Portsmouth nonprofit cancels concert with no explanation and no refunds
Dec 18, 2024
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) -- Upset would-be concertgoers are demanding answers, accountability and a refund after a concert was scrapped with no notice.
"Blast From The Past" was billed as a event to be headlined by 80s and 90s rappers MC Lyte and Big Daddy Kane at the Hampton Roads Convention Center on Oct. 5.
Organized by the the Portsmouth-based Wesley Community Service Center as a fundraiser, tickets went on sale in May. However, October came and went with no show. Now in December, there is finger-pointing.
"Where are they being held accountable," said Kara McHenry, one of several ticketholders.
McHenry paid $217 in tickets for she and her husband to attend the show.
"MC Lyte is like his ultimate favorite artist," McHenry said. "And so I was excited to get him tickets."
However, the day before the show she found out the show had been postponed to Dec. 14.
"I didn't get any notification, no email, no phone card, nothing," McHenry said.
And as of Wednesday, nothing is still what she has. It's why she called 10 On Your Side.
"I think people need to know what's happening," McHenry said.
Former executive director Renyatta Banks resigned days after the concert was supposed to have occurred in October.
While a contract 10 On Your Side obtained confirmed MC Lyte was booked back on May 28, when we spoke to Banks by phone, she told us her Board of Directors wanted to postpone it because they "weren't satisfied with ticket sales."
However, board president, Portsmouth Undersheriff Col. Marvin Waters, has a different story.
"The event was planned by [Banks]," Waters said. "The board did not approve the ticket sales."
Waters said he tried to get Banks to stay in her job until the end of the year.
"For her to leave and just leave the project out in the open, it's very disingenuous," Water said. "We're looking to locate the funds that were generated by the ticket sales to use that for the refunds."