While we raised a ruckus with our write-up on hip-hop star Cardi B's $150-$250 appearance at Privé nightclub last week — where she danced a little on stage but did not perform — it was far from the only high-buck Super Bowl party deemed a bust by attendees.
Rapper Gucci Mane never took the stage at the $300 party he was scheduled for at Muse Event Center on Thursday. Attendee Aaron Thom of Minneapolis said the sparse crowd waited around till 2 a.m. to no avail: "They ripped everyone off," he said.
Turns out, even the venue -- which rented out the space to little-known promoters LEX Entertainment -- is claiming it got taken. Muse representative Zach Sussman said LEX's $100,000 check for the rental bounced. LEX did not return our calls. "It was definitely a win-some, lose-some week for us," Sussman said, adding that Muse gave Thom a refund even though the venue never saw any of the ticket money.
Ironically, Gucci did show up and perform at Myth nightclub on Saturday, but his co-headliner Travis Scott did not make the $150 gig apparently because he couldn't find an airport close enough to land his private jet. The out-of-town promoters behind the party -- who similarly rented out Myth, just like at Muse -- had booked Travis's jet to land at St. Cloud's airport not knowing it was 90 minutes away. And apparently 90 minutes is too long of a drive for the Houston rapper to make for a gig.
"At the last minute, I found a private runway close enough to make this work," said local promoter Zack Chazin of Chazin Entertainment and Snowta, who was brought in to help with the show. The problem in that case: The runway could only accommodate an airplane with four passengers, and Scott had seven in his entourage. You wouldn't want to leave behind the guy whose job it is to stand on stage waving a towel, after all. At least in that case, refunds were offered before the show, according to Chazin.
The Maxim magazine party on Saturday -- put on by promoter Karma International of Los Angeles with DJ Marshmello, Cardi B and Post Malone -- did not take place in a grandiose 31,000-foot "superdome" as promised. Instead, it was moved relatively last-minute to a cramped Warehouse District space, where $750 ticket holders and VIP invitees complained of having to use portojohns in subzero temperatures.
One of the models hired for the show, Molly Rennick, complained on Facebook, "You had to walk down slippery stairs in heels, out into the cold, just to use" the portable toilets, which she said were closed off at hours before the party ended at 4 a.m.
Worst of all, several attendees also said there was a problem with jackets being stolen or lost at the event's coat check. Karma representatives did not respond to questions on that front. A publicist hired for the party said, "Karma has inventoried many coats that were lost/found, and they are working through returning them," but did not offer further details on how to get one returned (nor explain how so many people would "lose" their coats when it was below-zero outside). On the upside: Cardi B and the other acts all did perform -- and Migos even showed up as surprise guests at the MAxim party.
The would-be finale to the week in more ways than one, the $175 NFL-affiliated Player's Ball with Diddy (Puff Daddy), DJ Khaled, Cardi B and French Montana at the Armory was supposed to start at 11 p.m. but did not really get going until 2:30 a.m., by which time audience members were throwing drinks at the stage. Then the acts only did a few songs apiece when they did finally show up.
"I'm not used to having to wait for the talent to remember they are being paid to actually perform or do their cameo," Minneapolis fan Adonia Kyle wrote on Facebook, admitting she was so turned off by the event she did not stick around till the end.
Hey, at least you got to hear a song and got your jacket back in that case!
