1) PAY TO PLAY: if your band sucks but you want to play rockstar in your local suburban nightclub, AFTON LIVE will help you by... taking your money. Period. Respectable music venues tell these crooks to go fuck themselves, not Empire. Fuck EMPIRE for doing business with these con artists.

http://neverpaytoplay.com/Afton/&NP2Pafton.htm

2) YOUR TICKET DOESNT GET YOU INTO THE CLUB: if you are under 21 (and lets face it, if you are going to a pay-to-play show in Springfield, you are under 21) and have already bought a ticket online, too bad because that is not enough. You have to pay AGAIN at the door. This is Empire double dipping into your pocket by taking money on both ends. See the fine print here:

http://empire-nova.com/aboutus.aspx

The laziness and crookedness of these guys is appalling. The sooner they go out of business, the better.

Gallagher? Seriously?

I'm betting the reason for the underage surcharge is because they depend heavily on revenue from alcohol sales, so if they aren't getting that from people under 21 they have to figure out a way to make it somehow else.

Pretty stupid if you ask me, thats gonna piss off a lot of people and for what...an extra $2 a head?

Yes, if you have a ticket to any show at Empire and are under 21, you will be asked to pay an additional $2 in cash at the door. This additional money is taken at the door so Empire can avoid sharing that money with the bands or ticket sellers.

Nevermind how tacky and underhanded it is, I doubt it's even legal.


retaded Wrote:
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> Pretty stupid if you ask me, thats gonna piss off
> a lot of people and for what...an extra $2 a head?

Jay sold it to them?

ATTENTION AREA BANDS:

Put on your own shows. Find an art space or a community center or something. Buy or rent a PA. Book your friends and book other bands that are passing through town. Promote it yourselves. Share the money fairly.

There is absolutely no excuse for allowing someone like Afton Live to siphon money out of your scene. They are simply taking advantage of you and they bring absolutely nothing to the table.

At the very least, force Empire to get off of their asses and work with you directly. Empire can offer you a roof, a sound system, and calendar on their website. Your job is to make sure that they don't hustle you out of more money than they deserve.

Be realistic and honest about your ability to get people through the door. If you can only bring 15 people to a show, be up front about that (and do everything you can to make sure they show up). Get together with another band who can bring 15 other people to the show. Put 5 bands together and sell the whole package to Empire at once.

In short, if you don't take ownership of this stuff, someone else will and they are obviously not on your side.

I'm sure the place was on life support without a buyer and these goofs talked him into letting them give it a go.

Jay sold it to them? Wrote:
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> Jay sold it to them?