When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned.
Fiery Cape Breton fiddling prodigy-cum rocker Ashley MacIsaac will not be appearing in Whistler this month, having canceled all Canadian tour dates, citing a bout of dysentery.
The edgy artist, whose erratic behaviour over the past decade has resulted in a bad boy reputation, was slated to perform at Millennium Place on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The show was to be the official launch of the 2005/06 Whistler Arts Council/MY Place Performance Series.
MacIsaac made waves in the mid-1990s with his fusion of traditional Cape Breton fiddling with electronic beats and rock ’n’ roll.
He also earned notoriety for his punk-rock attitude and for living out loud a hard-partying lifestyle with reports of crack cocaine abuse and kinky gay sex.
Following the publication of an article in the Globe And Mail on Monday, Aug. 29 wherein interviewer Alexandra Gill inquired as to whether his dysentery symptoms were due to him having AIDS, MacIsaac lashed out via his website forum, asserting his recent efforts to improve his health and fitness and declaring he would no longer respond to interview questions from the Canadian media that had not been pre-approved.
Despite his current ailing health, MacIsaac’s website states he will honour his commitment to perform as a guest soloist with the American postmodern-classical Philip Glass Ensemble in an upcoming series of shows in New York, Mexico City and Melbourne.
According to Millennium Place general manager Dennis Marriott approximately 40 tickets had already been sold for MacIsaac’s Whistler show. Ticket holders have the option of receiving a full refund from the TicketMaster outlet at MY Place.
Arts Council executive director Doti Niedermayer said her organization is currently seeking a replacement act for MacIsaac. Once an act is confirmed, ticket holders will have the option of transferring their MacIsaac tickets to the new show, which is not guaranteed to be on the same date, or to another Performance Series show later in the season.
More information on ticket refunds or upcoming Performance Series shows is available through MY Place by calling 604-935-8410 or online at www.myplacewhistler.org.
