Promoter Seek Damages From I-Octane Following Melee

The wallet of internationally-acclaimed Dancehall/Reggae singjay, I-Octane could soon be lighter after a promoter claims he wrecked an event he performed at during the holiday season.

I-Octane performed at the Western Kite Festival at the Mannings School in Westmoreland on New Year’s Day (Sunday). The event also featured Reggae singer, Romain Virgo and Dancehall star, Popcaan.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, the festival’s lead promoter, Tia Reinford intimated that patrons began littering the stage with bottles after I-Octane abruptly ended his set. Reportedly, I-Octane asked event organizers to dim the lights during his performance but couldn’t meet his demand. At that point, I-Octane walked off stage in disgust; prompting the bottle throwing incident.

According to an angry Reinford, “It is his fault because yuh cyaah come to an event and talk about ‘bottle a selector…you can’t do that.”

Additionally, Reinford explained that a camera man recorded footage of the incident. Reinford said that the organizer in charge of the light told I-Octane to keep performing while they fixed the lighting issue. Following that exchange, the Badmind Fi The Year singer threw his mic down on the stage and walked off, leading fans to throw bottles on the stage in anger. Law enforcement officials then escorted the singjay out of the venue.

As a result, Reinford seeks compensation from I-Octane and his manager, Ray Alexander for damages caused. The promoter revealed that she paid Octane JA$500,000 to book the artiste for the festival but deserves her money back given that he did not fulfill his performance requirements. Reinford also claims that she paid I-Octane US$900 for a hotel room which he never stayed at prior to performing at the show.
Responding to the promoter’s claims, I-Octane vehemently denied destroying the New Year’s Day event; insisting that Reinford apologized for issues that occurred during the show but criticized the promoter for a sub-standard organization of the event. Furthermore, he said that fans threw bottles once they realized that hewould not return to the stage; blaming the organizers for not allowing the set to conclude properly while questioning their professionalism.

The artiste, whose real name is Byiome Muir, stated that fans were waiting for him to perform since 5 p.m.; slated to hit the stage after Popcaan’s set. However, I-Octane ended up working with Romain Virgo for a short while until technical issues were resolved.

As for compensation, I-Octane relented that he and his management team could work out a settlement. However, she called out the promoter for blaming organizers for the mishaps during his set, yet changing her tone following the show’s ending.

“She was blaming the people dem at the stage show, she a blame dem mek everybody hear. Dats why di people dem are so upset,” he said.

This wasn’t the first grouse I-Octane had regarding a performance or potential appearance at an event during the holidays. Billed as one of the main acts for STING 2011, the singjay was one of many notable absences from the major Dancehall stage show on December 26, 2011.