Sunday, November 11, 2007

Scatterbox show turns into melee.


Well, it looks as though a certain bar owner in the touristy, Tahoe-like suburb of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho can't seem to get it together when it comes to having a different element of entertainment besides cover bands for the evening.

Scatterbox got through about four songs of their set on November 9th at The Rock Joint, a new bar in Coeur d'Alene, when the owner shut the power off, cutting their set short, becuase the crowd was "moshing and breaking shit", according to the venue owner, who had cut the power himself. The event was a fundraiser for the Coeur d'Alene Food Bank. When Scatterbox was cut short, an argument ensued between Tom White, vocalist for Scatterbox, members of the crowd, and the owner of the club, which in the end, set off a large crowd of people and police were called as the band broke down their equipment in the back of the building.

A damaged pool table, trashed bathroom, various other small broken items (glasses, a couple of chairs), and fifteen cops later, the members of the band were about to be charged with "inciting a riot" and arrested, until a discussion between the band members and police ensued. In the end, police decided to not charge the band. This was Scatterbox's first show in their home town in almost two years.

The band had this to say about the incident.

"We're just amazed that something that was supposed to be an all around good thing and a fun night turned into a big trainwreck due to the owner of that clubs actions and how he decided to handle things that night. Everything was fine until he killed the power. Then that's when things started getting broken. We can't control what an angry mob of people does. We've been doing this for the better part of a decade, and we did nothing out of the ordinary. We did the same thing we do at every show. Show up, play, and hope the crowd likes it. This night was no different, so how did we incite anything?"

The show was booked two months in advance. The line up consisted of three punk rock bands. After the incident, the owner of The Rock Joint told members of Scatterbox "We didn't sign up for punk." The Rock Joint is currently for sale.

2 comments:

OrangeTV said...

So lame. The Rock Joint is doomed anyway. This isn't isn't the first incident where the owner's been a total dumbass. Don't blame the whole town on one idiotic cheeseball venue. There must be some local bars that would kill to have you guys play without any hassle.

Joey74 said...

I also at the show on Friday night. It was very upsetting to see how The Rock Joint handled the incident. What I want to know is how they handle the crowd dancing and moshing when "metal" bands come to play? WTF you know that the crowd has to get wild in the same way. I can't even say that things got really WILD that night. It was a fricken blast! I'm 33 years old and had more fun that night than I have in a long time. I personally think whom ever started trashing the bathrooms and breaking shit owes Scatterbox an apology. I mean I think you can have a good time without getting destructive but I think that is why they pulled the plug on you guys. Scatterbox as well as the other bands that played made alot of money for The Rock Joint as well as the food bank. It was tacky on the owners part to behave the way they did. They picked a bad location to have a "Rock" bar as there were complaints about the noise level. Duhhh... with personal residences next door, it as a sinking ship from the start. I personally will never visit The Rock Joint again. I really have to commend the boys from Scatterbox for sticking up for themselves and for the cause to the cops...it was great! Piss on The Rock Joint...it's up for sale anyway.