Svengalifest

[gypsy moth]

definitely cancelled this one.

[gypsy moth]

I'm not from Windsor...but i'm sure this info will help others...I was just suspicious about this event from the very start...none of it added up properly. Also he has not bothered to explain himself which suggests he is lying about the reasons. Just hope he doesn't try and do anything else and people should be warned about this bar you talk about if he is a cheat.thanks for the info rock on. Have a great summer of well organised events.

[warrior1]

oops looks like someone has been a bad little promoter...I looked at the security thing myself on the website before the website became closed and noticed that the security company 'Diamond event management' were doing it....correct me if i'm wrong but they have just done the big chill and also are doing a load of big festivals...now we all know these guys are well organised...sounds like mr. Svengali is blaming others for his own bad management....I also noticed via another blog that he provided a contact number for his shop? if he has a shop surely people could go there and get their cash and an apology which he has not given..just a circumstances beyond our control...those folk from windsor should make it known if the joker(s) try another event on this space...and another good point about the harley!...yep was there one...the draw should still be mad by ticket purchasers....sounds grim in Royal windsor at the moment...is there anything good music wise going on there?

hI WORRIOR,

well I am from windsor but I didnt know any thing about the organiser really , just heard a bunch of guys last night going on about it ......i guess that in a local bar( where it was gonna happen) it had p***** a few guys off big time, well its just a real shame if people had gotten tix and had planned to travel here for the festival , some guy said his pals had booked into a hotel and all ! wow , will the festival guy refund their hotel booking fee?!!! its just a real bummer.................and these guys were talking like they were REALLY PISSED with the organiser dude.

[rock on]

oops looks like someone has been a bad little promoter...I looked at the security thing myself on the website before the website became closed and noticed that the security company 'Diamond event management' were doing it....correct me if i'm wrong but they have just done the big chill and also are doing a load of big festivals...now we all know these guys are well organised...sounds like mr. Svengali is blaming others for his own bad management....I also noticed via another blog that he provided a contact number for his shop? if he has a shop surely people could go there and get their cash and an apology which he has not given..just a circumstances beyond our control...those folk from windsor should make it known if the joker(s) try another event on this space...and another good point about the harley!...yep was there one...the draw should still be mad by ticket purchasers....sounds grim in Royal windsor at the moment...is there anything good music wise going on there?

[rock on]

On - http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0100new...-name_page.html

'Summer of love' fest suffers last-minute axeAug 11 2006

A CONCERT promising to take Windsor back to the summer of love has been axed at the eleventh hour.

Part-time concert promoter Marco Iorio said that he was forced to scrap tomorrow's (Saturday) Svengali Fest 06 at Windsor Racecourse after problems with the event's security firm.

Mr Iorio, who also owns the Svengali vinyl shop in Peascod Street, said: "We couldn't get another firm in, in time. We had already sold 3,500 tickets and this week was going to be a big week. We'd planned to get that up to 5,000 tickets.

...if he actually sold 3500 (which I very much doubt) the gross of these sales is about £150,000

Once you take out costs of stage hire, sound systems, the acts themselves it doesn't take a genuis to work out that marco the promotor was well and truely in the red - perhaps this is the real reason for the security firm pulled out at the last minute - non payment.

They are a reputable company, and are not likely to leave a festival in the lurch for any other reason.

[Ringo_Spar]

he's obviously full of shit, he's given "licensing reasons" out as one reason for cancelling, yet here he's claiming that it's the security firm's fault. As others have said, they are a reputable company. Lloyd Cole said on his website that he was pulling out because terms of his contract had not been fulfilled on time.

It all adds up to the fact that the fella hasn't got a clue.

"We've sold 3,500, hoped to get it up to 5,000 this week". 5,000 punters at an event like he was planning, don't think that would work really.

[rock on]

he's obviously full of shit, he's given "licensing reasons" out as one reason for cancelling, yet here he's claiming that it's the security firm's fault. As others have said, they are a reputable company. Lloyd Cole said on his website that he was pulling out because terms of his contract had not been fulfilled on time.

It all adds up to the fact that the fella hasn't got a clue.

"We've sold 3,500, hoped to get it up to 5,000 this week". 5,000 punters at an event like he was planning, don't think that would work really.

[warrior1]

Yep make sure this person never attempts a festival again...sounds like he is letting a lots of peeps down...in the article that Rock on posted (thanks by the way) that he is planning another next year..someone should write to the paper or magazine where the article appeared and tell the truth. Also agree with you leveller. There is already enough clearwater types about!

I like that- tell it how it is - 'he's obviously full of shit'

[guilfin]

Yep make sure this person never attempts a festival again...sounds like he is letting a lots of peeps down...in the article that Rock on posted (thanks by the way) that he is planning another next year..someone should write to the paper or magazine where the article appeared and tell the truth. Also agree with you leveller. There is already enough clearwater types about!

[warrior1]

Well as a newspaper and a media partner they should feel obliged to tell the truth and ensure people get their money back..hopefully no one lost out but from what I haer on here that sounds unlikely and people will be out of pocket....the cancellation notices seem scarce soon...I wonder hoe many of the ticket buyers '3,500' hmmmmmm....turned up not knowing...he has not really made the real reasons known or even offeed a sufficient apology...just a piece in this paper talking about next year!...a bit shabby if you ask me. No apology it would seem just dispaointment on this promoter's (Marco?) part....

the paper the article was in (Slough/Windsor Express) was also the "Media Sponsor" of the festival, and promoted it fairly heavily in the weeks beforehand with whole pages of positive editorial ...

quite a lot of local people didn't know about it though, in Slough anyway ...

[issey]

This is what Lloyd Cole had to say

It looks extremely unlikely that I will be performing at SvengaliFest on Saturday the 12th. Various contractual requirements have not been met. We are trying very hard to be as patient as possible, and if they get it together, there is still a chance that I can take part.. but Please do not make plans to go if you're intent upon seeing me. Please check back here. If the situation changes I will keep you posted.

[warrior1]

precisely issey....he wasn't even going to play anyhow!.....so this security thing, ticket sales etc etc is a load of rubbish.

This is what Lloyd Cole had to say

It looks extremely unlikely that I will be performing at SvengaliFest on Saturday the 12th. Various contractual requirements have not been met. We are trying very hard to be as patient as possible, and if they get it together, there is still a chance that I can take part.. but Please do not make plans to go if you're intent upon seeing me. Please check back here. If the situation changes I will keep you posted.

[guilfin]

######pbswj

Racecourse row heads for court

Aug 18 2006

By Francis Batt

THE ongoing battle between Windsor Racecourse and its neighbours is heading for the courts.

Magistrates will now decide whether or not loud, amplified music can become a regular fixture at the course to complement the horse racing.

The split between residents and the racecourse began over the Svengali rock concert which was supposed to happen last Saturday.

It was cancelled only days before it was due to go ahead - but not before residents had unsuccessfuly tried to persuade councillors to refuse a licence.

They has already been riled by a surprise concert by the Pussycat Dolls held at the racecourse in June.

Now it looks as if the battle will continue. At the recent licensing hearing councillors decided the racecourse could stage live amplified events involving more than two musicians on Fridays and Saturdays six times a year.

Now the course is appealing to magistrates for the right to stage live performances eight times a year after race meetings.

It also want the right to have live music at special events held indoors. Under the terms of the Licensing Act the appeal will be heard at a magistrates' court.

This week, Windsor councillor John Fido (Independent: Clewer North), an opponent of live concerts at the racecourse, said that he and his fellow residents were prepared to compromise with the racecourse when the appeal went to court.

He said: "The risk is that if we just oppose everything they want magistrates could revert to an earlier permission, that allowed the race-course to have music till 2.30am seven days a week as long as it only involved two musicians.

"We really don't want music that late. But we are happy to compromise over late night events with more than two live musicians if they are held indoors at the racecourse and the noise is kept at a reasonable level. The ball is in their court now."

Racecourse manager Dave Mackinnon confirmed the course had appealed.

[rock on]

######pbswj

I hear that there's another story too, this time featuring the dispute between Racecourse and Svengali, featuring the words "relations far from amicable", "large sums outstanding", and "will sue"

oh .... not what anybody needs, really

[guilfin]

ha ha - wheres this story then "relations far from amicable", "large sums outstanding", and "will sue" - that would be a good read. Gosh I'm mean... but he is an idiot

[warrior1]

I think on this site you can publish with impunity.....let's be honest chaps...the promoter of this festival has not done his homework and possibly a race coruse is not the ideal venue...it is hardly shepton mallet...it sounds like a field, course, near a town...or built up residential area....which may irritate the locals...quite rightly...we like to party in solitude and locals like their peace!

it's in the Windsor edition, apparently (I only get the Slough one), and the one above is the only online

also quite loath to criticise festival promoters publically when I don't know all the facts - the last time that happened they threatened to come and do me over (it was the guy who ran the old Essential Festival, and it wasn't even me, just a comment left on the old GuilFIN site which I was running at the time)

[NigelTufnel]

I think on this site you can publish with impunity.....let's be honest chaps...the promoter of this festival has not done his homework and possibly a race coruse is not the ideal venue...it is hardly shepton mallet...it sounds like a field, course, near a town...or built up residential area....which may irritate the locals...quite rightly...we like to party in solitude and locals like their peace!

[warrior1]

Now that is what I call a post!!....This Marco sounds quite a character, well at least infamous and very disliked!...as the man, lady says buyer be warned!

Im only registering on here for one post then going away; if any of you see anything to do with Marco Iorio, avoid avoid avoid.

I know him quite well, unfortunately, and there's no escaping the fact that not only is he an egotisitcal coke-fiend prick (I mean seriously, who else would put their own face on a poster for a festival they're promoting?!), he's also very much a rip-off merchant. He's done over bands and indivduals in the past for his own personal gain (monetary gain mostly), while seeming to think he's some sort of (ahem) Svengali. He is in fact a talentless crook with very little intelligence or personal hygiene. His band nights are inevitably terrible, his book-keeping skills are always dodgy and his record shop is laughable.

Whilst I hope that everyone who bought tickets for this enormous white elephant get refunded, I'd also encourage any locals (I've since moved abroad so I can't do it meself) or disgruntled punters to dish out a rather hefty beating whilst we wait for him to get sent to prison for this ridiculous fraud.

Toodle pip.

[Wicky]

Many festival promoters lose money but still ensure the show goes on. Tony Scott at Guilfest lost money for years but he never once cancelled his festival or left ticket purchasers out-of-pocket. The guys who put on the Wychwood Festival (also, like Svengalifest, on a racecourse) are rumoured to have lost large sums in 2005 and 2006 but they still put on a brilliant festival.

I got involved this year with the Wickham Festival which one guy underwrites out of his own pocket. Even when he's lost money his festivals have still gone ahead and every single artist, contractor and supplier has been paid in full. In 15 years of organising festivals he has never failed to pay a bill.

The problem with festivals like Svengalifest being cancelled for dubious reasons late in the day is not only that ticket purchasers are likely to find themselves out-of-pocket (bad enough in itself) but these failed festivals also impact on those festivals run by people of higher integrity who find themselves (i) having to pay all their artists and suppliers upfront and (ii) not receiving their own box office monies from ticket agencies until after the event as nobody trusts festival organisers to deliver the goods.

In short, the good guys suffer because of the bad.

I sincerely hope anyone who bought a ticket for Svengalifest can somehow get their money back but I also hope someone can find a way of stopping the likes of Marco Iorio from ripping off punters, artists and festival suppliers alike while also creating huge problems for other more reputable festival organisers without whom none of us would have any festivals to attend each summer.

[guilfin]

well, there you go. I did stop outside the Svengali shop on Saturday, tried getting the pushchair up the steps and decided to leave it for another time. But I wouldn't have thought that there would have been much a problem getting refunds, if bought through a ticket agency - they don't pay the organiser for at least 10 days after the event has taken place. It's going to be worse for the suppliers/bands/stallholders etc who had committed to the weekend, turned down other jobs and have much less chance of getting their money back

NigelTufnel does make some trenchant and thought-provoking points, but I ask you to consider this - take out all the crazy, smelly, egotistical, frankly shifty characters out of rock and roll, and what are you left with? Cliff Richard?

as for the racecourse not being an ideal venue, that's possibly more to do with the high volume of incredibly wealthy people in the area, who quite frankly object to the wrong sort of person breathing out their germs near them. The sort who say, when you ask them where they live, "Windsor, near the Queen", and are trying to get the postcode changed from "SL", as it makes them look common - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2668561.stm

[rock on]

Im only registering on here for one post then going away; if any of you see anything to do with Marco Iorio, avoid avoid avoid.

I know him quite well, unfortunately, and there's no escaping the fact that not only is he an egotisitcal coke-fiend prick (I mean seriously, who else would put their own face on a poster for a festival they're promoting?!), he's also very much a rip-off merchant. He's done over bands and indivduals in the past for his own personal gain (monetary gain mostly), while seeming to think he's some sort of (ahem) Svengali. He is in fact a talentless crook with very little intelligence or personal hygiene. His band nights are inevitably terrible, his book-keeping skills are always dodgy and his record shop is laughable.

Whilst I hope that everyone who bought tickets for this enormous white elephant get refunded, I'd also encourage any locals (I've since moved abroad so I can't do it meself) or disgruntled punters to dish out a rather hefty beating whilst we wait for him to get sent to prison for this ridiculous fraud.

Toodle pip.

[warrior1]

anymore news about the evil svengali?

that's what I wanted to say...this is all true as well!

his personal hygiene is appaling!

[guilfin]

anymore news about the evil svengali?

[Neil]

hmmm, i love (not) the way they reference this forum without mentioning names.

[Bubblie]

hmmm, i love (not) the way they reference this forum without mentioning names.