Band: Prolong The Agony (facebook.com/prolongtheagony)
Where: Canterbury, UK.
I used to play bass in an electro band called Arcade Eden, The following happened whilst playing a short bunch of shows around the South UK.
At the time it was snowing all over the country really badly. The motorways were frozen and driving anywhere was a really tough challenge, but we drove for a good few hours in the freezing cold to make it on time for load in. Prior to this drive our manager had secured a guarantee of £100 and a place to stay for the night. We were sharing the bill with another rock/electro band called Casio Kids, and pre sales of tickets had been going well so we expected it to be a decent show.
The promoter had been advertising the show as a dance/disco club night so we assumed that the venue would have a decent sound system. We pulled up to the venue more or less exactly at load in time (about 4.30pm) only to find the venue was dead; no lights, locked doors, nothing. We tried to call the promoter; no answer. We called our manager and got him to keep trying; still no answer...
The headline band Casio Kids turned up, the promoter was nowhere to be seen...
Eventually, about 45 minutes later the promoter turned up. We had a lot of equipment so we were keen to load in and start sound checking. We start to load in, only to find that the venue is in fact completely gutted; no seating, no bar staff (or any staff in general), no stage, and more importantly, no sound system.
We were understandably confused and angry, so we asked the promoter what the hell was going on, he explained that he himself had NEVER BEEN TO THE VENUE BEFORE and had also failed to realise you couldn't possibly hold a gig here. We were very close to packing up and leaving but seeing as the promoter was highly distressed (due to the amount of tickets he had sold, many people who were supposedly going to arrive at the venue expected a good night) us and the guys in Casio Kid had a brain storm and suggested the promoter hire a PA system from the local music shop...
About 2 hours later (around 6pm, doors were at 7.30pm), he did...
A very dodgy looking man turned up, set up his PA equipment and we had a quick 5 minute sound check.
People turned up and the gig went well. At the end of the night we packed up, loaded out and went to find the promoter to get paid. He then had the cheek to refuse payment on account that he had had to hire the PA system and now couldnt afford to pay the bands.
After a heated debate about how it was entirely his fault, and pointing out that both bands could have easily drove off hours ago he STILL refused.
We had to call in the big guns and get our manager to call him, after firing off all kinds of abuse and legal threats he eventually agreed and paid up (this took hours by the way).
He then also refused to give us a place to stay as previously agreed (it turned out he was planning on letting us sleep on his own floor, so maybe this was a blessing in disguise), so we had to find a Travelodge and use the money he'd just given us to pay for a room.
I'm sure a lot of bands have experienced far worse, and granted we probably should have checked out the venue beforehand, but I think that's quite a bad night HAHA.
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