BOULDER, Colo. — An entertainment company is blaming a computer error for erroneously advertising a March 10 concert at Boulder's Fox Theatre, which will feature a local DJ, as a Nelly concert.
Online ticketing sites for the show feature a photo of St. Louis rapper Nelly. They link to a website where you can buy $15 tickets to the show featuring a University of Colorado (CU) student indie band and a CU student DJ, who goes by the persona DJ NEŁŁY.
“When we had just announced the show and there were very few tickets left we assumed something might be wrong,” said Oskar Pedersen, drummer for the band Santa Ana Rodeo.
“I think they have 20 [tickets] left and we’re like wait, we want our friends to come,” his bandmate, Lander Mcnamee, the lead singer, said.
A poster for the show lists NEŁŁY and Santa Ana Rodeo as the headliners for the charity concert benefitting Ability Experience.
NEŁŁY is actually Matthew Nelson, a CU sophomore and DJ. Nelson told 9NEWS Monday that his friends have always joked around about his DJ name being similar to the rapper Nelly. But he’s never seen this serious of a mix-up.
Online ticketing sites listed this show as part of Nelly’s tour, complete with a photo of Nelly. Somehow, the Boulder Show also made it onto Nelly’s tour website.
“We checked his website – literally you just google 'Nelly' and it’s the first thing that comes up. And it’s like tour dates. And that’s the first thing that comes up -- like, huh,” Mcnamee said.
“I get these texts from my friends that our Fox show is on the rapper Nelly’s official website of tour dates. And when you go on his official website and click on it, it takes you to our show,” Nelson, AKA DJ NEŁŁY, said.
Both Santa Ana Rodeo and DJ NEŁŁY said they reached out to Nelly’s management company to let them know about the error. By mid-Monday morning, the show was removed from Nelly’s website.
Z2 Entertainment, which operates the Fox Theatre, issued this statement:
Z2 Entertainment apologizes for any confusion surrounding the upcoming March 10th show at the Fox Theatre with local Boulder DJ "NEŁŁY".... not the esteemed rapper. Given the Eastern European Ł in the local DJ name, internet bots via event aggregator, BandsInTown, confused the spellings. In response, Z2 emailed ticket holders with the clarification as well as information on how to request refunds if they had mistakenly purchased tickets. For those that would enjoy seeing Boulder locals NEŁŁY + Santa Ana Rodeo, tickets are available at https://www.z2ent.com/events/detail/nelly-santa-ana-rodeo-467533
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