Enrique concert: Live Events expresses regret

Live Events has issued the following statement regarding Enrique Iglesias live in concert held on Sunday at CR&FC Grounds:

Live Events was launched because we wanted to try and bring truly world-class performers to Sri Lanka. Whilst we have received many messages of appreciation for the performance of Enrique Iglesias, who provided over 90 minutes of spectacular entertainment last night, we are also aware and saddened by the fact that many people were terribly inconvenienced by some significant shortcomings that negatively impacted their overall concert experience.

In particular, words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for the long delays to enter the venue after which to wait for an event scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Unfortunately, events beyond our control forced us to delay the early opening of the gates. Had we been able to open the gates and enter the fans as planned then the queues would have been minimised. We also accept that the reason to postpone the opening of the gates and the delay could have been better communicated.

We are also aware that when Enrique did start playing there was a major security failure with people without valid tickets entering the VIP and Platinum areas. This is a grave concern for us and we again apologise for the inconvenience caused. The security plans made before the event were not properly executed and we have to take full responsibility for this.

We would like to add that we are very appreciative of the fact that despite these shortcomings everyone waited and queued so patiently.

We will be working hard to overcome our shortcomings and work hard towards meeting the highest standards of quality we have set for ourselves; standards that you very rightly expect to be the norm for our organisation.

We are currently evaluating the most appropriate course of corrective action.