Whitney Houston [ tickets ] is being asked to pony up about $100,000 for canceling a concert at Concord Pavilion a little more that 15 minutes before her opening act was to take the stage. Houston, who was scheduled to play a show at the San Francisco Bay-area amphitheater on Aug. 1, backed out of the show after she "took ill," according to a statement released by her publicist.

Bill Graham Presents, the promotion firm that books shows for the city-owned venue, is trying to recover the money on the city of Concord's behalf, Concord Pavilion spokesperson Brad Schulenberg told Live Daily. The $100,000 would repay what was spent in preparation for the show, he said.

About 8,500 tickets of an available 12,500 were sold for the show, and about 5,000 people were in their seats when the announcement was made that the show wouldn't go on. Others fans were turned away in the parking lot.

Houston, who recently embarked on the European leg of her tour, cited throat problems and bronchitis in canceling four other dates over the course of her just-completed North American tour. Shows scheduled for July 3 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; July 5 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.; July 23 at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis; and July 24 at the Fox Theater in St. Louis previously were called off. So far, no announcement has been made as to whether the canceled shows will be rescheduled. Schulenberg said Houston has 60 days to either reschedule the Concord date or call it off altogether.

The diva also disappointed San Francisco-area fans in 1991 when she cited laryngitis in backing out of a performance at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View minutes before showtime. Bill Graham Presents promoted that show as well, and reportedly never recovered the money it lost.