Journey, The Arena, go their separate ways

Despite published reports in a pair of local newspapers last week, acclaimed rock band Journey, thanks to its promoters, and The Arena, have chosen to go separate ways, pardon the pun.

Cliff Clinger, General Manager of The Arena in Corbin, confirmed Tuesday that promoters for the group had indeed pulled what was a tentative date off of its Web site and ended negotiations for the proposed September show.

Clinger said this was just one example of why no announcement had been made by Arena officials regarding the show, saying that anything can happen before any final agreement is reached between a promoter and a venue.

"Initially, we were being considered for that show and I think their people posted an initial draft of possible dates," Clinger said. "We didn’t put anything out there because we didn’t have a contract with them yet and that is just the way we do it.

"There is a lot of information out there on the World Wide Web and it is not always reliable," he added.
In the end, Clinger said the call was made by promoters and said they may have simply decided the local market was not right for that show.

"This was simply a promoter call," Clinger said. "It’s not like the lead singer decided ‘heck no, we won’t play.’

"It could have been anything really," he added. "There are so many things that come in to play in these situations and nothing is really done until it’s really done."

Despite the news about Journey, Clinger said Arena officials are excited about some upcoming announcements and said he thinks the public will be as well.

"We have plenty on the calendar and a lot of good things coming up," he said. "We’re excited about a lot of the stuff we have and I think people will be as well."

In the end, Clinger wanted to remind the public that no event is really official until it comes from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

"Rumors spread like wildfire and a lot of people will buy into that, but we really try not to feed that rumor mill," he said. "We hear things everyday and I kind of enjoy them to be honest.

"I guess I would tell people not to believe what they hear until you see it on The Arena’s Web site and that will keep people from being disappointed," he added.