Aerosmith Settles With Disgruntled Fans Over Canceled Maui Show

There is a saying that rather boldly proclaims: “You don’t mess with Texas.” Recent developments from the legal world suggest that the same may hold true for the state of Hawaii. At least if you ask Boston-based rockers Aerosmith and their legal team.

It all started last fall when Aerosmith canceled a concert that had been scheduled for the end of September on the island of Maui. The veteran rockers were accused of ditching their fans in Maui in favor of the opportunity to perform a show in the Chicago area where they would collect a bigger paycheck. The group was also invited to perform a private show for automobile giant Toyota around the same time, which was also thought to be quite lucrative.

Many fans who had tickets for the Maui show were determined to take action and make the group pay for ditching the show on the Pacific island and opting to grab for a different variety of green in the windy city. That, in so many words, was the way the story was presented by the legal team that was enlisted to level a class-action lawsuit against Aerosmith at the time.

Many fans were alleged to have been greatly inconvenienced due to extraordinary travel expenses associated with attending the show on Maui, and has also suffered monetary losses due to hotel and rental car reservations that had to be canceled and were not refundable.

Whether Aerosmith and their legal team recently decided on a settlement due to the goodness of their hearts or due to the concern over losing a few millions bucks is something that some fans may argue about for a while, but the settlement that was reached just days ago appears to be a clear win for the fans, and surely must be cause for smiles on the faces of Aerosmith fans in that region of the world.

Aerosmith has agreed to perform on Maui sometime this fall, after the group finishes up with their North American tour. Attorney Brandee Faria, whom we also heard from back when the lawsuit was first filed, has announced that the settlement provides original ticket holders with a free ticket to the show as well as all out-of-pocket expenses, regardless of the amount.

Whether or not Aerosmith’s decision to play nice had anything to do with a recent case in South Korea where pop artist Rain was forces to shell out a cool $8.1 million after the 27-year-old entertainer and his former management were found guilty of fraud after the abrupt cancellation of a show that was scheduled back in 2007 at Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium.

The Aerosmith case was set go to trial in May, and apparently the group decided that a few hours on stage in Hawaii would be less painful than finding themselves on the losing end of a lawsuit that was said to have resulted in losses somewhere between $500,000 and $3 million for fans who had made plans to attend the show.

I can only imagine how uncomfortable those first few moments will be for frontman Steve Tyler when he walks on stage for a show that the group is essentially being forced to put on. How do you greet a crowd under those circumstances?

However the show ends up being received, the “Bad Boys From Boston” might do well to remember that “you don’t mess with Hawaii,” no matter how rich and famous you may be – a lesson that Rain will probably not forget, although I expect he might be a rare sight anywhere near Hawaii for the rest of his days!