Hedley concert cancelled, disappointment follows

By Todd Shearon

When Caesars Windsor cancelled the March 11 performance of Canadian pop-rock band Hedley, one Windsor woman was affected a little deeper than other fans.

Melissa Jamrog, a 39-year-old mother of four, was preparing for the first public performance of her life, singing on stage with Hedley.

As quickly as this opportunity arose, it was gone.

The casino was not willing to make any further comments regarding the cancellation of the band which has also been abandoned by its support acts, dropped by its management and withdrew from Juno award consideration.

One day prior to the first allegations of sexual assault against Hedley’s lead singer were made public, Jamrog, was chosen as the winner of a Facebook contest by Leamington radio station Mix 96.7.

The Hedley fan posted a video of herself singing the band’s song Better Days, earning her the opportunity to sing a song on stage with Hedley during their Windsor show.

“I found out kind of by accident on Facebook before they contacted me,” said Jamrog, who was already planning to attend the concert with her friend Tracy McLennan. “Somebody else had seen that I won and tagged me in the post. I was just shocked.”

The phone calls of congratulations started to pour in.

“(It was like) being up in the clouds excited because I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” said Jamrog. “Then it was the following day the story broke and a bit of a dark cloud went over the whole thing.”

At that point the concert was not cancelled, but the mother of four said she had a lot of mixed feelings about it all.

“It made me start to wonder if I should participate or not,” said Jamrog. “But on the other hand, this was such a huge opportunity. I wanted to keep it about the opportunity and the music. I wanted to just follow through and do it.”

Jamrog said she wasn’t too surprised when she found out the concert was cancelled.

“I think I was preparing myself for that possibility. But I was really disappointed.”

McLennan has spent her a large part of her life listening to her friend sing and play piano and said she felt like this was her big break.

“She’s always hid it (her musical abilities) and didn’t come out to the world with it,” said McLennan. “It was always for her. This just seemed right this time for her to have her moment.”

When it comes to the morals behind the allegations, Jamrog says it’s a really complicated issue.

“When it comes to the music that I like and the bands I’m a fan of, I try to separate who they might be personally from the music because I really don’t know firsthand how any of them are,” she said. “I like the music I like and I will probably just continue on that way.”

With the concert cancelled, Jamrog’s friends plan to visit her home that night to attend a private performance as an alternative.

“She’s worked hard for it and why shouldn’t she have that now,” said McLennan. “It was her fifteen minutes of fame. I really believe that. Why shouldn’t we all be here? We were going to be there to support her anyway. It shouldn’t stop. It’s her time.”

Jamrog said, “It’s still a really good, positive thing that happened. I don’t want to take away from that.”

Mix 96.7 was unavailable for comment.

 

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