Edit: If you came here via prestonsucks.biz… thanks for seeking us out to find out the other side to the story of what happened.
Dan Deacon’s show was moved to Masquerade from Eyedrum and co-incidentally AFTERLIFE was moved to Friday as well. We only do AFTERLIFE once every two months or so now and this happened to be the only date available.
The schedule was then set that the Dan Deacon show would run from 9pm to 11:50pm. This is the standard schedule for shows at the Masquerade. We were scheduled to have the room from 12am to 3am. Knowing we had such a short window to transition, I cut all of my visuals from my show and stripped our stage set-up down to the bare essentials to make it easier on the band to break down and us to set up.
Prior to arriving at the venue, we had spoken with the Masquerade management and the promoter to make sure we had a basic plan for making the transition as to make sure everything went smoothly for both events.
When I arrived at the venue, I personally went back and spoke with members of the Dan Deacon ensemble to figure out how we’d transition. They had a 20 piece band and a lot of gear… and we had to figure out how to get our equipment on stage without a half hour of downtime.
Their show was reportedly running 15 minutes behind schedule from the start. I spoke with the promoter and Masquerade staff and we agreed to push the end time from 11:50 to 12:05. If what I was told was correct Dan Deacon was originally scheduled to go on at 10:50… so the adjusted schedule would put them on at 11:05. The supporting band ended sometime around 11pm. Dan Deacon didn’t take the stage for well over a half hour… everyone was confused as to what was going on and I was told that promoter / staff were having a really hard time getting the band to start the show.
I was then told that the show would be pushed back to a 12:20 and that was the final ending time. At 12:10, Dan Deacon’s own sound guy got on the talk-back mic and reminded Dan that they had 10 minutes to go. At 12:20 they were still playing. At 12:25 they were still playing and showing no signs of stopping.
At this point, Dres and I are back at the sound booth just waiting to make the transition. I saw both of the Masq managers speaking to their sound engineer, he backed away from the sound board. The Masq house sound engineer gave another warning over the talk back mic and then started pulling down the volume to the front of house sound. The band continued to play with no front of house sound.
As soon as they stopped, Dres got on the mic and thanked the band, the crowd, let people know there was merch at the back and I started a song from the back of the room while we waited for the band to clear the stage. It was at this point that Dan told his visual guy to write on the screen “They shut us down” and “Don’t ever come here again.”
This now creates an angry mob which turns around and sees Dres in the sound booth. Dres was only standing there because it was the only place to patch in a mic. Dres was being very nice… even when a girl threw her drink on the Masquerade’s sound console. Then, when a guy tried to come over the fucking barricade to start a fight with Dres… Dres did what he does and laughed it off and made jokes.
Now Dres had nothing to do with any of these logistical issues… but he happened to be the person holding a microphone so he ended up getting attacked by a bunch of people now engrossed in mob mentality that just want to strike out at anything. I’ve never seen such misdirected, immature, and disgusting bullshit ever go down like this at a show.
We ended up not being able to take the stage and officially start our event until 1am… a full hour after the intended time.
I’ve done countless shows, both band and dj events, so I know what it’s like to keep a show on schedule. I’ve watched many bands behind schedule bust their ass to get on stage so that they make up for lost time and still give their fans a full show. If the time slots were reversed, I wouldn’t have disrespected them nor the people that came to see them by pushing them back an hour.
Now, here’s where I stand: We both had shows booked at the venue. We both had scheduled time of operation. We both have paid customers that expect a complete show. They have a lot of people to schedule, pay, feed, etc. and so do we. They drove a long way to get here. So did my headliner.
However, due to delays by Dan Deacon and supporting bands, both shows suffered. We’re not responsible for Dan Deacon not completing a full set… that falls on the band.
OMG, that sucks sooooooooo bad. If dan had a problem he should have just taken it up with management. But just by looking at him you can tell he has a screw loose. So cowardice to get the crowd all pissed off!
reading that stressed me out. i’m already on a heart attack my 35 path anyway, but i think this is the first time in the last couple of years i’ve read a show re-cap and not missed deejaying with you. although in my current mindset i would have probably jumped into the crowd going after people.
i don’t even know who dan deacon is, but i feel you.
what else do you expect from someone from long island?
Ugh, I watched those guys try to start fights and throw drinks (one half wound up on me!)… ridiculous. They went way over, and their band’s music sucked anyway. I hope they don’t come back – we don’t need their kind around here!
Thanks for putting on an AWESOME show despite all of that crap!
You were lucky enough to get an act like Dan Deacon to come to your venue and you blew it for a shitty club music dance party.
I went to the venue expecting a show run by greedy elitists, and the way last night’s situation was handled only reinforced this. The management really showed their true colors. They’re motivated primarily by money, and the artists are the second priority.
This was the first and last time I will ever come to the masquerade.
Alright kids, lets keep this as civil as possible.
Dan Deacon put on a great show.
Regardless of whether or not you love or hate his sound or love or hate dance music, the point was to get out our side of the story… not to start a who sucks more battle.
Unfortunately, there are laws in this city that even the Masquerade has to follow. The show was an all ages show. It is illegal to run an all ages show after midnight. So, keep that in mind before you call it in the name of greed.
The few all-ages shows could suffer from this type of behavior by those that are of an age and profession to know better.
[...] @kissAtlanta New blog post: So… about last night. http://www.kissatlanta.com/blog/?p=1827 [...]
It really did suck, dan deacon was in the beginnings of what promised to be a great show, the crowd was WAAY into it by the first song. and you can’t say he wasn’t trying to share the stage because he had three opening bands! and as a favor to one. All in all this falls on management, everyone knows the masquerade’s reputation for being “greedy elitist” and they prove it time after time. the bands come second and filling there schedule till its so tight that somthing like this happens is no artists fault.
Three Opening Bands? sounds like therein lies the problem!
hey mark jeezy how do preston’s nuts taste? a lot of people effed up that night. dan deacon included…but preston shouldnt have pulled the plug on 350 ppl to help 20.
Uhh sampson… did you not read the entire post? I didn’t pull the plug… I just started my show after it had been pulled… a full hour after it was supposed to start.
… and we had 200 people last night… not 20. The previous AFTERLIFE had 450 or so that’s what we were expecting before storms, delays, fights, drama, and bullshit drastically cut that number down this time.
Oh where to begin with this WONDERFUL story…. first of all I started working at Masquerade in 93. It’s always been about the money for them. It is a business, it always has been. Yes the staff can be assholes but it is a job and it is about the money. No money, no Masquerade. As far as Preston, same thing. If he does not make some money for his efforts on bringing a BANGING night life to Atlanta then eventually he is either broke or exhausted. It sounds like ALL the blame is on Mr. Deacon (who rocks btw). It shows some balls for Preston to post this and I am NOT surprised by the behavior of the crowd either from that venue. Bad asses always go to Masquerade… that is why it’s the Masquerade so if you think fights won’t break out then you are surprisingly gullible. Sounds like the band didn’t appreciate being rushed either…. typical rock band behavior too nonetheless. Preston needs some slack here… if people keep giving him shit then maybe there won’t be anything to go to. He’ll quit and every one can sit at home and masturbate to their favorite music. Get over it, squash it or what ever needs to be done. Preston, hang in there… this is nothing more than a learning experience on what NOT to do in the future. Remember too sometimes there is a “snowball effect” which it sounds like this was… your job as a KICK ASS event coordinator is to prevent that… I hope in the future it’s not so big that it doesn’t kick your ass. As this one has… hang in there…. props for posting your side of the story….
Those posters are funny as hell but believe me I see their side… all you can do is brush yourself off and move on… KUDOS to Preston
Dan took about an hour to setup in Athens, too which was really annoying because the show was already two hours late – but that was at an unofficial venue with no real (enforced) time restrictions. It was annoying to watching him slooowly wrap duct tape around a plastic skull as the minutes ticked by. To his credit, he apologized profusely. Time is a hard thing for some of these space cadets to comprehend.
“As long as the crowds don’t become too rowdy or violent, I’m excited for my audience to grow,” he said. It sounds clear to me that Deacon has big ideas about what can happen when large groups of people get together in one room, but that he expects the audience to trust and commit completely to his leadership if something transcendent is to be achieved.”
From: Arresting Development:
Dan Deacon, Myth, and Magic: Some Notes On Exploding Up From The Underground
by Rjyan Kidwell
[...] This past weekend, Dan Deacon played a show at the Masquerade in Atlanta that ended…poorly. The club cut him off mid-set, and mild chaos ensued. Deacon fans were livid at the club, but the DJs who were scheduled afterward said that Deacon and Co. (and the opening band) went over their allotted time. Now you may think that cutting off Dan Deacon for a DJ is a bad idea, but there are schedule times for a reason, and I tend to think that everybody deserves their shot. (That’s why I don’t run a club.) I’d be willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt over the Masquerade’s management, but his Athens show was also two hours late in getting set up as well. You can read a few sides to the story here and here. [...]
I just posted an article about this show with photos:
http://ohmpark.com/photos/the-dan-deacon-debacle/
who the fluck is dan deacon?
Yeah. But no one cared about your shitty techno show. You guys are a totally fucking bummer.
What really bothered me more than anything else was not what the Masquerade did wrong, and not what Dan Deacon did wrong, but how the situation was handled by the DJ. When the middle fingers went up (juvenile, sure, but we’re talking about an all ages show here) the DJ turned the situation into some kind of racist attack over the PA. “Sure, go ahead and blame the black guy. Those damn niggers.” If you can’t deal with getting the finger from some 16-year-olds, then you are no more mature than they are. To cry “racism” over something so profoundly unrelated (whether it was intended to be taken seriously or not) undermines the generally practiced acceptance of everyone that makes Atlanta so unique to this part of the country. I assume the comments were intended to be humorous, but in a room full of angry white kids…? Either way, I’m not going to boycott the Masquerade, nor am I going to stop wearing a white sheet on my head and fire bombing churches. Do it Gordon.
the way Dan Deacon handled the situation at the end is appalling.. getting everyone to focus on hating Preston, what the hell ? They were the ones that caused the schedule to go to crap
Tough tits, dan-o. If you’re late to setup, you cut your performance time. That’s showbiz, kids. It’d be wise not to book so many opening bands next time.