Ticket sales of controversial Punjabi gangster rapper Sidhu Moose-wala, who recently lost badly in Punjab assembly elections, were delayed for his Vancouver show as Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) looks into security risk of the scheduled July 23rd show at Pacific Coliseum. Moose Wala shows have a history of security issues, including when Surrey RCMP asked the 5X Block Party Festival to remove him from the 2019 festival’s lineup. Months before, a man was stabbed during one of the rapper’s concerts at a Surrey banquet hall. Moose-wala has also had a very public beef with Vancouver-based Punjabi singer Karan Aujla, who also fashions himself as a bad ass as he himself was a target of death threats recently. Moose-wala has also come under fire for taking on the legendary Babbu Mann, who recently played a sold out concert at Pacific Coliseum, the first ever by a South Asian artist. Moose-wala has been lambasted for trying to say he’s better than Mann, who is known for his profound and cutting edge lyrics and groundbreaking vocals and compositions.
By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada
VANCOUVER – Ticket sales of controversial Punjabi gangster rapper Sidhu Moose-wala, who recently lost badly in Punjab assembly elections, were delayed for his Vancouver show as Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) looks into security risk of the scheduled July 23rd show at Pacific Coliseum.
PNe has decided to consults police about security risks at its indoor arena for Moose-wala’s show in Vancouver even though concertgoers are able to buy tickets this weekend for the Punjabi artist’s “Back 2 Business” tour in several other Canadian cities.
Laura Ballance, a spokeswoman for the PNE, said the holdup is partly due to the scale of the concert, which could see up to 12,000 people pack into the Hastings Park venue so therefore his fans aren’t able to buy tickets at least until June 4 while PNE consults with police.
“We wanted to do a deeper dive into security to ascertain the full scale of public safety risks in consultation with police,” Balance told Postmedia. “As part of our security assessment for any large event, police look at our security plans — they may then tell us they want two or six officers on-site working with our in-house security team for the event. The PNE includes that cost in its contract with the show’s promoter.”
Moose Wala shows have a history of security issues, including when Surrey RCMP asked the 5X Block Party Festival to remove him from the 2019 festival’s lineup. Months before, a man was stabbed during one of the rapper’s concerts at a Surrey banquet hall, reported Postmedia.
Born as Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, the 28-year-old Ontario-based artist has modeled himself after hard core American gangster rapper with the usual display of guns and bravado while rapping about murder and mayhem. Moose-wala has also had a very public beef with Vancouver-based Punjabi singer Karan Aujla, who also fashions himself as a bad ass as he himself was a target of death threats recently.
Moose-wala has also come under fire for taking on the legendary Babbu Mann, who recently played a sold out concert at Pacific Coliseum, the first ever by a South Asian artist. Moose-wala has been lambasted for trying to say he’s better than Mann, who is known for his profound and cutting edge lyrics and groundbreaking vocals and compositions.
With plans to finalize security arrangements with Vancouver police early next week, Ballance told Postmedia she expects concert tickets for the PNE show to go on sale next Saturday.
“As a venue operator, your job is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best so that people who buy tickets can come and not have to worry,” she said.
Tickets for the concert are priced in the range of $75 to $200, according to the PNE’s TicketLeader website.