Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The man behind Raggamuffin

The Sydney Morning Herald published a story on Raggamuffin promoter Andrew McManus on Dec 23. It's worth a read. It details the many variations on companies called Andrew McManus Presents...

excerpt: "... In business, they say, you're only as good as your name. And if that's true, Andrew McManus must be very good indeed, because his name is attached to so many of his companies that it can be almost impossible to tell where one ends and the next begins..."

"...Though drawing crowds of 30,000-plus in New Zealand, it [Raggamuffin] struggled in Australia, where it was plagued by poor ticket sales, the cancellation of headline act Sean Paul and terrible weather. The Adelaide show on February 2, 2011, pulled just 400 people..."

"...Even in New Zealand, where Raggamuffin was a raging success, McManus struggled. In 2010, his Kiwi operation Andrew McManus Presents (New Zealand) Co Limited became embroiled in a legal dispute with the reggae band Pacific Herbs. On the brink of a court date, the company went into liquidation. As of December 6, it owed $NZ394,000 ($A300,000) to creditors".

"His New Zealand operation, which promoted the New Zealand leg of his Raggamuffin reggae festival, went into liquidation in March this year, with debts last estimated at more than A$300,000. Tickets for the 2012 Raggamuffin event in Rotorua are now on sale. The promoter is McManus Entertainment".

McManus is currently workng on a New Years Eve show for Sydney... "His partner [is] Sydney Resolutions Pty Ltd, the outfit behind the Sydney Resolution concert, is the live events arm of Universal, the world's biggest music company."

Previous posts: Raggamuffin cancels Aust shows, Raggamuffin rumblings, Herbs vs Raggamuffin

1 comment:

Will de Cleene said...

I just wish Raggamuffin would allow the cannabis law reform people and Maryjane the Cannabus to set up a stall. Every year they are locked out.