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发表于 2007-7-2 22:23
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OFFICIAL Rain-USA Statement Regarding Cancellation of LA concert
OFFICIAL Rain-USA Statement Regarding Cancellation of LA concert
from RAIN-USA
Hi everyone:
It is with a heavy heart that I write this news brief to give the members of Rain-USA and cloud fans across the world an
explanation of what occurred and what we have been told by representatives of Star M and fanclub manager. These are
direclty quoted from everyone present there. Only facts will be discussed and I am here to present the case and give an
explanation as to what took place. Well, let's start light, shall we? Ok, first, lets' talk about my trip to LA.
**Trip To LA**
I arrived at Logan International Airport at 5pm only to be told that my flight was delayed for two hours. Two hours passed by
and I found out again that my flight was delayed for an additional one hour. Finally, when I got on the plane, we were told
that the airplane was experiencing some technical difficulty and they need to bring in technicians to fix the problem. Ok....
so another half hour delay. Long story short, I arrived at LAX at 2am on June 29th, 2007. I didn't get to my hotel until 3am.
Jay and I lugged Rain's gifts halfway around the world and half of our suitcases were filled with his presents.
The hours before I arrived, Jay arrived early and was busy with passing out invites and t-shirts to international and local
members alike.
**Preparation leading up to the Rain-USA Annual Meeting**
As stated before, due to site of meeting, visual equipment and power speakers were not available for use at the Annual Meeting.
I asked the audio and visual department to install a large size projector for visual and to install power speakers and to include
a wireless microphone for the meeting. These were necessary for our meeting and for our members who showed up to the
event. The cost of installation totaled $960. Jay and I went to look at Seoul Jung Restaurant to decide the layout of the
meeting and location of audio and visual equipment at 1pm. We bought gift wrapping paper (3 rolls), scotch tape, and gift bags
to put Rain's presents. After we were done, we had 3 hours before the start of concert at Staples Center.
**LA Concert Cancellation**
Jay and I found out that the Staples Center concert was canceled an hour later after arriving at Wilshire Grand Hotel. This was
a last minute cancellation, this was NOT the decision of Rain or his management team or Star M. We were told that the concert
was cancelled due to inspection from Fire Marshal stating that some of the eqipment cannot be used for concert. If Rain had to
follow the recommendations, there would have only been just simply the venue stage itself. There would not have been
television screens and the special effects necessary to make for a blowout concert that Rain had so diligently prepared for.
We heard from members waiting at the Staples Center that most of our members are unwilling to leave even after the official
announcement of cancelation of concert. Some members were in tears when they heard of such news as I know that they
have been waiting for a long time to get standing space and seats. Despite this gloomy piece of news, Jay and I decided to
go on with the scheduled Rain-USA Annual Meeting and to start at 9:30pm instead of 10:30pm. Jay and I, along with some
members of Rain-USA and YouTube group sat in Jay's hotel room for 3 hours. What can I say? We were stunned, devastated,
and shocked of having found out such news. But we sat and chat and consoled each other with jokes. Some members were
brimming with tears. We knew that this was not going to be easy for us but also that Rain will take this news the hardest. It
was because he had prepared so much for this concert and only the day before, he was beaming and smiling from one ear
to another, taking time out to chat with some of his fans. The day before the concert, Rain had dinner at Seoul Jung
Restaurant. The whole restaurant was blocked off and he left for official business at around 6pm.
**Rain-USA Annual Meeting**
Jay and I, along with dedicated Rain-USA members from YouTube site arrived at 9pm to setup and prepare for the meeting.
At this time, I would like to thank Jan, Camilla, Lisa, and Shea for helping out with checking for the invites and making sure that
anyone without an invite was not to be allowed to enter. They were our security. Camilla was very helpful with videotaping and
recording the entire event. They were also helpful in making sure that when Rain did show up, that none of the members were
taking pictures of him or videotaping him.
The meeting officially started at 11pm. At this time, my laptop was connected to the audio and visual equipment so that we
can show our members what we have created to celebrate Rain's birthday as a group. We started with showing video clips of
members wishing Rain a happy birthday and it followed with Rain-USA music video wishing Rain a happy birthday. After, Jay
gave out prizes to members for best birthday video, Camilla won this prize, congratulations! She worked on this video with
the limited amount of time she had while also busy working. Jay also randomly picked members there to give out prizes.
The prizes included Rain CDs and accessories which included female purses and calendars. After, the splash page was shown
to the members. I was very glad that our members liked what they saw from the Splash Page and the Lyric Book. The lyric
book will be available at a later date, we haven't decided when the date will be. The splash page will be posted when I return
back to Boston for all of our members to view and enjoy. This will officially become our new site entrance. Then we were told
that Rain was stopping by briefly to offer our members an explanation as to what really happened from his point of view and to
offer to the fans an apology that such an unexpected turn-of-event occurred. We did not get to sing Rain a birthday song and
he did not have time to enjoy the birthday cake.
Before Rain arrived, a representative of Star M was sent to offer an apology and explanation as to why all US concerts were
postponed. He stated that all issues were similar in each concert city; the setup of the stage. He said that because the
foundation to help support Rain's audio and visual equipment were not built, Rain could not setup his concert equipment. It
was the responsibility of the local promoter, Revolution Entertainment, to provide for the building of such a foundation but
nothing was setup. This was the main reason that the Fire Marshal decided that the concert should be postponed.
Rain arrived about an hour later dressed in gray t-shirt, he wore a hat and dyed his hair with a brown color, and he also had
on new jeans and sneakers. Before he arrived, we prepared two seats for him to sit alongside with translator. When Rain did
arrive, he did not sit. It was apparently clear that he was distraught and totally bewildered by what had occurred. He was
devastated as much as his fans to find out such news. He stated and kept repeating that he had worked so hard to prepare
for this concert and he wanted to make this the best concert ever for his fans. He apologized repeatedly and he thanked his
fans for supporting him and for their continued support. You can also see that his eyes were red and swollen . After the
explanation, Rain left with his father for the airport and departed for Berlin, Germany to prepare for the filming of Speed
Racer. Rain will be staying there for a couple fo months. While he was leaving, he waved to the fans and thank them. It
was very thoughtful of Rain to show up to the meeting and to offer an explanation and apology. He was trying very hard to
contain his emotions. It took him half an hour to compose himself before entering Seou Jung Restaurant. It meant a lot to the
fans that he showed up.
Our cloudmaster was the next to speak and explained what Rain is feeling right now. She was also distraught and sad.
While offering an inside look of Rain's feelings, she had tears coming out of her eyes. She stated that Cloud members and
fans alike must be strong and that we must support Rain through this difficulty time. And that, when we see each other to
always remember to smile. Some of our members were also crying alongside her and she started crying because she was
moved to tears to see the disappointment on our faces. She mentioned that Rain management will try to reschedule the
concerts at a later time. She also mentioned that Rain will be filming and that he would probably keep a low profile while in
Berlin. Here, I would like to ask our fans to remember to respect Rain's privacy and personal space when you do see him
on the streets of Berlin. He's going through a tough time guys, we need to keep that in mind.
This concluded our meeting, the meeting ended at 2am. Jay and I and members of YouTube group went back to my hotel
room to celebrate Rain's birthday and to share the birthday cake. Most of us were just stunned of the news and could not
eat the entire piece of cake. So, what can I say? It's heartbreaking that Rain had to go through so much, in addition to what
occurred in the past few weeks. It's really bitter sweet. Jay and I would like to thank all of our members for their support and
to thank them for the warm reception at the meeting. We LOVE YOU! Remember always to support Rain, AJA AJA FIGHTING!
--Mike |
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发表于 2007-7-2 06:24
