Cancelled Rockin’ the River band paid

Philadelphia-based band Low Cut Connie has received its contractually required payment even though it won’t be performing at Luzerne County’s Rockin’ the River Friday, said county Manager Romilda Crocamo.

The performance agreement between Visit Luzerne County, Arrival Artists and Low Cut Connie required a $1,000 deposit to Arrival Artists — the booking agency — and a $9,000 check to Low Cut Connie on the date of the performance, July 25, it said.

Crocamo verified the payment was made.

Disclosure that Low Cut Connie would not be performing came Monday when frontman, pianist and songwriter Adam Weiner publicly accused the event promoters of cancelling its performance due to politics.

“For the first time ever, my show has been canceled for ‘political’ reasons,” Weiner posted on social media. “The promoters in Luzerne County, PA feel that this weekend’s Low Cut Connie show in Wilkes-Barre will be too controversial and polarizing. Low Cut Connie shows are quite the opposite!!”

Weiner noted his band has been replaced with Halfway to Hell: A Tribute to AC/DC.

Crocamo released this statement Monday: “Our goal is to have a place where we can enjoy music, food, promote our community, have fun, be safe and free of politics and propaganda.”

This is the 7th annual free Rockin’ the River summer concert series at the River Common recreational facility along the Susquehanna River. Based on past attendance, the three Friday evening concerts on July 11, 18 and 25 were each projected to draw crowds exceeding 3,000.

Payments for bands come from event sponsors and not the county’s general fund operating budget, Crocamo and officials said.

County Council Chairman John Lombardo emphasized this point at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting, saying no taxpayer funds are involved because the bands are paid through “philanthropic efforts.”

In a video he also posted Monday, Weiner said the event promoters indicated the band’s performance was cancelled for political reasons but did not elaborate.

Weiner said in the video he speaks about diversity and inclusion in his performances and recently released a song, “Livin in the USA,” that “speaks to the terror, the unease, the fear that so many people in the United States are experiencing right now because of these ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids that are absolutely inhumane and anti-American.”

“I will not stop speaking about that,” he said of the ICE raids. “For all these reasons, the organizers of this event feel that my show is too controversial. It’s going to alienate people and be too polarizing, so they cancelled the show.”