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Bands often get paid based on how many fans they bring in the door. On Wednesday, April 3, local glam rockers Purple Church may have set a record. They got paid an eye-popping $100 for each head they brought through the door according to the venue. A Griffin spokesman says that Purple Church only brought three paying fans to see them when they backed Metal Blade recording artists Gypsyhawk of Pasadena who are on a 30-city national tour.
The problem arose when the Griffin bartender mistakenly gave Purple Church the envelope with the $300 cash that was the promised guarantee for Gypsyhawk.
Purple Church took the money and split.
“They may see this as a kind of 'gotcha,” says the spokesman. “Like they got away with something really cool.” He readily admits it was his bar's initial mistake, but that Purple Church now needs to do what's right. “It is not acceptable to take another band's money. They need to put a check in the mail for $300 for Gypsyhawk right now. If they don't, they need to exit the San Diego music scene.”
The Griffin spokesman says he is unclear what action he would take if Purple Church doesn't pay back the money.
Gypsyhawk singer Eric Harris says that he was given the phone numbers of two of the members of Purple Church and that he spoke with one of them by phone (Rattle Jake) that night.
“At first they were like 'Oh we only got an envelope with our name on it and it only had $50.' That was a blatant lie. They kept saying it wasn't their fault. I was since told by other people in the scene that the guys in Purple Church are really shitty people. But it falls solely on the bar to rectify this situation.
“When it first happened I was told by the doorman and the bartender that it was a mistake, that this was the first time anything like this had ever happened, and that [the bar] would make sure we would be taken care of. But then the next day the promoter said that the bar would just investigate it. The band may have robbed us but we never entered an agreement with them. We entered it with the bar.”
After a texted request for a comment, Purple Church bassist Rattle Jake texted back: “Nothing happened. The venue had a mishap. Gave us an envelope. I gave the band my cut. Why don't you ask someone else about it...”
Purple Church drummer Michael Prince responded to this post via email: “Before we left I asked the bouncer if there was any cash for us from the people that came to see us play. He said he had no control of that and didn't know so we said 'fuck it' and started to walk out. We start walking to the truck when we hear the bartender calling us back. She says shes the one with our money and to come back in. She heads to the register and counts some money. She puts it in an envelope marked 'Purple Church' and hands it to [lead singer] Disraeli and says, 'Now you have some gas money'... We figured it was like 50 or 60 bucks and it's then when we realize she gave us 300 bucks. Pretty fuckin' rad but not out of the ordinary because we made close to that a couple nights before. We immediately pull off the freeway and load up on booze and make a call for other various party favors.”
Prince denies culpability. “Whose fault is that? No one was jacked. It was not an elaborate scheme or scandal. Just a mistake made by the bartender. If the band signed a contract they should not have left the venue without collecting their money. I don't see how that's our problem.”
Gypsyhawk singer Eric Kluiber responded a few days later. “The [Purple Church] bassist did get us $100 of our money. Whether we get the rest remains to be seen. The [Griffin] promoter honored his end of the deal and set aside the money for us. The bartender was a dick and gave it to the wrong band. [Purple Church] should have immediately realized this and given our money back especially when we called them right away. There should not have been any drama about this. We're gonna keep on keeping on. This is not the first time we've been fucked. It's just the first time we've been fucked by a local band.”
On Tuesday of last week, seven days after the show, the Griffin spokesman said the band committed to him that they would return $100 to the Griffin. The spokesman said the Griffin would kick in the other missing $100, then forward $200 to Gypsyhawk. "Until I get that money in my hands, everyone is still at fault," says Harris.
Bands often get paid based on how many fans they bring in the door. On Wednesday, April 3, local glam rockers Purple Church may have set a record. They got paid an eye-popping $100 for each head they brought through the door according to the venue. A Griffin spokesman says that Purple Church only brought three paying fans to see them when they backed Metal Blade recording artists Gypsyhawk of Pasadena who are on a 30-city national tour.
The problem arose when the Griffin bartender mistakenly gave Purple Church the envelope with the $300 cash that was the promised guarantee for Gypsyhawk.
Purple Church took the money and split.
“They may see this as a kind of 'gotcha,” says the spokesman. “Like they got away with something really cool.” He readily admits it was his bar's initial mistake, but that Purple Church now needs to do what's right. “It is not acceptable to take another band's money. They need to put a check in the mail for $300 for Gypsyhawk right now. If they don't, they need to exit the San Diego music scene.”
The Griffin spokesman says he is unclear what action he would take if Purple Church doesn't pay back the money.
Gypsyhawk singer Eric Harris says that he was given the phone numbers of two of the members of Purple Church and that he spoke with one of them by phone (Rattle Jake) that night.
“At first they were like 'Oh we only got an envelope with our name on it and it only had $50.' That was a blatant lie. They kept saying it wasn't their fault. I was since told by other people in the scene that the guys in Purple Church are really shitty people. But it falls solely on the bar to rectify this situation.
“When it first happened I was told by the doorman and the bartender that it was a mistake, that this was the first time anything like this had ever happened, and that [the bar] would make sure we would be taken care of. But then the next day the promoter said that the bar would just investigate it. The band may have robbed us but we never entered an agreement with them. We entered it with the bar.”
After a texted request for a comment, Purple Church bassist Rattle Jake texted back: “Nothing happened. The venue had a mishap. Gave us an envelope. I gave the band my cut. Why don't you ask someone else about it...”
Purple Church drummer Michael Prince responded to this post via email: “Before we left I asked the bouncer if there was any cash for us from the people that came to see us play. He said he had no control of that and didn't know so we said 'fuck it' and started to walk out. We start walking to the truck when we hear the bartender calling us back. She says shes the one with our money and to come back in. She heads to the register and counts some money. She puts it in an envelope marked 'Purple Church' and hands it to [lead singer] Disraeli and says, 'Now you have some gas money'... We figured it was like 50 or 60 bucks and it's then when we realize she gave us 300 bucks. Pretty fuckin' rad but not out of the ordinary because we made close to that a couple nights before. We immediately pull off the freeway and load up on booze and make a call for other various party favors.”
Prince denies culpability. “Whose fault is that? No one was jacked. It was not an elaborate scheme or scandal. Just a mistake made by the bartender. If the band signed a contract they should not have left the venue without collecting their money. I don't see how that's our problem.”
Gypsyhawk singer Eric Kluiber responded a few days later. “The [Purple Church] bassist did get us $100 of our money. Whether we get the rest remains to be seen. The [Griffin] promoter honored his end of the deal and set aside the money for us. The bartender was a dick and gave it to the wrong band. [Purple Church] should have immediately realized this and given our money back especially when we called them right away. There should not have been any drama about this. We're gonna keep on keeping on. This is not the first time we've been fucked. It's just the first time we've been fucked by a local band.”
On Tuesday of last week, seven days after the show, the Griffin spokesman said the band committed to him that they would return $100 to the Griffin. The spokesman said the Griffin would kick in the other missing $100, then forward $200 to Gypsyhawk. "Until I get that money in my hands, everyone is still at fault," says Harris.