Freshlyground to sue Hamptons Promoters?

After making a public statement on their Facebook page on the 1st of March that they would not be performing at the Hamptons Summer Jazz Festival due to breach of contract by the promoters, Freshlyground announced again on the 9th of March that they had made amends with the promoters and were delighted to be performing at the show on the 15th.

 
However, the band did not turn up at the jazz festival on the 15th and posted on their page on the 16th March that the “Hamptons have damaged their reputation with malicious untruths and the matter, along with all recorded correspondence, has now been handed over to their attorneys and action will be taken as the will not continue to embrace a Facebook slinging match”.
The rest of the post read, “Freshlyground have never in all our years of performing reneged on contractual obligations. Our love for performing and our appreciation for our loyal supporters drive us. It is for these reasons that the band gave Hamptons Promoters a second chance to make right their previous breach of contract; at 10.45pm, 28th Feb Hamptons promoters still had not booked any air tickets for an event taking place on the 1st March and were not responding to emails, text messages and phone calls. The promoters’ choice to cancel the event due to rain had nothing to do with Freshlyground but certainly gave Hamptons an opportunity to reschedule.

 
The only thing standing between Freshlyground and their 2.30pm performance at Duma Show grounds yesterday was the fact that flights from Jhb to Gaborone departing at 10.40am had not been paid for in time by Hampton’s promoters, in spite of being in receipt of confirmed etickets from the promoters. This followed straight after the shocking episode of attempting to check in at 5am at Cape Town International airport with CONFIRMED etickets from Hamptons – only to be informed that all but one of the band members’ tickets had been canceled due to non payment. Furthermore Hamptons guaranteed that if Freshlyground agreed to perform on the 15th March they would ensure a 2.30pm performance slot as the band had to be back in Jhb by 6pm to honor an existing contract.

If time allowed, Freshlyground would have driven from Jhb to Botswana and back to make the gig. But this was not an option. As it turns out Hampton’s promoters were still setting up at 4pm for an event that was supposed to start at 12 noon. Even if Freshlyground were in Botswana they would not have ended up performing due to negligent time management organization of the promoter. Hamptons are placing blame on banking systems, airlines systems, DC tours (whom they contracted to book the flights) and Freshlyground.”

 
Reached for comment Freshlyground declined to comment saying their wish is to make no further comment on the situation.
The Hamptons Promoters response on their page was, “Our final say on FG management is to ask them to use the same communication they used when we struck a contract with them e.g. email and telephone contact so we can escalate our dispute professionally. Thank you.”