Oliver Anthony Cancels Knoxville Show Over Ticket Prices, Engages In Online Debate With The Venue

KNOXVILLE (CelebrityAccess)  — Viral country music sensation Oliver Anthony announced the cancellation upcoming show in Knoxville over high ticket prices.
The show was scheduled for September 27th at Knoxville concert venue Cotton Eyed Joe but will now take place two days later at the Knoxville Convention Center.
“Cotton Eyed Joe has been cancelled. Ultimately, it’s my fault for not being more directly involved with the venues who have reached out. My plate has been full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me book. I am not pointing fingers at Cotton Eyed Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunication took place. I’m just upset seeing those prices,” Anthony shared in a social media post.
“It’s a Damn Shame what the Worlds gotten to for the Customers of the World Famous Cotton Joe. Most times we say a show has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control…well we are canceling the Oliver Anthony show under our full control,” a rep for the venue announced via social media.
In a separate post on Facebook, Anthony noted that he took exception to the venue charging $90 dollars for tickets, noting that he told the person helping him to book gigs that he doesn’t want fans to pay more than $40 for a pass.
“I apologize for the price at Cotton Eyed Joe. Have a friend of mine trying to help me book gigs. I told him I don’t want to do anything that’s more than $40 a ticket, ideally no more than $25 a piece. These are supposed to be affordable shows. Please don’t pay $90 for a ticket,” he wrote.
In addition to the high-ticket prices, Oliver also decried what he claims as the venue charging for VIP access such as meet & greets, which Oliver says are supposed to be free.
In a now deleted tweet, a rep for Cotton Eyed Joe said the ticket prices were based on the performance contract, where Oliver agreed to perform an hour-long show for $120,000.
“After doing the math and knowing we can hold apprx. 1500 people, paying the ticket website their fee to sell tickets, paying the tax man, opening the Joe on a closed night…we set the ticket price to break even and bring customers to a show we thought would be fun,” the post said.
Oliver subsequently refuted Cotton Eye’d Joe’s post, claiming that he has never been paid more than $35,000 for a gig.
“Cotton Eyed Joe claims we are charging people $120,000 per show. They have since turned the comments off, but I wanted to clarify. The most I’ve ever made on a show is $35,000. We’ve done two shows in NC that were completely free, and have another free show scheduled September 23rd in Kentucky for a cancer benefit,” he said.