Concert for Dealers Miffs Aerosmith's Fans

Aerosmith fans in Hawaii are suing the rock band for canceling a planned public concert in Maui in order to perform during a dealer event.

The class-action suit alleges Aerosmith bailed out of the sold-out Maui concert in favor of a larger concert in Chicago and “a lucrative, private concert for Toyota car dealers” at the University of Hawaii.

Buyers received refunds for the face value of the tickets but did not get money back for fees and other costs associated with the would-be concert, the suit says.

“They came and played for car dealers and they blew off their performance for their fans,“ the plaintiffs' attorney tells the Honolulu Advertiser.

The Maui concert was supposed to be the final stop on Aerosmith's 11-city North America tour, but the event was shelved after the band had to reschedule a larger Chicago concert for Sept. 24.

Aerosmith said the new Chicago date made it logistically impossible to go on with the Maui concert two days later. The band ended up playing several days later at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.'s private gig at the university.

The complaint estimates the band also received more than $1 million for the Toyota corporate gathering, which attracted about 6,000 dealers and company employees.