LA Guns/Quiet Riot/Warrant in Australia – update!

LA Guns/Quiet Riot/Warrant in Australia – update!

Phil Lewis & his LA Guns hit the stage down under!

We found a few new blogs about the LA Guns/Quiet Riot/Warrant tour in Australia!

Read the details below for the good, the bad & the ugly!

From the Promotor

LA Guns cancelled Sex Action Tour: THE FACTS

Rumuor #1: LA Guns were not paid for any shows? FALSE. The agreed and contracted performance fee per show was $5,500 USD. LA Guns agreed to play 5 shows (Melbourne, ACT, Auckland NZ, Brisbane and Sydney) which was a revised agreement after Perth and Adela…ide were cancelled due to poor ticket sales. A total of $22,000 USD (4 shows) was paid directly into LA Guns bank account BEFORE they left the USA for Australia. LA Guns agreed to be paid the remaining $5,500 USD for the 5th show AFTER performing the 1st show on the tour in Melbourne. Intense Impact also offered a “bonus” of a further $5,500 USD to LA Guns as a “thank you” for not cancelling the original Metal Health Tour due to the cancelled shows in Perth and Adelaide + as a reward for anticipated completion all shows on the Sex Action Tour. This “bonus” was meant to be paid at the completion of the tour, however in final contractual negotiations Steve Riley insisted this “bonus” to be paid together with the remaining 5th show fee, due after the first Melbourne performance. IN SUMMARY: 1. LA Guns already had $22,000 USD in advance for 4 shows in their bank account well BEFORE leaving the USA for Australia. 2. A further $5,500 USD for a 5th and final show + $5,500 USD “Bonus” = $11,000 USD to be paid to LA Guns AFTER the Melbourne show, once Intense Impact received the net settlement of Ticket sales from the Melbourne Venue. Rumour #2: Intense Impact cancelled the Sex Action Tour? FALSE. Steve Riley on behalf of LA Guns cancelled the ENTIRE TOUR 2 hours before the Melbourne show as per the following: 1. Due to 100% ticket refund offered to all Metal Health Ticket holders from Intense Impact, Ticketek could not release the net income from all shows until May 20th in order to facilitate that process in proper. 2. Auckland New Zealand show had also just been cancelled (for reasons which will be explained in a following statement) leaving 4 guaranteed shows to proceed in Australia. 3. I personally informed Steve Riley via witnessed phone calls that Intense Impact will graciously continue to honor the full performance fee of $5,500 USD for the cancelled Auckland show + the “bonus” of $5,500 USD for completing the Sex Action Tour PROVIDED LA Guns can wait until May 20th, as this money was coming out of the Ticket Proceeds from the Melbourne show. The remaining amount of net ticket sales income from The Palace Melbourne show (after cancellations) = $22,923 AUD and that total does not take into account $50 walk up ticket sales that never had a chance to follow through. 4. Steve Riley then insisted that he wants the $11,000 in cash immediately, or LA Guns will not perform the Melbourne show and will cancel the entire tour. 5. I replied to Steve Riley that as that money was always coming out of the net income from the 1st Melbourne show, and that it is not released until the Ticketek refund process is finalized by May 20th, there is nothing else I can do. 6. I (on behalf of Intense Impact) then pleaded with Steve Riley to be reasonable by reminding him of the following: * There are now 4 shows to be completed on the Sex Action Tour and you (Steve Riley on behalf of LA Guns) already have received the payments for those 4 shows BEFORE arriving in Australia. * The money you (Steve Riley on behalf of LA Guns) is demanding is for a 5th show payment that LA Guns are no longer performing, however, Intense Impact will still pay the full performance fee ($5,500 USD) + the “bonus” fee ($5,500 for completing the Sex Action Tour) as soon as Intense Impact receives the net income of ticket sales from the 1st Melbourne show. * Intense Impact, as previously agreed via contracting, will continue to fund all LA Guns band costs + personal costs (e.g. all show related costs: backline, road crew, P.A. etc. and continuing 5 star hotel accommodation, meals, transport, drinks, cigarettes etc.) * Aside from obvious disappointment to fans, many of which have paid for non-refundable travel and accommodations, the local support bands for these shows will be devastated. * Intense Impact road crew, many of whom have taken time off full time work, will also be disappointed. * Intense Impact to date has invested well over $150,000 USD of Intense Impacts USA co-president Andrew Feder’s own personal life savings. If LA Guns cancel this tour there is no way for Andrew Feder to recoup his money. * If Intense Impact is legally liable for any further tour related costs / damages etc. as a result of you (Steve Riley on behalf of LA Guns) cancelling the Sex Action Tour, Intense Impact will pass those costs onto LA Guns. 7. Steve Riley, after being reminded constantly on everything in section (6) above, insisted on still cancelling the entire Sex Action 2011 Tour. 8. Steve Riley (on behalf of LA Guns) refused once again and said the LA Guns are not going to perform any shows in Australia and will be immediately flying back to the USA. Next thing I find out is that LA Guns are playing shows with a rival promoter. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: It is obvious I did all I could on behalf of Intense Impact for what would obviously result in disappointed fans and support bands. Important to remember that Steve Riley is refusing to return the $22,000 USD Intense Impact paid for shows that LA Guns will never perform + went on to play 2 shows in Melbourne @ $25 per head + sold a heap of merchandise. That’s shows biz I guess… I am also continually annoyed and frustrated at current “con man” slander directed at me all over the net. I am no con man. It is obvious to me who the con man in this situation is. There will be more statements to follow throughout today addressing a range of other issues.

Sincerely, Shane T See More

By: Intense Impact

Also, this review/blog below!

Intense Impact, LA Guns and the tour that never was

May 2nd, 2011 | Author: Peter Hodgson

The saga of the Metal Health 2011/Sex Action 2010 tour is the stuff movies are made of – it’s just that at this point I can’t figure out if it’d be a comedy, a drama or a horror flick. Here’s the short version:

A couple of buddies banded together to form a promotion company (Intense Impact). They booked an Australia/New Zealand tour called Metal Health 2011 featuring three classic hard rock bands (Quiet Riot, Warrant, LA Guns), plus a local support in each territory. I emailed them to ask for more info and to set up some interviews, but got no reply. A few other sites reported the same thing. Personally I never saw any print ads for the shows, nor did I see posters around town. They could have been out there, but if they were there certainly weren’t many of them. As an outsider it almost seemed like the promoters were hoping to rely on word of mouth and the perceived power of Facebook to promote the gigs.

Eventually a PR company was brought in and they did a great job of trying to make up for the lack of early publicity, but by then I think it was too late. Two of the bands (Warrant and Quiet Riot) pulled out about a month from the gig, claiming a contract breach. LA Guns vowed to continue and the tour was renamed Sex Action. The Stick People, a band featuring former Queensryche guitarist Mike Stone, was booked, but dropped out shortly after amid what Intense Impact described as visa hassles. Fans were outraged.

With tickets still priced at $90 each, the promoters offered one free additional entry with each ticket, plus entry to a VIP afterparty. Reunited Australian band Defryme was booked, and promoters attempted to secure another Australian band to round out the bill. They asked Facebook fans to petition the bands (including Rose Tattoo, Screaming Jets, Baby Animals and The Angels) to agree to the tour. In the meantime the show was promoted as having a (and I quote), “special guests surprise ???” while the promoter waited for one of the bands to accept the last-minute offer.

A few shows were cancelled outright, including the Auckland, New Zealand show in where the venue issued a strongly-worded statement that the promoter was neither equipped nor experienced to stage the event. Ouch. NZ support band Rascal Kings claimed on Facebook that they were left severely out of pocket.

A day out from the April 29 tour kickoff, official afterparty venue Back In The Day announced that they had been advised that they were no longer running the afterparty, but would still present the band Sunset Riot, who were going to play at the afterparty. Where was the official afterparty to be now? It was a mystery.

Then on the day of the first gig, the tour was cancelled amid rumours and reports (much of which came from the Intense Impact facebook account later that afternoon and into the next day) of assault, broken contracts, 12-hour minivan treks, non-existent backline payments, Facebook sledging, hospitalisations and arrests. Support bands including Heartbreak Blvd. showed up for soundcheck to be told that the show was off. The promoter was MIA, and tickets to the now-cancelled tour were still being sold. Hell, the Intense Impact website was never updated to reflect any of these changes, still saying the Quiet Riot/Warrant/LA Guns tour was going ahead right until it was taken down on May 2 (it used to be here). Even as I write this, tickets are still being sold for several of the shows.

At the very last minute, thanks to some great last-minute hard work by KWPR and Back In The Day, Back In The Day hosted LA Guns for two shows, adding them to the Friday night event (the former Sex Action tour afterparty) with Sunset Riot going on after. On Saturday morning Defryme were added to that night’s show.

I went to the show, partly to show support to Defryme and LA Guns, and partly just out of curiosity. What would a show put together in these circumstances be like? All three bands put in energetic, rocking sets – Defryme performed to a largely stand-offish crowd but they still rocked. Sunset Riot ratcheted up the energy levels with their more Sunset Strip-influenced sound. LA Guns were probably feeling in a bit of a funk backstage – after all, they were booked to play big venues like The Palace and instead they were playing a small corner stage in a bar – but if they were pissed off they didn’t let it affect their performance. They pulled no punches musically, and made a few (non-slanderous) references to the cancelled tour.

At the moment you can follow the fallout on the Intense Impact Facebook page [update: it’s gone]. I don’t know how much longer that account is going to be there, but for the moment at least it’s an interesting read. The promoter drops by from time to time to put forward his side of the story, which he alleges involves deception, a drunken crew member and a whole bunch of taking-the-money-and-running.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think anybody set out to deceive anybody. I personally think the promoters bit off more than they could chew, and subsequently choked. If nothing else, this sorry saga is a powerful lesson in doing your homework.

The above is taken from a posting/blog found HERE

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