ANTELOPE ISLAND -- The concerts by Sawyer Brown and Eve 6 slated to partner with Labor Day weekend's Antelope Island Stampede have been canceled.
Eve 6 was scheduled for the evening of Sept. 3 and the Sawyer Brown show was to happen on Sept. 4.
The two national shows were canceled due to a conflict between partners in the promotion company handling the concerts, according to Kathi Dysert, director of sales and marketing for the Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Dysert is also a member of the festival's organizing committee.
Other Stampede events, including hot-air balloons and kite demonstrations, local music and entertainment, and attractions and activities for children, will continue as planned Sept. 3-5.
Attempts to contact the promotion company, KI Events of Salt Lake City, for comment were unsuccessful.
Said Dysert: "They just said they would not be able to fulfill their commitment to the festival. It was a big shock and we have been doing a lot of scrambling the days since we got this news."
Dysert notes that the festival's organizing committee was not in the financial position to take the risk of covering the concerts.
"That is why you have a promoter like this in the first place," she said. "But despite this, the festival is going to go on and be bigger and better than ever. We hope to have even more people than last year."
Dysert said the festival, which began in 2006, attracted about 22,000 people in 2009.
"I imagine the prices on the tickets, the location and the weekend might have had an effect on the attendance of these shows anyway," said Justin Chatterton, owner/operator of The Beat of Time and City Center Sound and Stage, Clearfield-based sound and lighting firms that are providing services for the entertainment portion of the festival.
Tickets for Sawyer Brown ranged from $43 to $100. Eve 6 was priced at $23 to $63.
Chatterton's company was also involved with staging the Little Texas show July 15 at Clinton Heritage Days, which drew in hundreds of attendees rather than the hoped-for 1,500 to 2,000.
"But this (Antelope Island) festival is always a great event and draws a lot of people. I don't think this year will be any different," Chatterton said. "And we still have great regional acts coming to Antelope Island that will keep the crowd entertained all day long."
Acts performing at the festival include country rockers Red Shot Pony of Syracuse, metal rockers Crossfire from Salt Lake City and Shades of Grey, a classic rock band from the Ogden Valley.
Dysert said, "And then of course the balloons are really the big attraction. ... And last year we also added the kite-flying elements, and that was very successful as well."
Concert ticket refunds are available at the point-of-purchase. Smith's Tix was the concert's primary vendor, and can be reached at 800-888-TIXX, www.smithstix.com, and at all Smith's Tix retail outlets.
For further details on events and entertainment at the festival, visit www.antelopeislandstampede.com.
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