The following is a Facebook note from May 21st, in its entirety, written by an industry contact of mine, Brisbane Sounds director, Blair Hughes. He has given me explicit permission to reblog this.

I’m still new to the music industry, but I have done a lot of things; from conferences in the UK and USA, to seeing gigs in over 25 countries around the world. I have worked in music venues in Brisbane and London, however I know it’s important to never stop learning and seeking out advice from my peers. You can’t improve your skills base if you don’t take risks and ask for help from time to time. I applaud all of the people who have helped me along the way and you can find all their names in the booklets to Brisbane Sounds 2008-2010.

I did that today and had quite a surprising conversation, but here is a bit of a back story.

I have seen Black Rebel Motercycle Club (BRMC) 10 times since 2002. I have been to their gigs in London (3), Glasgow (2), Brisbane (2), LA (1), Birmingham, UK (1), Sydney (1) and I will also be seeing them in Sydney in August as a sideshow to Splendour in the Grass 2010. I did not want to go to Splendour in the Grass this year because I have a gig which I’m promoting at The Zoo on July 30. You can see that I’m both a fan of their music, but I’m different to most fans in the sense that I’m also a promoter. I might not be a Gudinski or a Chugg or an AJ Maddah for that matter (I know I’m certainly not like him!), but I attempted politely to get a discussion going about the possibility of a BRMC sideshow for Brisbane.

I did want to see whether BRMC could play in Brisbane on July 30 (I specifically booked this date for this reason) and while I was completely aware of the contractual obligations regarding Splendour (as there are no Splendour sideshows in Brisbane), I thought I may as well take a punt and try my luck. I have met the band’s manager and the band, and they know who I am and what I’m about so I’m in a better position than most to at least see what the chances were like. I also closely watched as Splendour in the Grass and the Melbourne and Sydney BRMC sideshows sold out, which I thought might make the chances of a Brisbane sideshow more possible.

I’m a music promoter, but I’m also a school teacher with Education Queensland and I have been taught by my parents and always teach my students every day that respect and a smile will get you anywhere in the world. You need to be passionate, enthusiastic and take risks once in a while in order to live a rich life. If there was one thing I learnt at SXSW in Texas back in March it was by Derek Sivers who said “patience is persistence”. What he was alluding to was that our parents and teachers bring us up to not hassle people, yet its the ones that actually persist politely and take a chance that do get results.

I had originally said to Soundwave Touring (the business doing the BRMC sideshows) that if they cover the cost of the flights between Brisbane and Melbourne (which they would have already booked because that’s where they were flying to next), then they can take 50% of the net profits for effectively doing nothing. That means I would have looked after transport from Woodford to Brisbane, sound engineering for the gig, press, ticketing, venue hire. Effectively all of the things that I have previously done and had partly organised for the gig that I was having for The Zoo on July 30 anyway so I thought it was a pretty sweet deal and it means that Brisbane fans of the band would get to see them in a venue just like the rest of the country.

This is really not sour grapes at Splendour because the band would be good anywhere, but there is room for a Brisbane sideshow seeing as all of the dates have now sold out. Why does Brisbane have to miss out? Perhaps future Splendour contracts should have an extra part that stipulates that in the event of a sold-out Splendour then sideshows for Brisbane will be considered. The people that run Splendour are great people and I can imagine they are flat out enough, but if Brisbane is seen to be a leading music city, then these bands should be playing as much as they can and not just in venues around the country except Brisbane. Heck, this is something that Splendour/Secret Sounds, Soundwave Touring and Brisbane Sounds could have all worked on for the BENEFIT of BRISBANE music fans!

So today at 12.55pm I finally decided that with no response to my emails from Soundwave Touring I was going to be a bit more proactive and see if I could track down a number on the net for Soundwave Touring (as there is no office number on the site) or AJ Maddah, the director of Soundwave Touring. I searched for (I won’t put it here because that would be unprofessional) and there and then, about the eighth search result down, was his home number, mobile number and postal address.

The phone call started off well. I introduced myself: “Hi, is this AJ from Soundwave Touring? My name is Blair Hughes. I’m a music promoter in Brisbane. I run Brisbane Sounds and have sent you a few emails regarding BRMC in Brisbane and an idea that I have. Have you had a chance to have a look at them?”

His response: “Wait, who the fuck are you you piece of shit? Do I know you? Who do you promote? Do you promote million-dollar bands?? Do you know who I am? Listen, shut the fuck up and listen to me you fucking retard: I speak not you, you c…, stop interjecting…” And he went on and on like that for about five minutes.

I was told that I was nothing (compared to him) and quite frankly, he came across as very rude, egotistical and overly explosive. I have never met him before and definitely did not think I was going to be treated like that.

My interjections were softly-spoken, polite responses for him to stop calling me silly names and to chat professionally.

Hmmmm. I was a bit bemused by that response. Point taken if I had been rude or aggressive and had not properly introduced myself. I mean: if he did not want to talk he could have just hung up. I was not going to call him back as I got the impression that he was obviously not keen to talk. I also understand that he may not want me calling him and would rather his number be kept private. In which case I will duly send him the link to the site which I found it on so he can have his number removed.

I was trying to explain again who I was and my idea, but was met with a barrage of abuse from being called a “fuckin’ kid retard” (what’s the grammar like on that one?) to a fucking dip-shit (haven’t heard that in a while). It was really the most bizarre conversation I have had in a long time. I was incredibly polite throughout the phone call and as the abusive language and threats kept getting more aggressive I just kept killing him with kindness and tried to be the most loveable person you could ever talk to. He told me: “I’m gonna make everyone know not to work with you cause you’re a c…, you fucking loser dip-shit”, which is great because I’m sure that not that many people know about what I do just yet in Sydney/Melbourne – so any press I can get from him will be brilliant!

I said that I was going to leave the conversation because all he had to tell me was a simple ‘no,’ but he couldn’t do that and had to keep rambling on and being abusive. I said I was going because he was not listening to me and could not stop swearing, to just talk politely and then goodbye, but he hung up first.

He called back a few minutes later and continued to get aggressive and threatened me with more insults. I just found it hard to believe that someone would be so “up in my grill” that has not met me before. It was the craziest conversation ever!

Overall AJ, there is a lesson in this for you:

“I’m definitely not at the level that you are at; however, I have young kids calling me daily who want to get into the music industry or who are promoters themselves. I always have the time for them even though I’m busy. Hell mate, everyone is busy, and getting angry and calling people names is childish when there are more important things going on in the world, such as getting Ellen to the Gold Coast!

“I know you’re important and you sure as hell know that as well; however, improve your attitude to others especially when they are being friendly and professional. I understand your position and “NO” was all you had to say. I was willing to work with you and bring an idea to the table that could have benefited both of us. I may not be your competition right now, but I will be one day.

“Thanks, and have a lovely day.”

Oh, and the band I have been writing about, BRMC can be found here at their MySpace. You’ll dig them!

Wikipedia: On March 13, 1919, someone stating that they were the ‘Axeman of New Orleans’ sent a letter to a newspaper threatening to kill again at 15 past midnight on March 19. He said, however, that he would not kill anyone who went to a jazz show. On the night of March 18/19, all of the jazz clubs were filled to capacity, and professional and amateur jazz bands played in houses and parties all over the city. No one was killed that night.

In the words of my dear friend who shared this with me, f*** Facebook events, this guy was an event management genius.

(Think outside the square.)

Patron concerns regarding safety and security have been labeled “inaccurate” and “irrelevant” by Brisbane live music venue The Hi-Fi.

Retweeted at least five times was the link which exposed the relatively new venue in Brisbane as one which does not take seriously the views of its patrons, let alone one which responds to such matters in a responsible and attentive manner.

Long-time live music scene patron Kathleen was so appalled by standards of health and safety at The Hi-Fi that she took to writing to them. She commented on unnecessary queues in cold weather, broken glass, ill-placed bathrooms in the venue, poor band management and more importantly, extremely poor security.

I saw people waiting outside in a queue for 20 minutes and they had tickets. The queue wasn’t even that long, they were just being made to wait. The first band were already playing. The door staff would let people in in a trickle, or not let people in at all.

It’s winter. Queing for a show already paid for which is already starting… not a great start to the night, no.

I queued and got inside and headed for the toilets, which were to my dismay, up a flight of stairs down a deserted corridor. I don’t mind that the toilets are up a flight of stairs, but they are well away from the main room and I believe this puts your patrons at risk of assault or rape. I think you urgently need to address this by having security patrol upstairs regularly.

Issues are getting serious now; when your patrons believe that they are not safe in your venue, you are doing something wrong. Very wrong.

I was shocked that you were serving drinks in glass, especially with the recent “spate” of glassings. I was standing in the middle of the steps on the dancefloor for both sets and by the time the Dreamkillers had finished playing, there was broken glass all over the floor. The broken glass on the floor only increased while The Fireballs played. I saw punters deliberately throwing glasses on to the floor and into the crowd. I was truly horrified.

I saw the crowd break up fights and scuffles but security never intervened. Security was also nowhere to be found when punters were smashing and throwing glass. Security were nowhere to be found when a young man had a fit on the dance floor, I saw his mates carry him out. I noted one security guard on the barrier but he stayed in the one spot the entire time and didn’t move or interact with the crowd.

Like I said before; very, very wrong. And my favourite summary sentence from Kathleen:

I have never been to a venue with such weak and obviously incompetent and overwhelmed security.

This was the abysmal reply which Kathleen received from Scott Ahpee, a month later and after a second e-mail:

As the General Manager of Operations, I read through your email immediately on receipt, and clarified all matters with our venue staff.  Replying to your email was (until today) on my ‘to-do’ list, but a detailed response on every matter would require time I’ve yet to have spare.  However, since you clearly require a response immediately, I write this now.  On discussion with venue staff, management, security and production crew, as well as discussions with the tour manager of the Fireballs, I found most of your complaints to be inaccurate, and others to be irrelevant.  If you do not wish to return to the Hi-Fi, that is your choice.

Time yet to spare? Perhaps Mr Ahpee should be allocating time to deal with public complaints about his venue before a significant amount of patronage is lost? Your venue has been complained about in the retrospect of health and safety concerns, which I deem to be quite damn important. There are reports of glassings and injury as a result of lack of security and you claim them to be “inacurate”? Also, if he had so little time to write an e-mail, I question if Mr Ahpee even had such discussions with the above mentioned parties. Might want to check that ‘to-do’ list again.

Meanwhile, the Hi-Fi bar is looking to utilise my favourite social media network, Twitter. How on earth will they be able to manage a constant stream of customer comments of 140 characters if they take a month or so to reply [even if indecently] to a formal complaint?