After not one, but two cancellations, the Ryan Center will be empty this Friday night. PHOTO CREDIT: complex.com
Rapper Polo G will not be making a stop to perform at the University of Rhode Island after all.
The Polo G concert, which was rescheduled to this Friday, Nov. 19, after its initial Sept. 17 date was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, was canceled again, this time due to the low amount of tickets sold.
The “Rapstar” singer’s initial concert was cancelled three days before the event. The rescheduled show was again cancelled somewhat last minute, with an online announcement made about Friday’s show on Monday.
A statement, posted on the Ryan Center website, said the show slated for Friday had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
The statement on the website also said that all tickets would be automatically refunded in full by the Ryan Center. According to the statement, everyone who purchased a ticket will receive a more detailed email with a guide to the process of getting a refund.
One student, sophomore Allie Brunelle, a big Polo G fan, said she was excited about the show. This concert was going to be her first show at the Ryan Center.
“Polo G is my favorite rapper,” Brunelle said. “When I heard he was coming over the summer, I was so excited. I was shocked that he was coming, he’s my favorite.”
She was looking forward to attending the concert to spend time with friends and experience her first concert at URI.
“I’m looking forward to going with my friends and having a good time,” Brunelle said before being made aware of the cancellation. “I love concerts, especially being at URI, I think that’s so cool.”
On Nov. 15, Erica Skubis, the marketing manager for the Ryan Center, said in a statement that “the Polo G show was canceled due to low ticket sales.”
Skubis explained that the original Sept. 17 show was on target to sell over 5,000 tickets while the rescheduled Nov. 19 date, which was open to URI students, sold less than 750 tickets.
Due to the low sale of tickets, Skubis said the promoter, Platinum Entertainment Group, ultimately made the tough decision to cancel the show in order to “avoid a larger financial loss.”
Brunelle said that she received an email from the University which stated that she would get a refund, but said it mentioned nothing about the show getting rescheduled. She was surprised that more tickets weren’t sold for the show, but thought that it could have something to do with the fact that the show was already cancelled once before.
“I’m thinking it might be because after it got cancelled the first time, people just didn’t think it was worth buying [tickets] again,” Brunelle said.
Even though these two shows were unexpectedly cancelled, there is still one more concert scheduled to occur next month. According to the Ryan Center website, Playboi Carti is still set to make a stop at URI as part of his King Vamp Tour with opener Rico Nasty on Dec. 16.