Gazprom Arena says Kanye West's October dates have no signed contract

Two Kanye West concerts booked for Saint Petersburg on October 10 and 11 are in doubt after Gazprom Arena said no rental agreement had ever been signed for them. The 80,000 capacity venue had been promoting the shows, at one point describing him as the most influential musical artist of our time, and tickets had moved quickly.

The venue later reversed course, saying the Moscow based concert agency Say Agency was organising the events and that the stadium itself had never signed a rental contract. Say Agency disputes that account, insisting the concerts have not been cancelled, and says it had approval from the venue to announce the dates and was working toward a formal contract by August 27.

Russian reporting has fed speculation that a call from above contributed to the reversal. The dates had drawn criticism from Russian politicians and public figures over West's history of antisemitic remarks, and he would have been the first major Western artist to play the country since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.

Whatever happens to the shows, the money may already be settled. AllHipHop reported that his team negotiates contracts paying half the total fee upfront regardless of whether a performance takes place, and that the Saint Petersburg dates were worth about $10 million on that basis.

The pattern is not new. The same reporting put more than $25 million collected this year from cancelled gigs across several continents, including $7.5 million after Wireless Festival in London fell through, $4 million from a cancelled French event and $4 million from Italy.

Meanwhile the American leg has kept moving. He performed at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on August 28, where Ty Dolla $ign joined him onstage for EVERYBODY, CARNIVAL and their The Life Of Pablo collaboration Fade, ending a falling out that followed their two VULTURES albums. Three more shows were then announced in Houston on October 31, Dallas on November 7 and Phoenix on November 21.

Local governments have kept pushing back against the hip-hop tour wherever it lands, though not always with the results they wanted, as when his Tampa stadium concerts left the local sports authority in profit. This site previously reported that he was set to perform in Russia despite a cultural boycott. Any surviving dates sit on the tour guide.