Yuki Kajiura LIVE in HOLLYWOOD featuring "SAO" Jan 14, 2017 [CANCELLED]

I'm sorry, everyone, I have bad news: the concert has been cancelled.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1362169567147309/1395967080434224/

We regret to announce that the “Yuki Kajiura LIVE featuring Sword Art Online” concert on January 14, 2017 at the Dolby Theatre is cancelled due to visa issues. Ms. Kajiura, the artists, and everyone involved in the show were looking forward to performing for the U.S. fans which makes it particularly difficult and disappointing for us to make this announcement. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by these unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances.
All tickets purchased online or over the phone will be refunded at point of purchase. Fees will be automatically refunded to the credit card used at the time of your purchase. Your refund should be in your account within 10 business days after this announcement.
All ticketholders will receive the collectible event pamphlet and exclusive Sword Art Online the Movie -Ordinal Scale- pouch. Details on how to claim these items will be announced at a later date on our official homepage. (http://sao-movie.net/us/yukikajiura/)

For more information, please contact Ticketmaster at: http://help.ticketmaster.com/contact-us/…

Or please call: 800-653-8000
 
This really sucks because I took PTO from work for this... I am coming from Northern California and I have to plans to explore LA and visit my friend in Irvine but I can't imagine how much it sucks for those out of state just coming for the concert...
 
"cancelled due to visa issues" Any smart person would know that reason is BS and they prolly cancelled due to low sales.
 
Does anyone have an idea of how many seats were still available? Ticketmaster sometimes lets you pick your seat and shows the unoccupied ones, so...
 
it's really unfortunate for them to cancel last minute like this... One would think they have the Visa issues taken care of months ago....

I was going to buy a ticket for my boyfriend last minute once we knew where my friend's free tickets (she had won them in a contest) were... They never got back to us on the location of the seats... Also was waiting for my LA friends to decide if they were going... There probably would have been more (local) people buying tickets last minute...
 
Black Sword said:
Does anyone have an idea of how many seats were still available? Ticketmaster sometimes lets you pick your seat and shows the unoccupied ones, so...
Click to expand...

I made a print before they take it off, the blue ones are seats available...


KVrlBC2.png
 
Wow. This is just..... I mean I get why, but this is still massively disappointing.
Great birthday present right here :(
FML
At least I live nearby, I feel so bad for all the people who bought plane tickets and hotel reservations and all that jesus christ.
 
If it is actually due to low sales, maybe Aniplex would've been better off actually advertising and promoting the event. If I wasn't on here or happened to have checked ANN when they did their (late) report, I wouldn't have even known this was going on. It's not been mentioned anywhere else except the Aniplex US page which naturally I don't follow because I'm not in the US, and I suspect many others don't either.

I just feel for those who were looking forward to the event, and those who've booked flights and the like.

That said, Visa issues have happened before so maybe it is legit. Performing in the US has caused problems for other artists due to their laws regarding such things. If I recall a YouTuber (I forget who) had to cancel an appearance at a con recently for similar reasons, it's that inclusive.
 
I think the reason is obvious.

I just lost $500, and more importantly, the chance to see my fav! :(
 
Alright, folks, I'm doing a quick round-up here for everyone here. I'm hoping it helps you salvage some of your funds and helps you feel calmer.

Why was it cancelled?
Sword Art Online is an internationally popular media mix franchise, with millions of fans globally who enjoy the light novels, the anime seasons, the mangas, or some combination thereof. Whatever your opinion of the anime, the franchise is well-known, to the point where a Japanese SAO Live was hugely successful. Successful enough that they tried to export the same to Los Angeles, to a well-known Hollywood theater.

Now, based on information gathered, we can conclude contributing reasons for its cancellation:
1) Insufficient promotion
Apart from us, a cadre of devoted fanatics of Kajiura-sama, the concert receive almost no exposure. Anime News Network did a very late report on the concert, but other than that, there was a lack of a dedicated advertising or promotion via Facebook, Twitter, online ads, anime-focused publications, or other mediums to reach the target audience. This leads to:
2) Inadequate sales
juchanx3 provided the image of the current seating chart, which indicates something like a 60% vacancy. Lack of promotion led to lack of awareness led to lack of sales. It's possible a contract clause specified the concert would be cancelled unless a threshold was reached at a specific date.
3) Visa issues
As has mentioned, this has happened before. Each visa application requires a chat with a consular officer, who can decide based on a number of factors whether or not to issue it. These factors include financial independence, adequate employment, material assets (i.e. owning a home), and others. Since our Japanese friends are traveling for business, they require visas, and anything could have caused issues: perhaps Kajiura-sama's expired after Anime Expo 2012 and she did not realize until the last minute, perhaps Wakana's was still not approved, and so on. In the end, it's entirely possible and should not be dismissed as a contributing factor.

What do I do now?
Alright, folks, we're all a little antisocial and/or shy, but you're going to need to get your twitters ready and your phones out.

Call each hotel, each airline, and work your way through customer service. Push hard for refunds. Insist on it. Politely, of course, but don't let them give you brush-offs. Look up consumer protection laws and use them as hard as you can. Most of the customer service drones you're dealing with don't know these laws or how they apply, and if you sound reasonable, they'll want to appease you to avoid trouble. Pleasant, persistent, and unyielding.

If they try to give you a runaround about it being against policy and won't bend even as you make a reasoned case, it's time to make a massive fuss. Tweet to your followers, include the offender brand's twitter handle, and let us know. We'll retweet for you and spread the word. Promote so hard they're forced to agree to give you refunds in order remove the bad press.

Obviously, it's a last resort, but don't flinch. I may be CPM's grouch, but I want all of you to salvage as much as possible.
 
Seasonreaper said:
That said, Visa issues have happened before so maybe it is legit. Performing in the US has caused problems for other artists due to their laws regarding such things.
Click to expand...
I also think that this is more likely than low sales - I've also heard some horror stories.

Nothing useful mentioned in Kajiura sensei's Japanese blog post either. Just something that IIRC sounded something like "it is visa issues, just that. The staff responsible for doing it started the procedure early enough, and it also wasn't something that would have prevented myself or another staff member from traveling. Until the last moment we hoped we could make it"
 
Oh.

Well, random Cali trip it is, then! I haven't traveled in 3 months and dying to leave anyways. Even if it's just for three days ^_^

I must admit I'm crushed because I really wanted to meet Kajiura and WAKANA and YURIKO KAIDA :( But imagine how crushed Kajiura must feel right now... She must be feeling so embarassed... Everyone across the world is watching this event crumbling; perhaps the biggest international event she has ever become involved in directly with her name on it, with a breath of wind, blown away...

Edit: oh yay ticket holders still get the pamphlet and the ordinal scale pouch!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Wow. This is such a mess. Whether it's low sales or a visa issue, nobody comes away from this cancellation looking good. I just hope Kajiura isn't discouraged by this. As much as I harp on SAO's soundtrack, I really wanted to see her perform live.

I was planning on staying in LA for 6 days since I've been wanting to take a vacation, but this news is really disappointing.
 
This is so super disappointing. :(

I really doubt they would announce concert before making sure that all the people travelling had their visa Okay, so i think low sales is the most possible reason.

These are some extremely low sales for a supposedly "phenomenally popular franchise" concert

I wonder if it has anything to do with the Kalafina label moving and the girls new contracts ?
 
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Like a few of us mentioned, there's been almost no promotion. If fans don't know about the live, how can they attend?

And as someone who has worked with big business, you'd be amazed how many crucial details end up being left for the last minute....
 
george1234 said:
I really doubt they would announce concert before making sure that all the people travelling had their visa
Click to expand...
What if one of the visa requirements is that everything is booked, so you can actually provide proof of the business you're claiming to do?

It's not only ticket costs in this case (keep in mind that most tickets are near the front, so it's mostly the cheaper seats that are empty). It's also promotion (negligible but still), costs for taking care of visas, possibly non-refundable tickets, expected post-concert earnings, and whatnot. Plus the fact that it looks bad for them to cancel a concert. Not that I'm in any way able to guess their financial details though - just saying that maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Plus, I find it entirely possible that their visas were indeed denied even though they did everything on time and correctly (like Kajiura sensei wrote, if we take her word for it).
 
Well crap. It is my Christmas present and yes I'll be getting money back, but still. Arrrrrgh. I feel so bad for Yuki and the girls, they must feel awful. Wow. Does anyone still want to meet up? I still want to visit LA since I have never been. I will talk to my parents though. So sad.
 
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