Posted on: Friday, May 2, 2003

Van Morrison won't perform at marathon lu'au

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

The Honolulu Marathon is offering refunds for its Dec. 12 concert and lu'au after it learned headliner Van Morrison had never been contacted and knew nothing of the arrangements.

Morrison's North American tour booking office in New York contacted Honolulu Marathon officials yesterday, informing them that the individuals and company the marathon was working with to secure the rock legend's appearance were not authorized to act on Morrison's behalf, Honolulu Marathon president Jim Barahal said.

Barahal said Morrison's booking agency found out about the Honolulu Marathon concert, which featured Morrison as its star performer, on the Internet.

Morrison's tour office told event organizers that the singer was completely unaware of the purported Hawai'i concert appearance.

"He's not reneging. He's not backing out of the concert. He simply didn't know about it," Barahal said.

The concert likely will go on with another headline act, he said. Barahal would not comment on any replacement names.

"We're still trying to recover from today," Barahal said. "We're gonna get another act, and hopefully it'll be someone that people will be excited about. I don't know today who it might be."

Barahal said marathon organizers didn't yet know if they would get back a deposit made with the company they dealt with on the Morrison concert. He declined to reveal the name of the company or the deposit amount.

Full refunds for tickets or early registration fees are available through the Honolulu Marathon's offices by calling 734-7200, or by sending a written request to 3435 Waialae Ave., Suite 208, Honolulu, HI, 96816. Refund requests may also be made over the Internet at www.honolulumarathon.org. Walk-up refunds will be offered at Niketown Waikiki until 6 p.m. Sunday.