Wednesday, December 17, 2008

So how was the show in Santa Rosa?

We drove 18 hours straight from Portland to a show at a Days Inn in Santa Rosa. It snowed all the way from Salem, Oregon to Weed, California. We got to the venue as the first band was playing.

Long story short: the show was pretty fun except for some drunk dudes that punched the singer of Trap Them's wife and pushed her into the merch table. And trying to figure out how to get paid at the end of the night was a little tricky. It was hard to track down the promoter on account of the hotel's afterparty. Our payment was based on a percentage of money made at the door; no flat guarantee. Because the show was in the Days Inn bar, we got rooms at the motel. The promoter told us how much money was left to divide among the bands and handed us a stack of cash that did not add up to the number she had given us. This created a bit of confusion. After the promoter talked with some other people that worked the show, it was announced that our rooms were paid for out of the money we'd made at the door, hence the discrepancy. Fair enough. Twenty minutes later, the promoter drunkenly shoved Steve in the face for "being the center of attention."

Kudos to Dave Verellen from Narrows for apparently not following the rules and regulations of the venue, which in this case means intervening when two drunk men are attacking a woman while security sits on their asses.

For your consideration, we're posting an email sent from the promoter of the show to our booking agent. If she didn't like us, why did she wake us in the middle of the night by calling our room to ask if we could give her merch? Why did she text us the next morning to ask to get on the guest list for the San Francisco show? Mysterious.

p.s. Trap Them fucking rules.

::> > i definitely wasn't drunk "during" the
::> show. we had an after room that we were accessible to once
::> the show was over and it wasn't till then that I started
::> really drinking. I did have some drinks during the bands
::> sets, but, nothing to keep me from making sure everyone was
::> settled in the 300 dollars worth of hotel rooms and spending
::> out of hand cash on the bands for more drinks since they are
::> obvious princess's. i never said i had MY OWN security.
::> i said we would have security, yes, and in your contracts it
::> also said i wouldn't be responsible for any actions of
::> the band members. i had guys from narrows and taas throwing
::> a fit at security when all security was doing was following
::> the rules and regulations of the venue. the band members
::> were not. it was ridiculous. you throwing shows in boston
::> for who the the fuck ever is of NO interest to me and it is
::> not relative at all. learning process for me, dont book
::> shows for wanna be hot shots. only good band was
::> > trap them and that is who the most of everyone cared
::> to see and they got fucked out of a good time because your
::> baby boy bands were crying about everything. this is highly
::> unprofessional of you to go out of your way and send some
::> shit to me that is myspace worthy. and i now know where your
::> little tikes get it from. either way i felt i was very clear
::> in my final messages that this was not some legit ass venue
::> where we run things like it is the great american or some
::> other venue that gives a shit. i guess you should have
::> worked a little harder to have gotten them a show in
::> sacramento, instead you half assed your job and stuck with
::> the first thing that swung. tell your clients that. good
::> day!
::> >

13 comments:

Unknown said...

shitty promoters fucking suck. it pisses me off!!!!

come to brooklyn/nyc and i'll treat you like gold, like i always have.

-Rich Hall

Katherine said...

Wow. What a moron.

andys said...

I think that fits the definition of asshat.

Abbie said...

hahahahaha. hahahahaha. hahahaha. that is all.

Unknown said...

You obvious princess's (her awful apostrophe and phrasing, not mine) sure were fantastic guests of mine when you slept on my floor. Didn't even complain about resting your head next to a bowl of dog food... that was being jealously guarded by said dog. Talk about a princess...

You're always welcome in Santa Barbara, where we have (mostly) real promoters.

Dayv said...

Man, if you're gonna shame them, you've gotta name them!

Smash Mckenney Cunts said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Smash Mckenney Cunts said...

i dont think swearing is professional. or fucking people out of money. or hitting people. so um....being sworn at, then getting my hand fucking broken (okay i told a story right there) and getting fucked outta money is dumb. but i mean who really cares about santa rosa in the first place?

Tre Till Death said...

Y'alls are some brawlers! Good story!

anonymous said...

i'm not mad that you guys posted this. i don't blame you, i would too if someone shit talked my band. fact remains, on my end, i got you guys EVERYTHING i told S.D. i would. then i got a totally unnecessary email from her on an already trying day. i apologize for bad mouthing you guys to S.D., sincerely do, but i was so mad at the message i got from her. i don't AT ALL think, believe or feel that way about you as people or as a band. i guess i was trying to piss her off, stupid, but i was. if need be, i will send you all the emails prior to the show and you will see that i didn't even want to do the show after all, in fear that i wouldn't be able to provide enough cash, people and such. but i was told that some bucks, a handful of kids and hotel rooms would be more than enough and absolutely appreciated. i told her i didn't even think i could pull 200 dollars and i managed, somehow to get you almost 400. for that junkyard, that is legit. the rooms NEVER were meshed in with pay. they absolutely gave you the rooms for free and the owners were actually the ones who offered the idea of free rooms. there never was a moment that i had to beg or plead with them in getting you guys rooms. i simply went to the desk, got three keys and got you rooms. it may not have been immediately done but how often does a shit town get three bands all their own hotel rooms for free? hell, how many shows does that happen at anyway? those people who own that little spot are great people and were absolutely all for getting you guys set up right and that's exactly what they/we did. though, i will never do anything within that pie hole again. i got drunk, yes. shit, that is what i do when i am in the comfort of friends and good music. but i made sure that things i had made available to you guys were done, rooms and cash most importantly. i explained to S.D. this wasn't some legit venue that ran with a strict code, we just go along with the night and have a good time. thats why when i received the contracts i didn't feel like what i offered and knowing how the night would most likely go, was going to be good for you guys. and again, i was assured that it would be fine. i got you guys exactly what i said i would, cash, rooms, drinks and some shitty food that i didn't even have to do. all i know is that there were some things said that were totally not true. the only confusion i recall from that night was that i was informed there was more money for you guys at the desk. i should have gotten it myself, but, i didn't. all in all, there never was more money. the other girl who involved herself on payout was trying to be important. the only other weird situation was with ashley and that kid. i made DAMN sure they weren't completely evicted from the property and able to stay in a room because that was right to do. i also found it absolutely wrong ashley and ryan were booted and not the kid that supposedly started it all. so i took it upon myself to track the kid and throw him out myself. totally supporting the bands and their guests. the security is the venues, not mine, and there was nothing more i could do. they were following the rules by who was paying them, which was not me. they sucked and we all knew it. all i got from any of the bands was that everyone was into having a low key show and hotel rooms after have drove through a wretched storm. i never got any negative from any of you guys and i was happy that i knew you all had some cash, beds to sleep in and a pretty bad ass tour to continue rolling with. i guess i am writing this, probably useless and waste of time, letter to apologize for the stuff i said because i didn't mean them at all and to make myself feel better for letting myself get so angry. apologies are not easy and definitely not easy to get out of someone, so hopefully that counts for a little and the fact that i am sincere in this HUGE comment. but, i did try and i did do exactly what i said i would and i was really happy that you guys came. i just hoped that my idea of that night was the same on your end or at least acknowledged for just trying to meet new people, help in the little way i could and have some bands i am very fond of play on the account of the effort i made.
good luck in your future and my best regards to you all.



post script....i never "hit" steve. i imagine i may have played around but never would i put my hands on someone out of anger or jealousy or anything at all. i don't recall doing anything at all near his face and if i did, was totally playing around.

bubblegutz said...

hey anonymous,
thanks for your response. honestly, we originally had no complaints about the show aside from the incident with security. we realized the fight was beyond your control, but judging from your original email, you seemed to have a very different view of what transpired during the fight. that seems to be cleared up now. but for the record, Ryan and Ashley were not allowed to stay in the motel, but had to go to another motel instead.

the confusion regarding money at the end of the night was inconvenient in light of our exhaustion, but again, not a big deal and certainly not a reason for us to complain. the confusion with settling finances wasn't all that out of the ordinary for us. in our opinion, the show was (aside from the fight) pretty standard. that's why we were startled by the follow-up correspondence and felt compelled to post your email regarding us being unruly "princesses."

a little more background might clear some of this up: s.d. gets paid a percentage of our earnings. the amount of money you paid us was totally fair and appreciated. hopefully we did not seem like we were unhappy or ungrateful in that regard. the only issue is that we need to keep tabs on what we make off the door so we can pay our booking agent accordingly.

this is the unglamorous and boring side of being in a band: the business side. the confusion with the exact amount of money made off the door meant that we couldn't report how much money we'd actually earned. deductions for things like hotel rooms don't factor into an agent's commission, so when you said there was $400 to split between the bands when in actuality there was $350, and then we're told there is more money coming, and then told that the original wad of cash is all we're gonna get because money for hotel rooms was taken from the earnings, it puts us in a position where we have no idea how much money was actually made off the door, and consequently, no idea what to pay the people who work for us.

again, this is not a big deal. we could have been more thorough on our end and gotten that information, but it was late, we were tired, you were drinking, some of us were drinking, and our booking agency usually calls promoters to get that info the next day anyway.

but when our agent couldn't track you down over the next few days, she emailed us to get the info. and when we explained that we weren't exactly sure how much money came into the venue because the end of the night was a clusterfuck, all this shit ensued. we weren't offended by anything that happened at the show (well, steve didn't like getting shoved in the face), so our gripe was only with your original email.

again, i appreciate the comment, explanation, and apology. and i hope this clears up things on our end.

Anonymous said...

well, i am glad i put my ass out there and left you guys that big comment. i figured i'd rather look like an ass for trying to apologize or an ass for not. i got all of the emails and such in one day including whatever set me off. i had JUST moved and didnt have internet access and if i had known there would have been a follow up i would have definitely got my butt to a computer. all is done now i suppose. but again, anything i said wasnt meant....seriously. i love you guys incredibly. i am absolutely one of those people who hits hard with words when angry.it was a dumb move and the wrong one and i knew as soon as i sent it i was screwed. but it is a new year and i can fix those kinds of actions. i appreciate the reply and again i apologize, i can't say it enough. now that i have embarrassed myself in front of whoever stumbles across this, i will end it here.

sincerely.

Unknown said...

that jessie mae girl is kind of cute.
what's up girl?