No Elton, or anyone else, for P.E.I.

With the announcement that an Elton John tour visiting the other Atlantic provinces is passing P.E.I. by, the province's Tourism Department is saying a megaconcert is unlikely on the Island this year.

The province has been successful the last two summers in attracting big names the Black Eyed Peas in 2006 and Aerosmith in 2007 but has come up empty this year, which is a disappointment to Sobers Music store owner Dave MacDonald in Charlottetown.

"It's always sad to hear something like that," MacDonald told CBC News Monday.

"Perhaps, you know, something may still come available, but you know certainly the weekend concerts have been a major plus for our business and it's great to see all of the activity that's generated by it."

Deputy tourism minister Melissa MacEachern said the province did make an effort at another big show. Four offers were made this year including for the Eagles and Bruce Springsteen but they all fell through at the 11th hour. MacEachern said arranging a concert was difficult because they could only afford to negotiate seriously with one act at a time.

"Once we have a legally binding offer on the table, it's similar to buying a house. If you want to buy two houses, you're going to put two offers on the table and if they both get accepted, you're bound by both of them," she said.

"We went through a process of negotiating with a promoter for the Eagles and that took many months and that really tied our hands."

Elton John won't be coming to P.E.I., said MacEachern, because the province relies on attracting people from out of province to help pay for the show, and that won't work if there are other performances in the region.

"One of the conditions that we had with any promoter is it had to be an exclusive offer within Atlantic Canada," she said.

"We didn't want to see an Elton John in Charlottetown and then in Halifax, or a Van Halen for that matter."

Not everyone connected to the music scene is disappointed.

Pat Deighan of Back Alley Music noted there are interesting acts available on P.E.I. this summer.

"The Blind Boys of Alabama just came through. They're a great act," said Deighan.

"Maybe it's not going to appeal to 10,000 people but I think there's a lot of bands that people would enjoy seeing on P.E.I. that don't necessarily have to be big ticket acts."