Three decades later, Boyz II Men set for grand J’can encore

Grammy Award-winning R&B group Boyz II Men is known for releasing the type of “big chunes” that solidly connect them with their Jamaican fan base of all ages. Three decades after their sole performance on the island, the group returns on October 26, courtesy of organisers Live and Direc and a host of sponsors.

One major sponsor is Mayberry Investments, an entity whose footprints are not usually visible in such a huge way on the entertainment scene. But, as CEO Gary Peart told The Sunday Gleaner at the launch of the event on Thursday, they have done their homework, and, if all goes as predicted, Mayberry could be seen in many more such spaces.

“Boyz II Men are a legend. We did market research, and it came back, surprisingly, that more than 90 per cent of Jamaicans know who Boyz II Men are. The demographics ... from 75 all the way down to 20, recognised Boyz II Men. We were actually impressed by that, and that was one of the key reasons why we said we need to be a part of this event. We think that reconciles with our customer base, and that is something we want to be a part of. We are on a mission to make every Jamaican wealthy and, if every Jamaican knows this brand and we want to make every Jamaican rich … it makes sense,” Peart said.

The Lawns of UWI Mona is the venue of choice for the concert, which organisers promise will start at 8 p.m. sharp and last for four hours. Joining Boyz II Men will be Tessanne Chin, who was present at the launch, and Lila Iké, who was unavoidably absent.

An enthusiastic Cheryl Peart from Live and Direc shared that the group was looking forward to their Jamaican performance and emphasised the importance of patrons being at the event on time. Speaking about the experience of Live and Direc in the show promotions arena, she noted that the entity “has done this many times before”.

“We have done shows both internationally and locally. We have done shows in Maryland …our last show was in Panama with Buju Banton in June. Last October, we hosted one in Port Royal where we had reggae acts … Luciano, Sizzla Kalonji, Lukie D, I-Octane … wonderful performances,” Cheryl shared.

Tickets are available online at US$100 for general and US$150 for VIP. Physical ticket prices are $15,000 and $25,000. However, there are also special cabanas which seem to be going like the proverbial hot bread.

Although Mayberry is a sponsor, the company was invited by the promoters to play the role of investment advisors and is therefore handling the financial side of the concert and could share some of the details.

“Live and Direc have created two super cabanas which were never advertised ... but they are sold. They went for about US$15,000 plus taxes. There are going to be about 12 other cabanas, and I think, to date, 10 are sold. The cabanas are going for one million dollars,” Peart explained.

Concerning the venue capacity, he stated, “We are contracted to do 7,000, which is what our expectation is. So far, they [the promoters] are over in some cases with expenses, but, on the revenue side, they are a little over as well.”

One of the aspects that he couldn’t talk about was the actual fee being paid to Boyz II Men.

“Actually, their contract has a confidentiality clause, so I can’t speak to that. But what I can say is that the opportunity is there for everybody to create value and win. They are being paid a reasonable fee, and they should be happy ... and, based on what we have, the crowd should enjoy themselves. And I think everybody will be happy at the end of the day,” he said.

This “happiness” could very well be ongoing and beneficial to the entertainment industry, as Peart and the team at Live and Direc contemplate using a similar model for future endeavours.

“If you have a core group, when you are putting something like this together, you can sit around a table and say which artiste and, once the consensus is agreed, everybody do dem ting and it falls into place,” Peart said.

He added that there is an understanding of how everybody is going to create value and, so far, there are “some great long-term sponsors and some very good investors” on board.

“We think that, once this goes well, we will probably open the equity to more people, and, obviously, we will do the concert bond to more people. We show them everything ... pricing, expectations, the numbers. If you beat certain KPIs, you can earn a really good return, especially if you are an equity investor. But we want to make it sustainable; we want a model where the price of the artiste is such that we can make money. It’s not about exorbitant profit, but everybody should benefit. Once we find the right model, we can have more concerts, and, with that, the entertainment industry just develops.”

The group Boyz II Men was formed in 1988 at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. One of the most successful R&B male groups of all time, they have sold more than 64 million albums globally and have received seven platinum and three gold singles.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com