Kanye West cancels show due to slow ticket sales

Kanye West was forced to cancel his May 25 show at the Fargodome in Fargo, ND because of slow ticket sales and “scheduling conflicts,” according to the Fargodome’s website. Ticket sales were softer than expected, according to published reports, but were not indicated as a factor in the cancellation. About 3,500 tickets had been sold; the dome was aiming for between 5,500 and 7,000.

“I can’t really make it a secret that ticket sales were not as anticipated," Fargodome general manager Rob Sobolik told Fargo’s Forum newspaper. Sobolik said that because the tour will be in Chicago on Saturday (May 24) and in Winnipeg, MB on Monday (May 26), scheduling was a concern from the start.

“There have been those conversations out there, and I thought they’d been put to bed,” Sobolik told the paper, noting that a cancellation would require a tight schedule. The paper reported that promoters [Knitting Factory/Bravo Entertainment] told Sobolik that the tour’s 15 trucks transporting West’s elaborate stage production would not have been able to get to Fargo until 1 p.m. with doors for the show opening at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for West’s Glow in the Dark Tour, which also featured Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. as openers, went on sale March 28. The last rap/hip-hop show that played the Fargodome was the Rock the Mic tour with 50 Cent, Chingy & Busta Rhymes in August 2003. “We sold approximately 10,500 tickets for that show,” Sobolik told TicketNews.