On Feb 18th I had a show at O'Brien's with Disengaged, Kevorkian's Angels and Bugs and Rats that was shut down by O'Brien's staff during the beginning of Disengaged's set due to the crowd being too rowdy. What really happened was, the crowd was not rowdier then any other metal show, people were singing along, bumping into each other etc. Someone slipped and hit one of the speakers, and Purp asked me to make sure it didn't get knocked over so I did that and it did not get knocked over. Drew (the bar manager), who has always had an attitude at every show I've ever seen him at, decided that at this show he was going to go on a power trip, so he attacked someone in the crowd and to his surprise that person fought back and that was when the situation got rowdy (and I got punched in the face trying to help control people) and he shut down the show and began to shove people out the door, including ladies who were just hanging around by the bar.

When Disengaged was breaking down their equipment, and I was at the end of the bar with Purp dealing with the money situation, someone outside cracked one of the windows. The staff at O'Brien's (Purp and Joanne) that night told me it wasn't my fault and I didn't need to worry.
Still I tried to find out who cracked the window and obviously nobody said anything.

Then I got an email from Drew, basically threatening to have me banned from not only Obriens (which I could give a shit about at this point) and also Great Scotts, and that I was responsible for what happened. I also go an email from Shred (who handles booking at Obriens and the Middle East). Shred's email said to call him, so I did before I had replied to Drew's email. I spent quite a while on the phone with Shred, telling him my side of what happened and in the end was told everything was squared away, not to reply to Drew's email and I wouldn't be banned from anywhere. I was going to pay for the window that got cracked, since it was my night and I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot with Great Scotts and the Middle East, not to mention I knew some NotCommon bands had shows at O'Brien's.

Yesterday, I get an email from Ben Sisto (booking guy from Great Scotts) telling me that Drew convinced the owner of Great Scotts to cancel my show there (Dysrhythmia/Conifer/Rosetta/CWAF) because they were afraid it would get too out of hand. Ben was apologetic about it, and even stuck up for me to his boss even though we have never met, which was cool of him to do but it didn't make any difference. I called Shred, and asked him what happened (since I thought everything was all set after the last time I talked to him), and he said he would try to get to the bottom of this, and get back to me. Nothing has changed, even though I did everything I could to remedy a situation I had nothing to do with and couldn't have prevented, and in reality Drew caused yet continues to blame me for.

I am publicly boycotting O'Brien's Pub until Drew is no longer working there, and I encourage everyone else to join me because that guy's bullshit could easily effect your show or your band next.

I won't take personal offense to people who don't stand with me on this, I know there are not alot of places to play at or book at in/around Boston. I will not attened any show at O'Brien's however, regardless of who plays.

man listen, fuck that bullshit.
not only did this drew asshole cause the whole problem in the first place, but you've gotta take the hit for it. is it me, or are you taking a lot of shit from venues lately?

That is exactly how it panned out, I'd like to see him try to take legal action against me for the cracked window (something he threatened before), because I am definately not paying for it now.

I think it is absolutely fucked and unreasonable that that prick went so far as to talk to the owner of great scott's and convince him of such extreme measures as cancelling a show. Bastard.

that's a shitty thing to have happen. I don't think we were ever gonna play there again, because we're too big (meaning too many people in the band) to fit in there. So at least I will stand by you about this BS. that's not cool what happened, and I really hope everything pans out for you in the end

DAMN THE MAN!

join my boycott Megan

i never fucking go anywhere anyways so viva la resistance

I think that Drew fellow has illusions of grandeur, he thinks he is all powerful and wise

He tried talking to me at a bar in Allston and I asked him why helvete was cancelled and why he wouldn't let people in bands under 21 stay indoors so they don't have to fucking freeze and he said the cops are always monitoring the place and riding his ass about minors.. thats funny because I have never seen a cop near o'Briens

paganmegan said:

I don't think any of us have... hence why so many people smoke pot out in the back lot...

we've (about 10 of us) been boycotting O'Briens since they cancelled a show on the night of, because they found out Seth Putnam was in the headlining band with Larry Lifeless. The band even offered to put up $400 security that there would be no incident, people had already paid to get in, and they weren't going to refund money - people had driven up from CT. The club and that c*nt bartender wouldn't budge. We all left, and haven't been back since.

Joe, I am really upset about what happened. And I really hope Shred can help you work it out. But to be honest, I don't know what boycotting can do except make sure there's absolutely NO metal at O'Brien's instead of a little. I am going to continue booking the Boston's Dead series at O'Brien's (where it has been for the last 2 1/2 years) as long as I can. And I hope that people will continue to come and enjoy metal. I think the way to get metal back at O'Brien's is to get more people to come out, without problems, not less.

dreaminginexile said:

Exactly. So it proves that guy is on a power trip, and does things from his need to feel in power, not because they are neccesary

oh well, his loss, it wasn't a bad place, but with all the bull shit around there now, it's not worth going or playing there anymore... fuck 'em, they'll realize that they've fucked up when the only band that'll play there any more is Wretched Assylum, because they're as stupid as O'Briens...

It is true cops have been coming by O'Brien's, but that is no reason to not let underaged band members inside.

Liz, normally I would be inclined to agree with you, but when the problem is one of the staff members then it is unlikely the problem will go away. Every show I have held at O'Brien's since he came on staff I've always had people asking me what his problem is (bands and fans alike). I have always viewed myself as somewhere in between club staff and band members, so I always came up with reasons about this and that, whatever. But there is no excuse for that guy to always be a prick to people who are funding his paycheck, and this shit with great scotts is ridiculous. Metal has a been a lifeline for O'Briens over the past 2 years and if they fail to see that then they deserve to go out of business.

That is the gayest thing I have ever seen.

Nevermind--everyone can make up their iwn minds on this.

I would consider it a success to see Drew fired, this guy is also a prick to every one at your shows too and that is something you should keep in mind.

I don't know if you have seen Malignancy before, but I can easily see the crowd tonight getting pretty rough (way more then they did at Disengaged), so you might have to deal with that asshole's bullshit too.

I would not want to see Bostons Dead end, but if less people come, don't blame me - blame Drew. His bad attitude is what is forcing people away from Obriens. I don't know if he is always that way, or only at metal shows, but there is no excuse for it.

O'Briens won't let me in anyways.

i've only played there once and i've never liked that place...i dont like any place that decides to have music, but only lets people over the age of 21+ in..no matter what the reason is...i wasnt planning on going back to O'Briens anyway, so i guess i'm with you Joe

They wouldnt let my girlfriend in the last time Horn played there. We had to get her to tie her hair back and wear a denom vest with a bunch of patches on it so the door guy and the bartender wouldnt recognize her. We told them she was the vocalist for the finishing act there that night and that the rest of her band hadnt shown up yet. It worked but the people who work there are total chodes.

I really think they need a change of personell

Yeah and conifer really inspires violence.... this is fucking ridiculous...what a slimy fuck that drew dude is...

Oh man I remember that Conifer show I went to at the living room and the kids were moshing so hard that I broke my arm blocking my girlfriend from all the violence. Oh wait that didn't happen because everyone just sort of stood there and enjoyed Conifer's music. I'm sure the gay indie rock shows are a lot worse with skinny dour boys in ironic tees having seizures to the locust.

if i ever go into obriens (not likely), ill make sure i walk outta there with them violating some public health codes. its hide the poop time

humanbonedeathmachine said:

Hahahaha..

humanbonedeathmachine said:

I wasn't planning on saying anything in this thread to keep my opinions impartial.... but... defecating at a club (minus in the toilet), is childish. And if it bothers you that much don't even bother going to the place right? This has got to be one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen about this whole thing.

nate said:


:::bows to cheering crowd::::





obriens is like 3-4 hours from me. i dont think we have to worry about it

i love playing O'briens it's one of the funnest places for me and (i think i can speak for the band to say) BOE to play, altho now we have added to our line up a guy who is under 21 and i dunno how the rest of the band and he is gonna feel if he isn't allowed in to watch the other bands he plays with.

i know clubs have policies like this but most put a big bold X's on the under age musicians hands and at least let em in to do their shit seeing how they are "working" for the club that nite as part of the entertainment(and i thought bartenders could be 18 to tend a bar has that changed i know they can work in liq stors at 18 i belive)

so i am torn i mean i wanna play there as it is always a good time and boston's dead has always been a great way to get metal in boston but on the other hand it isn't fair to my guitarist to have to wait somwhere else till it is time to play either

it sounds to me as if who ever is enforcing this is doing it soley out of hate for the style of music or are all types of bands being subject to this new rule

I gotta say, Joe, i'm with you on this. but i think it should be taken a step further. merely boycotting the place might not be enough, especially if other people start booking there in your stead. people should call or e-mail the powers the be there and (NICELY!) explain how they feel about the place and why. i personally don't care for the place, but like you said, there aren't really may other places to play. if you posted a phone # or an email address, i know i'd do it. it's not just boston, it's happening all over the place, and it's up to us to do something about it.

I think if enough people described the actions of that dumbshit drew, and represented themselves as customers who spend a decent amount of money on shows to whoever is higher up than he is they'd probably do something about it, no club's ownership wants to feel like they're gonna lose $$$

I say we piss in his gas tank

Joe, I'm with Dave on this one, I think polite emails/letters/phone calls to Obriens and Great Scott would have a better effect than simply boycotting these places.

i still think we should piss in his gas tank

This is a tough on for me. :(

What is Drew's email and what is the number for O'Briens?

BornSoVile said:

horny4u@chickwithdicks.com

1-900-anal-cream-pie

well, in lite of the situation, i do belive im going to providence friday night. I was on the fence, but people shouldnt be treated like that, so its an easy persuation.

Providence!

That really sucks. Unfortunately, the Curse already has a show booked there April 3 and we're really in no position to cancel since we haven't been getting a lot of shows. I definitely think that what happened to Joe is a whole bunch of bullshit though.

For what it's worth - I won't cross your line Joe

Just book Boston's Dead at Great Scotts, that place has a better set up...weird stuff hanging from the ceiling, and there is actually parking... sort of.

Joe - You should get the proper email so we can send Great Scott complaint letters about your show being cancelled, so they can see people wanted to come....

















... instead of trying to get a boycott of O'Brien's before my big show there, prick!

Haha...

dreaminginexile said:




woo smoking pot!

Al Ravage said:

i think the fact that great scotts is 18+ is more important than anything.

perhaps you should have a 'boycott obriens' benefit show to help raise awareness.

tbone_r said:

I wanna help out on the "boycott obriens" quilt.

Damn that really sucks Joe. We liked playing there too. I think I know the guy you're talking about too. Who's that punky sound guy though? He was always really really cool with us.

Man, I miss the Block.

well, it's time for someone to smash a window at great scotts.

Dissector said:

thats perp. hes an awesome guy. one of the most supportive of the shows. hed even come to the shows he wasnt even working.

Boycott ATF agents.

On behalf of It Will End In Pure Horror I wish to send our support of this boycott to Joe. Down with the man. Whitey is not going to keep us down any longer.

Take 5 Whitey

Blue said:

I remember the day George Romero came to Boston we had a show there that night. Me and our bassist went to see Romero during the day and to the show at night. After our set he told us he couldn't see Romero because he was working all day but our set was just as good as seeing him. That was the greatest comment I've ever recieved. He was always into and was the only one I know that could get our vocal pedal to actually come out through the speakers.

Obrien's should take the shamrock off of their sign and replace it with a hammer and sickle...

coldnorthernvengeance said:

As an Irish-American I am ashamed to be affiliated with O'Brien's

Antoine Walker told me that as a Boston Celtic he too was ashamed to be affiliated with such a club.

The only contact I have for Great Scott's is their booking guy, Ben Sisto, who was really cool about it and stuck up for the show to his bosses, he didn't take his advice over Drew.

I do have Drew's email address, who didn't listen to Shred (Obriens booking guy). Also I have Obriens main phone number.

However, I am not going to post his email if people are just going to send him retarded emails threatening him or calling him dumb names because that is counter productive.

Ben Sisto (booking guy from Great Scotts) ben@honeypump.net
Shred (booking guy from Obriens) booking@obriensallston.com
O'Brien's phone #: 617-782-6245

Alex pointed out to me Great Scotts put some anti-heavy music disclaimer on their site when they cancelled my show so I didn't bother including them in the boycott since they won't do anything heavy now. If anyone wants to put pressure on those guys to bring this up to their respective bosses then feel free, but do not make dumb threats or petty name calling emails. Ben and Shred are cool guys.

Liz Snair emailed me to call her, which I won't be able to do. But apparantly some guy who works at Great Scotts had interesting things to say, probably because he heard what happened from Drew's point of view.

Anyways, I am glad the scene here is standing up for itself, I was afraid this all would come across as selfish but I didn't feel that way. Sure it was shows I booked they fucked with, but they were shows I know alot of you said you were interested in going to.

I like Diamond Dave's idea, I think it would be good if the metal scene really stood up for a change.

People who do go to Malignancy tonight should keep bringing it up.

i dunno. shit happens. the guy is a dick. so don't tip him! i'm not gonna let one dude ruin an entire bar for me. regardless of drew, they have the friendliest staff in the boston area. plus prophetless still books good shit.

As a 19 year old, I've technically already been boycotting O'Briens, and I am not losing anything by continuing said boycott.

With that out of the way, Joe, I'm 100% behind you on this! DAMN THE MAN!!!!!

as someone who never once went to this place, and never had any plans of going, I fully back this boycott.

XmikeX said:
I'll second that notion.

from what i heard about the turnout at the malignancy show, the boycott is already in full effect. i guess thats what happens when obriens tries to fuck with one of their only sources of income.

the turnout was fine at malignancy. it so happened that everyone in the world went to skinless/dehumanized and i don't blame them, i wanted to go to. personally i'm not gonna give up on the venue. dee dee's is cool but it's harder to get too and sound, staff, and those fucking tvs crap on the atmosphere. might as well bite the bullet and play their game for a bit. normally i'm 100% behind boycotts but there is more to this. i wish i was at the disengaged show so i coulda seen what happened.
Joe, i was at sitting there at the bar on friday and drew went off on you to joann. more than anything he's ripshit about the window and the fact it costs $800 to repair. he said people were being assholes to the staff all night and were rowdier than usual. his main beef with you is that he felt you should have shown some leadership and at least attempted to calm people down or whatever. i don't know i wasn't there so i don't know what was happening. i think in a case like this you need to be the bigger man, call him up and talk face to face and try to work something out. It's unfair to sabotage other promoters work as well as an entire venue/scene for bands from a single bad night. i agree that they have gone down hill in the past few months and the place has never been the same since Gabe left but this is no reason to walk away from years of work only to shoot everyones foot with very little options left to go to. *disclaimer* i'm not trying to undermine, pit, start shit or make Joe look bad. like I said I enjoy this club and I think it would be a shame if everyone turned their back on it largely do to a somewhat sensastionist mentality.

haha yeah joe should have calmed people down. the only one who was out of line was the manager. Joe should have calmed him down and told him not to attack the crowd and then kick everyone out.

i guess so.

what really sucks is...

a city the size of Boston only has 3 venues that allow metal.

wtf?

The Channel
The Rat
Axis
Celebration
Bunratty's/186
The Paradise
The Linwood

wtf happened?

$800? That's funny because they told me $150 on the phone.

Also, I got punched in the face trying to calm people down, and spent over an hour on the phone talking to Shred to straighten everything out, which I had done but Drew decided to ignore Shred and start more shit anyway.

I don't know what else you expect me to do Josh, since I had agreed to pay for the window, and did make a call. I also called some guy at Great Scotts who said he was going to call me back and never did.

EDIT: If Drew is right about what happened at the show, why does he still have to try to convince the rest of the staff 2 weeks later?

th3rdknuckle said:

The Linwood will be re-opening and I know I can probably get shows there, plus with the right tour package I think I can get the Paradise as well.

BornSoVile said: you would be as pissed as Joe if you heard what Drew says below if you were there

BornSoVile said:
that's all crap. I've been to obriens a million times and that night was no different, and i was completely sober. Joe did try calming people down, it was Drew who got all tuff and started pushing. He has Napoleon syndrome and needs to be destroyed.

joe has done a lot for the metal scene..

if the venue decides not to have metal shows, everyone pays for it in the end.

joe doesn\'t drink and is not a violent person, he\'s also smart and wouldn\'t do anything to fuck up his relationships with people.

He\'s been putting on shows for a long time...look at how many shows he\'s set up and all the different venues.

Now someone canceled his show and blamed him for people getting rowdy?

fuck that
i\'m going to support joe

that was me
~carina

The Channel- Close
The Rat-condemned
Axis-hasent done a metal show in god know how long
Celebration-???
Bunratty's/186-closed
The Paradise-Hasent done a metal show in years
The Linwood-stopped doing shows

Yup.

i know...
was just saying that Boston has changed a lot in a short time. in the eighties, all of those clubs had metal every week, sometimes multiple nights a week. I know what happened, watched it happen; i was just wondring (rhetorically) WHY?

Celebration was site of the origin of 1st ever 'Metal Scene' in Boston. the wednesday night metal shows , in conjunction with WERS's Nasty Habits started it all. It was part of the Kenmore Club in Kenmore square. It's currently a Gap.
(puke)

1st ever Boston shows for:
Metal Church
Exodus
Tank
Nuclear Assault
Fates Warning
Talas
...all took place at Celebration

have any of you heard about this happening in other major cities?

are we all going to have to rent VFW halls in 2010?

I was really forlorn when the Channel closed. I saw some of the best thrash shows there. I didn't move to Boston until '89, so I never saw anything at Celebration

was that the same building as what became Narcissus?

th3rdknuckle said:

damn, I need to go there and buy some affordable priced jeans.

ps: boycott joenc!

I know you know. I'm just board.
It does suck though. We're scrounging these days. and the Middle East wont even do metal on the weekends. Whatever though. Everything comes in cycles.

litacore said:

the Kenmore Club was really 3 clubs: Narcissus, Celebration, and Lipstick. Metal night was at Celebration on Wednesdays nights; and when it was a big show they had it upstairs at Narcissus and used Lipstick (a small dance club) as the dressing room

Joe/NotCommon said:

okay. I'm glad I got to hear some more details from you.
I'll be at Superchrist regardless. I'm not going to give up on Bostons' Dead however. Boycotting a once a month show won't do shit and is pointless but getting the word out to everyone about this bullshit will prevent more business being booked there in the near future. I hope to hell there will be at least one other venue around by the end of the spring.

I don't blame Joe for boycotting... It'd be one thing if he had gotten banned from booking, but when Drew reached out to fuck with his other shows, that was just fucked.

That said, everyone go next Tuesday the 15th! Hopefully Drew won't be working.

and if he is, i will continue my boycott of tipping him...

I think my boycott might be coming to an end...more news soon