There are a number of bands that could probably pull a fast one on their fans by hiring impostors, especially those that wear masks.
Heck, the legend even goes that anonymous Melbourne outfit TISM would regularly dress up random musicians in their identity-concealing uniforms and send them on stage instead just for the fun of it.
But the likelihood of getting away with such thrill-seeking swiftly diminishes in correlation when a musician doesn’t have such theatrics to hide behind. Enter RnB singer R. Kelly.
Though he’s not often seen without his regulation shades and goatee, that doesn’t leave much to hide behind and fans of the American performer are up in arms following a concert over the weekend in which they allege they were stood up by the singer, who arrived to the stage late – only there are accusations that it wasn’t R Kelly at all, but an impersonator, as NME reports.
Attendees of a concert held at the Monroe Civic Centre in Monroe, Louisiana on Saturday night (26th October) had paid up to $150 for a promotional show for the release of R Kelly’s forthcoming album, Black Panties,
which promised a live performance from the ‘Ignition’ hit maker.
But fans are demanding refunds, saying that the a man dressed in a hoodie, Chicago Bulls cap, and sunglasses, was a stand-in, who took to the stage at 1am and lip-synced to R Kelly songs and hyped the crowd up for around four minutes before departing.
Local news outlet KNOE interviewed gig-goers about the incident, who supplied some shonky fan footage and photos of the alleged RnB mimic.
There’s a large amount of hearsay and confusion surrounding the show, but the implication is either that Kelly was running late (or never booked) for his date and someone – likely the promoters – thought a stand-in would do the trick.
One fan, who wished to remain anonymous, tells the news station that: “The advertisement online through Ticketmaster said that it was a Ced’s All Black Affair and R Kelly performing live, which did not happen last night,” says the woman.
“We was scammed because 10 o’clock we was there, no R. Kelly. 11 o’clock: no R Kelly, 12 o’clock: no R Kelly, 12:45: no R. Kelly. 1 o’clock, here comes an impersonator.” The woman claims she saw the same impersonator in a nearby restaurant earlier that day, (likely ‘popping fresh out the kitchen’).
Some additional footage of the concert, shot by Charlie Cheize TV and cheekily using the Kelly jam ‘That’s My Story’ (“and I’m sticking to it”) as the soundtrack, shows a much clearer picture of the alleged mimic, who cuts the backing track at one point to sing a couple of bars of classic Kelly come-on ‘Bump N Grind’.
Angered punters are asking for their money back saying that the show was advertised as a live performance. Promoter Cedric Johnson initially contacted KNOE via text message saying he “got duped” and would be offering refunds, but reportedly later rescinded the offer and denied the claims.
Regardless of the claims of an impersonator or not, some fans are just angered by the lavish amount they paid for the bite-sized performance (which makes Azealia Banks’ recent Listen Out storm-offs look like a gig of epic proportions).
There was no such furore over Kelly’s concert at the Landers Center in Southaven the following night, with the Phoenix collaborator tweeting his thanks over a successful show, but the singer has yet to respond to the claims of an imitator scamming his Louisiana fans.
Update 29/10: A representative R. Kelly tells Pitchfork that it was in fact, the Chicago singer at the event, and not an R Kelly impersonator, adding that the evening was billed not as a full performance but merely a promotional event featuring an “appearance” from Kelly.
The confirmation maybe raises more interesting questions than answers; like, ‘how did R Kelly diehards willing to pay $150 to see the singer mistake him for a sham?’ or ‘Why didn’t the promoter come out and confirm it was Kelly in the first place?’, but perhaps most pointedly: ‘How much respect does R Kelly have for his fans – performing for 4 minutes after they’d waited for hours for him to show up.’
