to where and if the concert is taking place.
They also claim that they have emailed Canary Islands Live SL as advised to do so, and either have had no reply or a multitude of excuses.
Are we involved in these events? No. We understand why we have been asked as our mother company, EmCan Media, has been organising legitimate events in Tenerife for over 25 years including TributoFest, The Tenerife Entertainment Awards, Darts events, DJ events, and comedy nights.
Do we know what is going on? We didn’t but this is what we’ve managed to find out. We also asked Tony Christie for comment as it is still advertised on his website at the Piramide de Arona, but haven’t received a reply at this stage. As to whether if or where it will take place we don’t know. We do know, however, that many other venues aren’t available as it the same night as Los Cristianos carnival.
What can we do to help people who haven’t received a refund? We contacted our lawyers for advice on this. They advised that anyone who has proof of purchasing tickets should denounce Canary Islands Live SL (CIF number B56235187) and the administrator of the company (Louise Lillian Pagram) at their nearest National Police station. They also gave us the details of the company, which are available online to the public, which was only formed in June 2023 a few short months before these concerts were announced.
