Collabro cancellation row continues as group blames earpieces for Telford no-show

The group, who won Britain's Got Talent in 2014, were due to perform at the tent in Telford Town Park last week as part of the fortnight of entertainment celebrating Telford's 50th birthday.

But the group's performance was cancelled at the last minute on Thursday after fans had queued for over an hour.

The four singers released a statement on Tuesday in which they apologised to their fans and said specific ear-piece sound equipment was not provided on the night - despite them having told the council of their requirements and a contract being signed almost a year ago.

However the council has now responded, saying that while there were problems with the ear pieces, many of the issues were caused by Collabro's management team.

• Scroll down for the full statements from Collabro and Telford & Wrekin Council

The band refused to talk with any Big Top staff, according to the council, and instead communicated via their agent in London before leaving the Big Top and revealing the cancellation on social media without informing the council.

Collabro were staying in a hotel in Telford that night and the council said it was disappointed the group didn't stay to test the replacement equipment and give a delayed performance.

In their initial statement last week, Collabro said they would 'hold the promoters responsible to account'. However now the local authority, which has offered refunds to all ticket holders, is seeking to recover the costs of the cancellation from Collabro's management.

'We wanted to perform'

The gig was the first the group has cancelled in its four-year history, and members Jamie, Matt, Michael and Tom rejected claims they had not wanted to perform, saying they went out of their way to make the show go ahead.

Collabro's statement on Facebook and Twitter said: "The key piece of equipment that was an issue on the day was the In-Ear Monitoring system (IEM).

"The reason we have this is because we are a close harmony vocal group and need to be able to hear each other clearly.

"Almost every band out there uses an IEM system. Without them the quality of our performance would be seriously affected.

"At midday, our sound technician arrived to find that, not only had the entire front of house system been set up inaccurately - meaning no sound was coming through - but the specific IEM packs listed in the contract weren't provided; what was provided was not set up correctly and we were informed by our sound engineer that it was dangerous to use."

The statement also revealed that Collabro had been due to arrive at 5pm for a soundcheck but were stuck behind an accident on the M1 - despite having left six hours for a three-and-a-half hour journey.

A courier was arranged to bring the IEM packs to the venue but, when the equipment still hadn't arrived by 7.45pm, the decision was made to cancel the show.

"We were very disappointed as we were ready, willing and able to fulfil our part of the contract; we had also planned to exclusively perform a track from our new album on the night as a treat to our audience," the statement added.

"We went out of our way to try and continue with the show despite the difficulties because we care about our fans.

"We apologise for the upset this has caused. We would never want to do anything to disappoint our fans.

"We wold ask you to look at our record. We have never, in over four years of performing all over the world, had to cancel a concert - and would never do so lightly.

"The suggestion that we were never planning to perform is entirely untrue.

"Even our family members had travelled to Telford to see us sing.

"We would never let anyone out of their way unnecessarily.

"We reject any and all claims made by the council or their representatives that we behaved in any way other than professional."

The group thanked the fans who waited outside the Big Top, as well as local musical theatre group TADLOP for entertaining the crowds as they waited.

The council responds

In response to Collabro's lengthy statement, Telford & Wrekin Council issued the following rebuttal, in which they highlighted that all the other Big Top performances had gone ahead.

Telford & Wrekin council said: "We are very disappointed at Collabro’s statement issued on 22 August 2018 regarding their cancellation of their show in the Big Top on 16 August.

"This is particularly so considering that all other artists at the Big Top’s 14 previous shows worked with staff at the venue without any of the issues Collabro have raised to give performances that were greatly appreciated.

"Many of the issues on the night lie with Collabro’s management team and were not in the council’s control.

"Their sound engineer, who was not their usual engineer and was onsite from midday, had a number of issues with their showfile, which was provided by the artists, not the venue.

"The full band arrived at the venue at around 6.30pm and from 7pm refused to talk with any onsite staff, communicating instead via their agent in London and posting their cancellation notice first on social media before informing onsite staff so that they could tell fans what was happening.

"We accept that at the time of set up there was interference in the original in ear pieces and new ones were ordered to be delivered via courier.

"All equipment at the venue, including in ear pieces had previously worked for all other artists at Big Top.

"Collabro’s support team ignored suggestions at 5pm from the onsite technical team to help resolve the interference with in-ear pieces.

"Collabro refused to test the replacement in ear sets which were onsite at 7:45pm. Collabro cancelled at 7.49pm.

"Collabro left the site to go to their hotel in Telford before the announcement was made to fans queuing on site and did not talk to any staff.

"The Big Top had the necessary licenses to ensure it could use the radio frequencies needed for in ear pieces.

"It’s very disappointing that Collabro have chosen to claim this was not so without ever checking facts.

"Given that Collabro stayed overnight in Telford, we believe it would have been reasonable for them to at least test the new equipment and to give either a delayed or shortened performance and we are very disappointed for everyone involved that they chose not to.

"We were willing to run the show later and inform all audience members of the delay and offer refunds to those fans who couldn’t stay any later. Their management were told this numerous times before they chose to cancel.

"All customers who had tickets for the show were contacted and offered a full refund within 24 hours.

"The council will now seek to recover all the costs of the cancellation from Collabro’s management."