Lil Wayne to play Sullivan Arena May 13

After rapper DMX missed his plane from Florida, forcing his April Fools’ Day Eve show at the Egan Center to be canceled hours before he was to take the stage, David Jackson, a promoter from California, was a little hesitant to announce his news of bringing an even bigger hip hop act to Anchorage.

“A lot of people got nervous around the event,” Jackson said. “The next day we’re announcing Lil’ Wayne at the Sullivan Arena, ironically on April Fools Day. What a potential nightmare. One side would be going, ‘is this a joke?’ and another side going, ‘is he going to show up?’”

The Lil’ Wayne performance is set for May 13 with DJ Mannie Fresh (Cash Money Records, Big Tymers) slated to be the opening act.

“Wayne is huge caliber, but we’re not overreaching,” Jackson said. “Our biggest hurdle was that nobody believed it was real. That was the hardest part, but it’s very real.”

The concert is the maiden launch for Premiere Productions, a company put together with a focus on entertainment in the Anchorage market, said the longtime promoter Jackson, who partnered with Leonard Lawson, of Black Ice recording studio in Anchorage, and Brad Erickson of Erickson Productions, who just finished up his first Northern Lights Concert Series, which brought four fairly well known country acts to Alaska, the last being Keith Anderson last weekend at Eddie’s Sports Bar in Anchorage and Klondike Mike’s in Palmer.

Though Lil Wayne missed his show last weekend in Minneapolis, due to what his camp called “plane mechanical issues,” Jackson isn’t concerned that will be a problem for the Anchorage show.

“I called immediately to see if it’s verifiable,” Jackson said. “The plane had a hydraulic (issue). Wayne has a heavy touring schedule and he doesn’t miss performances. The upside of this is Wayne flies his own jet — ‘Air Weezy’ — and he’s actually really looking forward to coming to Anchorage.”

Jackson said the Anchorage market reminded him some of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he went to college.

“It has a similar population base and is often overlooked. Conceptually, we need to do something for this market and bring in premiere talent,” Jackson compared. “(Lawson) had it in his mind that Lil Wayne would be the perfect artist for this market. He caters to lovers of rock and pop and hip hop — Wayne is such a diverse artist.”

Jackson said he closed the deal with Wayne’s team on March 2, and expects it to be the first of many bigger name shows Anchorage can host, and not just in hip hop, but in rock, country, pop and comedy, as well.

“The closer we get to it and people realize it’s real, it gives us even more promotional leverage,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot of talent that wants to come to Anchorage, they just don’t know it yet.”