Opinionated Metalhead: “Good Vibes” Ent. Promoter Is A Bust

It was a Friday night after working at my day job.  I met up with one of my homies for some drinks at the Dispensary Lounge off Eastern and Tropicana before heading over to the venue with one of the bands. As we were on our way to the venue we got deeper and deeper into a side of town I wouldn’t want to stay alone in.  We had to make 2 U-turns to get in the lot that was filled with random circles of people standing around.

The space we backed into had fresh blood on the curb from some dude face planting. The parking lot had the air of stank pussy. It didn’t help that there were so many different strains of weed combining smoke in an unpleasant cloud. I’m all for smoking a doobie but that was something else.

But on to my rant…. oh yes …it’s about to get gnarly so buckle up kids….

Originally the promoter Andrew Gambino had reached out to me to ask if I knew any bands that would be interested in playing with HED P.E. on the 29th of March. He was looking for bands who would be willing to pay to play. It was $200.00 buy in to play with HED P.E. Most local bands are not down for pay to play gigs. They give them some exposure that makes them more of a viable for booking out of town gigs in general. But for a $30 show with no re-entry  in a hole in the wall in a not so accessible area of town I was pretty fucking offended by the time I climbed into my Lyft to get the fuck out of there. Leaving was necessary before it resulted in someone getting punched, me getting stabbed or both.

Strike 1: I messaged the promoter (Andrew) to let him know I was on my way and then again when I got there. No answer. I get being busy but when I literally stand right next to you with a member of the band I helped you book that’s ridiculous.  He did not even say hi or act like he recognized me. If you ask me to help you out in getting bands booked for your show and then ask me to come, do not ignore me …at least say “Hi”. He messaged me way later (like 2 or 4 am) to ask if I stuck around for the show. Short answer is fuck no I did not.

Strike 2: The staff was extremely rude to me. Their “No Re-Entry” policy was very loosely enforced except with me apparently. I was on the guest list for one of the bands and got hassled at the door about it, was not given a wrist band, and then had a bartender rudely after watching the lady not give me a wrist band tell me he could not serve me without one. I showed him my ID even to prove I was of age and had cash on me. After getting an attitude with the guy about what he just witnessed with the lady at the door I was able to buy my one tiny drink.

When I finished it, and had bought my merch from the always Stand-offish merch guys for Hed P.E. I eventually tried to go back outside to hang out with the band I came with and was told I could not. Yet people were in and out of that door constantly. And no these weren’t all staff and band members. I’m sorry I am not one of your regular patrons but with that attitude why the fuck would I ever want to come back to your establishment. The fact that I had to get upset with the staff about the double standards was bullshit.

Strike 3: Not having their shit together at all. Listen to the fucking bands before you book a genre clash cluster FUCK. Hed P.E.’s old stuff is hard as fuck however over the years in these smaller more intimate venues majority of their set list is of their newer stuff that goes more into a jazzy reggae vibe. The lineup was consistently all rappers and DJ’s except for Dirt Halo and Fencer who were already on tour.

Don’t endlessly push out the bands set I vouched for because you can’t get your tear down and set up game on point and/or not have the equipment needed to facilitate an actual band stage set up. What kind of venue doesn’t have fucking mic stands? What kind of promoter doesn’t make sure that shit is handled before a show starts.

Strike 4: You get one chance to waste my time that’s it…. then you get none of my time. This ENTIRE scenario was a huge waste of everyone’s time that was involved. I don’t give a shit what touring bands you book or how many shows you promote I’ll burn a bridge if it’s not worth crossing again.

Strike 5: One of the bands you booked not only did not get to play but did not get paid …it’s been a month and a half dude …and you told them you would pay them double after taking their money and then turning around and saying you don’t charge locals to be on shows. You are a shady cock sucker. The fact that a band has to take legal action to get paid a sum less than $500.00 that you promised them is ridiculous.  To not pay a band out is poor etiquette. Who are you and how do you not know how to run a show and then decide to run a fucking show? Maybe you should spend less time finding memes about eating bomb pussy that you will never have and more time on learning to be a better promoter let alone a better fucking human being and PAY YOUR FUCKING BANDS.

Bruh…..Shut up and pay your bands the money you owe them….if you had so much shit going on that you couldn’t contact the band you wouldn’t be posting this shit almost every 10 minutes on your fucking Facebook feed. Clearly your fingers weren’t broken.

This guy has not been in touch with either of the two band members that have reached out to inquire on updates multiple times. He had them sign a contract that he has yet to countersign. He told them the latest payment would be issued would be April 29th. He didn’t even contact them to let them know he was having issues but expected me to play messenger for him after I personally confronted him.   Issues with your family or not handle your business. A week is understandable …even 2, but you took money from this band and then they weren’t even able to play the show and then to top it off you don’t pay them back even the amount they bought in …what did you do with their money? Buy a hooker? You should not promise a band back money you don’t have. People go through personal stuff all the time and still manage to handle their shit.

BANDS I implore you never to book with this guy or give him money ever again. I am sure there will be plenty of people who will come to the defense of the venue staff and this promoter, but I refuse to hold back and not speak out about this kind of shit. This lack of professionalism is flat out astounding and should not  be rewarded. 

BOTTOM LINE: Get your shit in writing before the show. Someone’s word is meaningless unless they put it on paper with their signature. 

Update 05.14.19: The venue management has reached out to me regarding this issue and has clarified that this promoter is independent from their establishment. They will be addressing this occurrence with their staff to prevent similar experiences from happening in the future. I will attend an event of interest in the future to see if the experience differs in comparison to this horrendous cluster. I am happy to hear from business owners that want to improve and strive for more positive experiences for their patrons.

Additional Update 5.14.19: Some people just can’t take the heat. For the record this promoter is not NEW to promoting he has promoted 176 shows in his 10+ year career. I wonder how many of those bands also went on to not get paid? When your response to me is that you are going to have your lawyer pay them out after your account is finally in the black that is a concern to me. But hey …I’m all for full disclosure. You want to see the whole conversation. Here you go. The attached is the entire convo up until this very moment at 7:10pm for all the world to see. I am a little girl who knows nothing and how dare I post my opinion on how he handled his business. Andrew_FB_Convo_5.14.19  The video he is referring to is video of the band being told to enter and then to leave the premises.