Joel Cummins Tweets Lengthy Explanation on Relocation of Umphrey’s McGee’s Fort Show
Earlier this week, news broke that Umphrey’s McGee would be forced to move their highly anticipated Fort shows with Lettuce to St. Augustine due to production and logistics that were deemed detrimental to the historic landmark that is Fort Clinch. Yesterday, Joel Cummins took to Twitter to further explain the situation, citing backlash from locals including letters written to officials about how the “devil” was taking over their historic park.
Cummins also revealed that Plan B had to come together fairly quickly, as the band was told just two days ago that the event flat out wouldn’t be happening at Fort Clinch. He also said the original plan was to raise money for the park. Alas, none of that will be happening as the event now moves to St. Augustine Amphitheater. Read Cummins’ full explanation below.
1. I’m going to write a bit about the Fort now. When we began the evaluation process of the site, it was all systems go from the city
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
2. of Fernandina Beach & the park officials. We were trying to raise money FOR the park, it was a mutually beneficial situation.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
3. Most issues were addressed at the site visit earlier this month, however there were some community members that decided to drum up
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
4. as much chatter & actually write letters to city officials, churches & the police about how we were essentially the devil taking over.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
5. They obviously aren’t that familiar with our fanbase, who by and large, are respectful, intelligent people who like to have fun together.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
6. We were told the contract was canceled 2 days ago and have been working tirelessly to find an amenable solution to the putting on a show.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
7. We know how much our fans & Lettuce’s fans wanted these shows to happen. The worst thing to do would be to cancel it outright.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
8. We tried every way possible to make the Fort happen at Ft. Clinch but in the end, were flatly told “it’s not going to happen.”
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
9. Would have loved to help Ft. Clinch raise some $, play in a historic fort, etc., but the deal would have been worse for the fans.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
10. We found an arguably better replacement venue that will address most of our fans needs & give everyone the shows they want to see.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
11. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. Isn’t it better to have the option of 1) new show or 2) refund rather than cancel?
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015
12. We appreciate our fans’ support more than anything and we always go to great lengths to try to give you guys the best experience.
— Joel Cummins (@goldlikejoel) March 27, 2015