Aerosmith Back In Legal Crosshairs

The “Bad Boys From Boston” have done it again. Apparently, there are at least a few people in western Canada that are not too happy about the group’s decision to exclude the area from their summer tour.

Aerosmith had been scheduled to perform five shows in western Canada last summer, but after Steven Tyler’s fall from the stage at a show in South Dakota, the singer’s injuries prevented the group from continuing the tour. The group cancelled shows in cities that included Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

With the group now back on the road and finished with the South American leg of their current tour, they appear healthy enough to rock their fans once again – a development that did not go unnoticed by Keystone Entertainment Group, the company that Aerosmith reportedly had a contract with to perform last summer.

Documents filed in a Calgary court contend that the band’s failure to re-schedule the cancelled shows constitutes a breach of contract. The lawsuit is seeking $6 million in damages due to money the company lost on “financing charges; debt servicing; short-term capital costs; promotional, marketing and media expenditures; venue and security deposits and equipment rental deposits.”

The company also says that they lost what would have been more than $10 million in profits from ticket sales for the cancelled shows. Keystone claims they made repeated attempts to re-schedule the shows, but were not able to get a response from Aerosmith.

The suit was filed on the same day that the group announced their North American tour, which includes only one show north of the border in Toronto.

This all may seem a bit like déjà vu for Aerosmith and their handlers. They came under fire in 2007 after cancelling a show in Hawaii – a move that resulted in a lawsuit on behalf of angry fans that allegedly lost money on travel reservations and other expenses.

Although the wheels of justice often do turn painfully slow, most fans were probably pleased with the end result when the group agreed to a settlement and performed on Maui during the fall of 2009. The group also covered all expenses for the original ticket holders as well.

It may be a couple of years before this latest case is all worked out, but I suspect the outcome might be similar. This situation is a bit different, since the suit was filed in another country, and I don’t know what options Aerosmith have to choose from. Would ignoring it simply mean that they had better stay out of Canada for the rest of their lives?

That’s a question I don’t know the answer to, but it’s bound to be something we hear more about as time goes on.