Rift almost affected Aegis concert in The Netherlands

by Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau 11/15/2009 7:44 PM

All's well that did not start well at the Holland concert of Aegis

The European tour of Pinoy band Aegis in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Belgium was a complete success but was almost a disaster in the Netherlands.

RP Ambassador Cardozo Luna and a couple of his staff were among the 200
Filipinos and Dutch who waited for two hours for the Aegis concert in The Hague to start.

The jam-packed concert was almost cancelled at the last minute which would have caused a major embarrassment.

The reason was a rift between the producer in Belgium and organizers in Holland.

Ligaya Gravidez, the Pinay producer in Belgium, was responsible for bringing Aegis to Holland.

She reportedly sought the assistance of Pinay Mia Van Eendenburg to organize the concert in Holland.

But on the night of the concert, the two Pinays did not meet eye to eye reportedly on money issues.

They kept pointing fingers at each other.

"Medyo may problema sa producer. Sabihin na natin sa producer, ‘yong pagma-manage at sa kakulangan ng sabihin na nating financial," Van Eendenburg said.

Van Eendenburg said that she scrambled at the last hour for the concert to push through just so she can protect her name.

“Ang nangyari naghanap ako ng paraan para ma-push through ito dahil alam ng mga tao ako ang producer which is hindi. Na ang Netherlands team which is sampu kami, nakasalalay ang aming pangalan," Van Eendenburg said.

"Para lang matuloy ito kailangan kong mapunuan ang kakulangan so kailangan kong maghanap ng pera, mag-withdraw ng sarili kong pera o manghiram sa aking mga kaibigan," Van Eendenburg added.

Gravidez on the other hand explained that the trouble stemmed from Van Eendenburg not handing her the full list of sold tickets.

"Ang hinihingi ko sa kanya ay ibigay niya ang listahan ng sold-out tickets and reserve tickets. Sa tingin niya ba ngayon ba ay naglabas ako ng pera. Hindi ako naglabas ng pera. Wala akong nilabas," Gravidez said.

"Kasi kulang ang communication niya ng listahan niya ng tickets. Hanggang ngayon hindi ko alam kung ilan ang pumasok. Ilang tao ang pumasok, hindi ko alam. Ilang tao ang nagbayad hindi ko alam. Magkano ang binayad niya. Alam niya kulang na kulang para ipambayad sa artist," Gravidez added.

Van Eendenburg explained that she withdrew money from her personal account in order to complete the payment for Aegis, who were instructed by their handlers not to go on stage unless their talent fee has been fully paid.

Gravidez was convinced she has been shortchanged based on her own headcount of the almost Standing Room Only crowd.

According to the Aegis, they had nothing to do with the delay and added that that the poor sound system which they tried to fix in vain that night also contributed to the delay.

"Actually hindi kami iyong problema. Kung may problema man hindi namin alam.iyon. Basta kami naghihintay kami ng signal sa producer," Aegis keyboard player Stella Galindo said.

After the two-hour wait, Gravidez and Van Eendenburg settled their issues and Aegis finally went on stage much to the relief and delight of the very patient crowd.

As soon as the Sunot sisters Juliet and Mercy sang their popular songs, all the anger and discontent of the concert goers disappeared.

For the Pinoys, it was worth all that wait.

Their trademark "birits," non-stop gyrations and down-to-earth jokes proved that the Aegis are total performers who can always bring the house down.

by Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
as of 11/15/2009 7:44 PM

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/11/15/09/rift-almost-affected-aegis-concert-netherlands