Milwaukee metal fest READ

musickey

musickey

djenital moosic
Feb 17, 2006
2,046
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INDIANA
Some freinds of mine just played Milwaukee Metal Fest last weekend and if you read this it didnt go to well! This is some bullshit and im kinda having second thoughts about playing the Indianapolis Metal Fest in Sept. crazy shit

FIRST THINGS FIRST....
MILWAUKEE METALFEST 2007 was a fraud!!!!

In regard to ALL of the bands that either performed or were scheduled to perform on the PROJECT INDEPENDENT STAGE...
I personally apologize for this bullshit... even though I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the sound. I paid just like everybody else, to fly my banner behind that stage. I was very patient on day 1, however when the second day was just as fucked, I pulled my banner, and told the promoter that my role now became to defend the rights of all of the bands that got fucked.

100+ bands paid $1000 - $2000 per band PLUS expenses to travel to Milwaukee and Play at a Metalfest with a GREAT history, however for some reason, the promoter JACK KOSHICK, overlooked using that revenue to actually promote the event.

150 people watched GOD FORBID.... 148 of them were other band members.

Jack Koshick generated over $100,000 in revenue JUST from the performing bands and their sponsors, yet with ALL of that money they couldn't be any more professional?

No Radio, No promotion, No Pro Sound for pro bands...

THIS IS CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TIME!!!!
AND EACH AND EVERY BAND THAT GOT FUCKED BETTER STEP UP!!!

or you ALL can SUCK MY DICK!!!

I'm at my attorney's at 10:00 am on Monday Morning, filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Project Independent and each and every band that got fucked.

Contact me NOW!!!

Jeff Totten- CEO
Celestial Entertainment / On-Stage Management
Project Independent
PO Box 541
Torrance, CA. 90508
(310) 528-4320
jeff@projectindependent.net


read
 
I've forwared this to Mike from Dead Syndicate, they played there too and paid for a spot as well, I havent heard from him how it went but I can guess the outcome :cry:
 
Good for you to step up and take action. I know you read the other topic about bands geting fucked at shows. This just goes to show how bad it really is and can be!!!
 
We played it in 2002 (I think) and it was a joke then. Luckily Relapse was footing the bill for us at that point. I've known folks that have played most of the years since then and according to all reports each year is worse than the previous one.
 
Here's the story from Mike from Dead Syndicate... pretty fucked.

http://www.smnnews.com/board/showthread.php?t=158657

"OK, many of you have probably begun to hear the stories of what went down at Milwaukee Metalfest over the weekend. I wanted to post something quick, before I do a big full recap. I will be posting in installments, so bear with me. I'm dead tired, flat out exhausted tonight, but I needed to get some stuff of my chest.

As a sponsor, and as a member of a band performing MMF, I can honestly say we were stolen from. Jack Koshick delivered nothing we were promised. When the 3rd stage was closed Saturday, Jack tried to bump us from our slot....the one we earned by taking a bullet for the festival Friday night, so he could have Broken Teeth play a prime slot. I got right in Jack's grill, and told him as an event sponsor, I wasn't budging off that slot. He relented, but he got the last laugh as he had the sound guys pull us after 15 minutes.

Jack Koshick is a scumbag, a liar, and a thief. He steals money from the people who can least afford it, independent bands, and he leaves destruction in his wake. Most of the bands there this weekend pull bigger crowds at their home clubs than the entire MetalFest managed to pull in.

Jack Koshick took the bands' money, and the sponsors' money, promised us all a great fest, and then didn't lift a finger to promote it, to secure headliners, or to even hire real sound people for the stages.

I'm not going to bag on WIPZ (radio station running the sound for the 3rd stage), I have no idea who they are, or what their arrangement with Jack was, but when you show up to a huge MetalFest like that and don't even bring drum microphones, that's just a joke and an embarrassment, and proof positive that Jack Koshick didn't sink a dime into the actual fest. Trying to mic drumkits with spare vocal mics, having to turn monitors around to face the audience just so vocals can be heard....an absolute joke.

As soon as Jack got the chance, he screwed us royal. He's a scumbag, and a criminal.

For those who are unaware of why this rant is speing out of my keyboard, the quick rundown.

1. The fest was a fucking joke of epic proportions.

2. The sponsors were told that the expected crowd was between 5,000 and 6,000 fans at the fest. Actual attendance to the festival was between 300-400. Total. Because that scumbag did nothing to promote the show. Understand we play to more than that at Jaxx. This was divided among 3 stages, and those are total through the gate numbers. I never once saw more than 100 people together at any time.

3. The lineup was a debacle. From square one, bands were yanked from promised slots, thrown onto other stages, yanked again, jerked around, it was a joke. We'd spend all day handing out flyers telling people our slot and stage, and then get yanked into a different timeslot and stage. So did everyone else.

4. The sound on the Project Independence stage was horrific. Not bad, just broken. There were no vocals at all, they couldn't get them to work. On the 2nd night, they finally just turned the center stage monitors around, to get SOME vocals out. Drum mics? How about a vocal mic uspended over the toms, and a vocal mic laid down into the bass drum. And neither were turned on. Seriously. Guitars only occasionally worked through the PA. It was so bad, that on the 2nd night, the sponsor, Project Independence, tore down their huge banner while a band was playing, because they didn't want their name associated with the stage anymore. Sgortly after, they shut down the stage entirely, and tried to shunt the remaining bands onto the other two stages. That meant 10 and 15 minute sets, unless Jack was paying you, in which case he wanted to get his money's worth. Hence, we got yanked offstage so Broken Teeth, some cowboy cockrock band could play 30 minutes and chase every fan away (I think they played for like 7 or 8 people.)

In short, every promise made to us was broken. EVERY sponsor was insanely pissed. Every band was insanely pissed.

The headliners, God Forbid, got off their bus, ebtered the main stage area, saw that there was ~25 people ther, and said "What the fuck" (that's an exact quote from someone who was standing ther...priceless.

Go check out the MySpace page, www.myspace.com/metalfest

The secondary promoter posted a blog entry apologizing to all the bands and blasting Koshick for bailing out and robbing everyone. I'm not making any of this up.

It was so bad, that paid bands were walking out without playing (Rwake) sponsors were hurling flyers by the bulk onto the floor in rage and disgust....it was insane.

When the sound was going out on us on day 1, the fans that were there were on the verge of rioting against the sound folks. There seriously was almost a crowd fight on the sound crew.

At 11:00 on Saturday night, the 2nd stage manager grabbed his jacket and quit on the spot...just walked out of the arena. And the 2nd stage was the most popular, best sounding stage!!!!!

If anyone knows ANYONE who played, have them e-mail me immediately. There is recourse out there, and a plan in the works, but I don't want to get into it here yet, until some things are lined up. But have them contact me immediately, because the events sponsors are standing idly by. Action is being taken, and we need bands and sposnors who played to step up.

This was the death of the Milwaukee Metalfest. And that son of a bitch Koshick can rot in hell........after I get what's mine."
 
ha that's funny....MPF was the winning band on their poll shit they did a few months ago, then they fucked us and said another band kicked our ass

KARMA IS A BITCH MUFUKAZ!!

I'm still amazed how shit that goes around , comes around!:err:
 
MusicKey, the Indianapolis Metal Fest is being put on by Rob Mason, the dude from Monolith Entertainment Group. He is the one that issued the big statement on behalf of Monolith. While I've heard that he actually tried to help bands by getting the on stages to play and such, I can't help but shake the feeling that he's following Jack's footsteps in the pay to play scenarios. Last year, Indianapolis has it's first annual Crossroads of Evolution festival put on by a REAL promoter who doesn't subscribe to the pay to play schemes and now Rob has followed her hard work into Indianapolis to try and make that market another Koshick type disaster. He's not taking over the Crossroads fest, just bringing in his own to step on CoE's hard work. He even booked his fest the same day as the Crossroads of Evolution festival (the CoE fest has sinced changed dates). Lame. Aside from that, the dude has worked with Koshick for a number of years scamming indie metal bands out of money for the POS show in Milwaukee.

My advice, if you want to try and play a real festival getting it's wings with intergrity, check out www.myspace.com/crossroadsofevolution . It's still young and trying to bust it's way in to draw larger names, but at least it has integrity.
 
Yeah man i dont really know what to do, Rob Mason is the guy my singer has been talking to and he has been assuring us that its legit. i dont know this shits crazy, I did read the submission form for COE and it is pretty much the same deal as far as presale tickets. I dont mind trying to sell tickets to play a fest, granted a decent stage and PA are actualy there and not to mention people lol its a fucking shame when a Metal Fest turns in to a pyramid scheme!
 
Man thats messed up i live in the middle of Wisconsin and the rockstation up here never mentioned anything bout this Metalfest and they give a shout out to pretty much anything that rocks if ya ask em to.
 
That fucking blows, man.
There's gotta be some resourse there - hope you/bands get some $$ back.

Did the contracts mention anything about promotion, time slots, stages 1/2/3or any shit like that?
What do the band(s) managers think about all this?
Are they taking any action ( I assume so)?
 
My intuition told me this would be a disaster and I was right. I suspected Koshick was still behind it. He knows his name is shit now and so he hid behind some "front" corporations. He's got to be the stupidest motherfucker ont he planet. Not just the crookedest, but the stupidest. He had something in the 90's that could have been America's version of Wacken. Now he's driven it into the ground so much it will never be resurrected. The name "Milwaukee" will have such a taint in extreme metal circles that NO underground festival will be held there again.

Anybody who went to Metalfest in 2004 knew what happened here. That was held at some crumbling old theater in the middle of a shooting gallery and the toilets smelled like barn stalls. Sound was beyond atrocious for every band.Most of the "main" bands were smart enough not to show up, but Koschick failed to inform anybody. So you were stuck with a bunch of stupid sonsof bitches who "pay to play", including some of the WORST bands I've ever seen. Metalfest had been going steadily downhill for several years and the bad press was easy to find. How did they find ANYBODY stupid enough to fall for that shit this time around? I have little sympathy for bands that played this. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Try Googling the name Jack Koschick and see what comes up.

I've interviewed a number of bands who had horror stories to tell. Tom Angelripper of Sodom told me that when Sodom arrived in Milwaukee in 1998, they had to rent guitars and gear from Koshick. Then they got a 28 minute set after coming over seas. Word gets around from something like that, so next year the European bands dwindled. We also talked to Jack Frost from Seven Witches and I think he is still trying to get what he was owed by Koshick. Frost is one of metal's good guys but he froths at the mouth when Koschick's name comes up. I know Obituary had also had legal action again our man Jack and plenty other bands have got horror stories to tell.

This guy Rob Mason is trying to seem like the good guy. Don't fuckin' fall for it! He knew what Koschick was and how the Fest was set up. He's either a liar or an idiot. I wouldn't get involved with anything this guy sets up.

It's such a rotten shame because when I started going int he mid-90's, this event rocked. I saw Exodus with Baloff, original Venom line-up, Napalm Death,Death with Chuck and some great up and coming bands. There was a feeling of real camaraderie and brotherhood amongst the faithful and everybody felt glad to be there, even the smaller bands. Around 99, the cracks started and by 2001, I knew it was starting to capsize. 2004 was the last straw for me (and anybody else who was there) and luckily I avoided this disaster, though I was hoping somehow it would get a fresh start.

Bands, I tell you now, do some research on the promoters and people you do business with. That will save much grief and embarassment later on.
 
Dr. Abner Mality said:
Try Googling the name Jack Koschick and see what comes up.
Click to expand...

This was kinda fun:


Metal Bands - Necrophagia ( Metal Underground . com )No reason was given was given for the postponement, but most likely has to do with unreliable, shady festival owner Jack Koschick owing tens of thousands of ...

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - MILWAUKEE METALFEST XIX PostponedCOMMENT | Jack Koschick is a douchebag posted by : SteveO 7/25/2005 8:47:32 AM. Shady motherfucker he is... he owes a LOT of bands a shitload of money! ...

The Morbid Board :: View topic - Milwaukee Metalfest - Postponed ...The cancellation was most likely due to a lack of support for festival owner Jack Koschick, who reportedly owes a number of bands a significant amount of ...
morbidboard.com/mabb/viewtopic.php?p=73647&sid=890c25317577ae7f3c601ca5c730895b

WormBoard ~ View topic - Live Action (Week 19 - 2007)... edition of this fest in 2004 was disgraceful and the fest had been declining for several years due to the shenanigans of sleazy promoter Jack Koschick. ...

antiMUSIC's DayInRock.com - Latest Rock News - Day In Rock 4/26 ...siN's metal news reports: Milwuakee Metalfest, New Jersey Metalfest, and recently Florida Metalfest organizer Jack Koschick is being sued by ...

 
hi everyone, just made this account on here because i thought people might be interested in this,

my band received an email from R G productionz and their promoter Scott Grohl, apparently Rob Grohl's son, asking us to play a festival called Milwaukee Metalfest for 2019.

We are from the UK an have never heard of this festival, so i asked if he could provide some more information, tell us what its about, past history that kind of thing, he compleatly avoided my questions and replied with "if you want info on how important this fest was then you should ask PRIEST/ MAIDEN/ METALLICA. SAXON/ MEGADETH ect. all started with us."

I didn't believe a word of this and raised suspicions straight away, couldn't even find a website, no posters with past line ups, no links to ticket sales, so i thought it must be really badly promoted, i only found old youtube videos from the 80s 90s and these threads like on this site saying how badly run it is and all the horror stories of a bad festival.

I emailed them back saying i found bands and people who attend the festival saying it was an utter disaster, he said he doesnt know what i am talking about and that they never happened, so after doing some digging and finding my own information i googled the name Jack Koshick who Scott says is their "main guy" and found a number of articles talking about how bad the Milwaukee Metalfest is, mainly 2004 and 2007, and the blabber mouth article. So just thought i would let people know that they are looking for bands to play their festival in 2019, i know the signs not to fall for a scam like this but some bands wont, so hopefully the word gets spread around and they cant exploit anyone for money.
 
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osiris666 said:
hi everyone, just made this account on here because i thought people might be interested in this,

my band received an email from R G productionz and their promoter Scott Grohl, apparently Rob Grohl's son, asking us to play a festival called Milwaukee Metalfest for 2019.

We are from the UK an have never heard of this festival, so i asked if he could provide some more information, tell us what its about, past history that kind of thing, he compleatly avoided my questions and replied with "if you want info on how important this fest was then you should ask PRIEST/ MAIDEN/ METALLICA. SAXON/ MEGADETH ect. all started with us."

I didn't believe a word of this and raised suspicions straight away, couldn't even find a website, no posters with past line ups, no links to ticket sales, so i thought it must be really badly promoted, i only found old youtube videos from the 80s 90s and these threads like on this site saying how badly run it is and all the horror stories of a bad festival.

I emailed them back saying i found bands and people who attend the festival saying it was an utter disaster, he said he doesnt know what i am talking about and that they never happened, so after doing some digging and finding my own information i googled the name Jack Koshick who Scott says is their "main guy" and found a number of articles talking about how bad the Milwaukee Metalfest is, mainly 2004 and 2007, and the blabber mouth article. So just thought i would let people know that they are looking for bands to play their festival in 2019, i know the signs not to fall for a scam like this but some bands wont, so hopefully the word gets spread around and they cant exploit anyone for money.
Click to expand...


I also received an e-mail now. I have received an e-mail from them 2-3 times before I think, but back then they never replied back. Looks scary though.
 
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IronDee said:
I also received an e-mail now. I have received an e-mail from them 2-3 times before I think, but back then they never replied back. Looks scary though.
Click to expand...
that was our first one, my first thought was why is a small american festival asking a UK band to play? i said i'm not familiar with the festival and that I've never heard of it and he got pretty sour about it, he said, ''well I've never heard of your band either'' and i was like, well you obviously have to send us an email :lol::lol: what a bunch of losers. what does the email say? im just curious.
 
Hey guys,

I play in a band from Bulgaria. We also received an e-mail from this guy Scott. He was trying to offer us to play at that festival in even more broken English than mine haha. After I asked him for website or more information about their promoter business he got offended and told me that they are not interested in us anymore. He even threated us with a lawsuit. I'm pretty sure he is a fucking scam .. so just let it go.
 
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