Events
Explainer: What Is Going On With The Asake US Tour
Following the announcement of the London leg of his Mr Money With The Vibe tour which has 3 sold out dates at the O2 Academy Brixton with Asake promising to add a bigger 4th date venue, his Baltimore, Maryland stop for the tour at the Patapsco Arena cancelled/shut down by the police after he had only […]
By
Wisdom Mudasiru
3 years ago
Following the announcement of the London leg of his Mr Money With The Vibe tour which has 3 sold out dates at the O2 Academy Brixton with Asake promising to add a bigger 4th date venue, his Baltimore, Maryland stop for the tour at the Patapsco Arena cancelled/shut down by the police after he had only performed about 4 songs. Here’s what we know;
The experience at Asake’s tour so far
Asake has had a very different tour experience than other young African acts who normally partner up with Duke Concept LLC (the biggest African promoters in the US) and Live Nation for their North American tours. To show how much of a unique decision Asake and his team have taken, Omah Lay, King Promise, Asa, Flavour, Mayorkun, Ckay, Simi, Burna Boy, Rema, Adekunle Gold, Davido, Joeboy, Tiwa Savage, Koffee and more all partnered with Duke Concept for their North American tours this year. However, Asake who is one of the biggest Nigerian artists in 2022 and has had one of the most successful debut albums out of the country, partnered with 1805 Entertainment for his debut US tour.
The significance of partnering with 1805 Entertainment over Duke Concept
When most Nigerian artists embark on US tours they team up with Duke Concept and they’re typically doing a combination of splits across the tickets at each stop and potentially an upfront payment. However, with Asake’s tour, because they opted to not work with Duke Concept and instead charged other promoters steep upfront costs, they ended up with higher ticket prices than normal. For instance, Asake’s US tour tickets were ranging from $100-$150 in most cities which compared to other artists is excessive.
Asake announced his MMWTV tour with only 7 initial dates, with more “to be announced soon,” but 7 initial dates weren’t enough for the hottest freshman around. Even though he has followed that up with the announcement of his London shows, it still seems like Asake and his team are playing catch up and are not fully prepared for what they’ve started. A lot of people have not only complained about the exorbitant ticket prices, but they’ve also complained about how small the locations for the shows have been and the lack of proper planning surrounding the events.
https://twitter.com/deraobieyisi/status/1579313758274736128?s=46&t=YGdDHyBWIOu3w0_RzqZe0A
https://twitter.com/alerotweets/status/1579272063936000002?s=46&t=jDt3gPsQwwgdhMw055FHiQ
What really happened at the Baltimore show & 1805 Entertainment’s statement
1805 Entertainment has issued a public apology for putting an early stop to the show and has cited that “the safety and security of everyone in attendance was our number one concern.” This is a result of one of Asake’s personal security guards having his gun stolen from him at the Baltimore, Maryland show which led to Asake having to flee the scene and the local authorities being involved.
The full statement posted on their official Instagram account read, “1805 Entertainment and Asake would like to apologize to everyone that came out to last night’s show at [Baltimore]. We deeply regret that things didn’t go as planned and we are truly sorry for all confusion and inconvenience. We had the greatest of intentions to bring you an amazing show, but there were factors tonight that simply fell beyond our control. The safety and security of everyone in attendance was our number one concern. Both 1805 and Asake share nothing but love and respect for all of his supporters. We will do everything we can to make it right, and we hope to have the opportunity to share another experience with you soon.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjhZdXXsp72/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Where are we now?
While Asake’s US tour has seen some unpleasant moments, fans and supporters of the artist are still eager for the UK leg of the performances. Asake has also been showing up at different venues with unorthodox items like long canes and a live goat which have triggered reactions online, with many saying the canes were meant for those who don’t know the correct lyrics to Asake’s songs and the goat was to symbolize Asake’s GOAT status. As the public gears up for the next round of Asake’s performances, many are still unhappy with how expensive tickets are and how hard to acquire they’re proving to be. Asake is yet to make a personal statement concerning the current situation.
