Mark Ronson is currently in the country promoting his latest album, the hit-spawning Uptown Special, with an appearance at the recently concluded Splendour In The Grass and a string of sideshows.

One venue he was not scheduled to play, however, was the Matisse Beach Club in Scarborough, Perth, much to the surprise of eager punters, who spent up to $1,100 on tickets and hospitality packages to the gig, which promised a DJ set from the superstar producer.

Matisse Beach Club scheduled their Winter Funk Fest event for Saturday, 25th July, claiming the event would feature an appearance from Ronson behind the decks. But the producer, who was in Byron Bay, never arrived.

Moments before doors opened, Matisse Beach Club posted an apology to the Winter Funk Fest event listing on Facebook, claiming Ronson’s promoter had informed organisers that “he is unable to make it to our Winter Funk Fest tonight”.

The organisers cited “unforeseen logistical issues getting back to Perth from Byron Bay today”, adding, “This is completely out of our control but we are doing everything we can to ensure that our customers are looked after tonight & moving forward.”

“We are working with Ronson’s promoter on a possible reschedule. All ticket holders will receive a ticket to this new event or applicable refund, regardless of attending tonight.”

Lara Hyams told the Sydney Morning Herald she and her friends had forked out around $70 each to reserve a cabana inside the club. “I had been notified by a friend that is a DJ that something was amiss, that [Ronson] wouldn’t be attending,” she said.

“Then I checked on the Matisse Facebook page and they’re the ones who disclosed the artist wouldn’t be attending. A lot of people weren’t aware of the change of plans until they actually got there. There was a lot of confusion and staff didn’t seem like they knew what to do.”

Meanwhile, Ronson, who’d played a well-received gig at Metro City in Northbridge on Wednesday, took to social media to lambast the “shady” promoters of the event, saying he had no knowledge of the “fake gig”.

“Perth, [one] of my fave cities in the world! A promoter falsely advertised I’m DJing a club [tonight]. COMPLETE BS. Truly sorry if [anyone] bought tix,” Ronson wrote on Twitter, later urging fans to seek refunds.

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Angry fans soon flooded social media, calling for refunds and encouraging others to boycott the venue. “I wasn’t confident a refund would be issued, so we went down to the venue and at least redeemed the package we had purchased,” Ms Hyams told Fairfax.

“I used to be a promoter and I understand that sometimes things go awry, but when you have an artist who vehemently denies any knowledge of this thing, it makes me think I have been scammed.”

Matisse Beach Club issued a formal apology on Sunday, stating “all ticket holders [would] receive a full refund” and holding a “third party booking agent and promoter who sold us this appearance” responsible for the incident.

While punters who purchased tickets to the Winter Funk Fest are understandably upset, man of the people Ronson has promised that any Perth resident “who shows a ticket from that fake gig” can attend his next Perth performance for free.

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