In September we contracted with Mr. John Connors and The Irish Express from Milton, Massachusetts to perform at our Irish Valentine's dance in Cape Coral Florida on Feb 14. At that time we sent a deposit with the rest payable at the time of the performance.
Our group started advertising this band as the entertainment for the dance in flyers, local papers, at festivals and in other club publications at our expense.
On January 18 our club president called Mr. Connors just to check in and she was told at that time that all was set and they could not wait to come and perform. She informed Mr. Connors at that time that ticket sales were going well and we expected close to a sell out crowd.
On February 7, Mr. Connors called our club president to inform her that his partners wife had passed away after a battle with cancer. At the time of this call, he stated that they had been waiting for this to happen and were just glad it did not happen while they were on the road.
Mr. Connors cancelled the performance and offered no replacement. On top of that, this dance was scheduled on a Saturday night on Valentines day and he just expected that our club would be able to find a suitable replacement with just 7 days notice. He did not offer to find another band other than to suggest 2 entertainers who were already booked many months in advance. (We knew this because we tried to book them before booking The Irish Express). It was not Mr. Connors wife who passed away, he could have bothered to try. We feel that as a professional, The Irish Express should have been able to make alternate plans to help fulfill their obligation.
Our club does have feelings and we sincerely feel sympathy for band member, Mr. Martin Battle and his children on the loss of his wife and their mother. We understand that they are devistated
However, if Mr. Connors had bothered to mention that Mrs. Battle was gravely ill, our club could have started looking for another band much sooner. He said nothing of this during the January 18th conversation. If her death had been sudden and unplanned, that would be a different story, but they knew she was dying and said nothing. We live in an area that has many "part-time" residents. This means it would have been difficult to post-phone the dance as most ticket holders may not have been available for the new date as well as Mr. Connors not knowing when they might travel again due to the children.
If they were aware that this poor woman was dying, why did they not have a "stand-by" entertainer to take care of their obligations?
Mr. Connors is considered a "professional" in his field and while our club was remiss in making sure there was a clause in the contract to cover if the band cancelled, we trusted that he would fulfill his obligation. Mr. Connor has a clause in his contract that if we should cancel, we would pay damages. All Mr. Connors has offered us is our deposit back and re-imbursement on the hotel room we booked for him.
I tried to locate some sort of musicians guild to complain to but have been unable to find any that list him as a member. Of course, I am unsure if I am looking for the correct organization.
My suggestion? If you book a gig with John Connors & The Irish Express, get a complete contract stating his/their responsibilities if he should cancel on you.
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