Poe Cancellation Leaves Galaxy in Lurch

You might call it the case of the purloined rock concerts: Promoter Gary Folgner says that popular chanteuse Poe stood him up without proper notice when she canceled a show Thursday at his Galaxy Concert Theatre with about 10 hours’ notice. Folgner says he will lose $15,000 in overhead costs for the show at the Galaxy and a canceled Poe date Friday in Ventura.

Folgner said he expected about 500 fans at the 550-capacity Galaxy, and 600 to 700 at the 950-capacity Ventura Theatre.

A spokeswoman for Poe’s label, Atlantic Records, said the singer’s management decided it would be necessary to skip the shows to free her to record her next single in an L.A. studio.

“Time is so crunched, and the thing is that the studio [work] had to be done by the weekend,” the spokeswoman said. The recording in question will be a full-band, rock rendition of the song “Hello,” which appears in a softer version on Poe’s successful debut album, also titled “Hello.”

Folgner, who has run concert clubs for more than 10 years, wasn’t buying that excuse.

“I’ve never had this happen to me on this kind of notice,” he said, questioning why Poe couldn’t have taken a break from studio work each night to perform. Poe, whose real name is Annie Danielewski, will keep three scheduled dates in Los Angeles, Sunday through Tuesday.

“I’m disgusted,” Folgner said, “ . . . because of the attitude they had: ‘We don’t care who you are; we don’t care about our Orange County and Ventura fans. [A new radio single] is the most important thing in our career, and we’re going to do it.’ I don’t think they used their heads too much in this situation.”

Refunds for the canceled Galaxy and Ventura shows are available at the place of purchase.