Behind the scenes at Lo-Fi
Some of the story behind why the Lo-Fi Social Club closed went dark is starting to emerge.
Peter Goode, who booked the club for about six months, sent me an email statement Monday with his side of the story. ...
According to Goode, owner Neil Freebairn never paid him for booking the club, despite repeated promises to do so.
"I have wasted half a year of my life because of Neil's promises to me and beyond not fulfilling those, he is not paying me money that he owes me and is illegally using my copyrighted images on his website which he refuses to take down," Goode wrote. "I implore you to not support this club in any way shape or form."
Freebairn has not returned any of my calls for comment on why the club is no longer hosting shows.
Goode plans to pursue legal action against Freebairn.
"I don't think anybody should have to endure anything like what happened to me or bands that were left standing outside of a shut down club or traveling bands that have shown up to find out that Neil booked another show instead and never showed the decency to call and notify the bands," he wrote.
"This club owner is a dishonest crook that should not be worked with. I intensely regret ever having any involvement with him and his establishment."
More to come ...
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Interesting, good follow up Sam.
Speaking of follow ups, I heard that Taps Baltimore still doesn't have taps in the Bar. Can you confirm?
Posted by: Drew from Greektown | May 7, 2008 8:32 AM
The last I heard, it didn't. I'll call Dave Holter and see.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | May 7, 2008 10:44 AM
Closed? Are you sure?
Posted by: gofreescout | May 7, 2008 10:55 AM
Gofree -- maybe closed was too hard of a term. It was dark for quite some time. Now, it looks like Neil plans to start booking more shows there. Here's a link to a statement he posted on the venue's myspace site:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=174130002&blogID=389487537
Posted by: Sam Sessa | May 7, 2008 11:03 AM
I was there last Friday.
Empty but not closed.
Posted by: lovehate | May 7, 2008 11:06 AM
Wham City momma's day show is there. I would hardly call that closed.
Posted by: Aural States | May 7, 2008 12:07 PM
A little strike-through action up there could be called for...
Posted by: gofreescout | May 7, 2008 1:20 PM
gofree, good point. Sometimes I forget I have that ability. Done!
Posted by: Sam Sessa | May 7, 2008 2:01 PM
If Neil Freebairn is the sleaze as stated or continues to be, the club will make the transition from twilight to closed, then he will find no one will want to have any future dealings with him because he has compromised his credibility. Restoring credibility and credit is difficult.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 8, 2008 4:50 PM
Yeah he triple booked the venue on 4/25. 1 of the events canceled because they couldn't get in touch with Neil and 1 event ended up on the sidewalk and eventually relocating to The Depot @ 11pm because Neil basically [messed] them over. Its a shame to see a nice space goto waste.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 8, 2008 10:13 PM
The guy needs to be seriously burned before he gets seriously worked over.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 11, 2008 5:22 PM