Frank Giaramita
11/21/05, 12:08 PM
Below, John D. of Max Cruise (www.maxcruise.com) sheds some light on the problems at last year's Bamboozle Festival (www.thebamboozle.com). John was kind enough to answer the questions you guys submitted and touch upon every issue the 2005 festival faced. This is an incredible read, so I strongly suggest you to check it out, especially if you attended the event.
To Absolute Punk....
I am writing to issue a long overdue apology to those who did not have a great experience at The Bamboozle Festival last year in Asbury Park. For the past seven months, all of us at Max Cruise are constantly reminded of the problems the event suffered and those who were disappointed. We have read most of the posts and due to legal reasons have not been allowed to offer an official response. I hope to address the major issues in the next few paragraphs and provide some information about the future of this festival. Max Cruise has accepted full responsibility for the problems and have been in legal battle defending our reputation in court. Here are our explanations of the issues that some experienced which led to confusion throughout the event. The subjects which I took from your comments on absolutepunk.net are broken down into sections for easier reading and reference. These are my words based on my experiences, I accept full responsibility and these comments are not excuses.
BAMBOOZLE 2005 PLANNING AND APPROVALS....
Before we announced last years event, our company worked with numerous organizations to plan what we thought would be a great weekend for the bands, fans and local community. Applications were submitted and reviewed in length by the City Of Asbury Park and its officials. Our plans complied to all local and state laws which was unanimously approved by the City Council with input from all public services. Throughout this process we received criticism from the newly appointed fire marshall who publicly opposed this type of event or anything similar from the first time we met. We did not know what motivated his hostility and made every effort to work together. He denied our initial special event application which led to numerous meetings with the department for revisions and recommendations which would allow for the event to proceed. The event could not go to council without his approval. Strategies were implemented to address the first come, first serve policy we were going to enforce once venues reached capacity. We hired professional security, additional EMS and fire officials to ensure a smooth weekend and to assure all parties that capacity issues were impossible. Asbury Park city officials were very supportive, and like most of us, could not understand the position of this fire marshall who made public comments about his feelings for myself and the events. Never in the past has an event faced such scrutiny and resentment - the city was known for a musical history. The concerts have always been the only infusion of traffic to the oceanfront for years and provided much needed income to area businesses. A festival which we produced in the same venue the year before experienced a fire related situation that we all agreed could have been dangerous which led to the exclusion of a stage in the arcade area in Convention Hall for our event. We completely understood the issue and never intended to use the area with hopes to expand this event to include local merchants who expressed interest for involvement. Venues outside the Convention Hall Complex were to add more opportunities for bands and to spread out the flow of traffic. We had an art gallery and bowling alley to make the event more diverse. We noted in all marketing and promotion that events were first come, first serve which is a practice used across the country in many different situations. Wristbands were numbered and accounted to ensure total capacity which we believed to be easily controlled. After countless meetings and revisions, the fire marshall signed off on the event which allowed us to go before council which was approved without question. The local merchants and community gave us strong support which led us to believe all issues had been addressed.
DELAYED START, FIRST DAY OF EVENT
The day before the event we did a final walk through with city officials and organizers which would address any potential issues and allow for correction before doors opened. Few comments were made and all was corrected in minutes. Later that same day we encountered our first hurdle which we believed no one could have prevented....however it was later suggested that one official with held some info for the intention to damage the event. State officials, on their own notice, arrived to the site at 5:00pm on Thursday after noticing the size of our tents and asked for our permits. We showed the paperwork issued by the city which they noted was not state issued which would prevent us from carrying out our plans for the park area as it was state jurisdiction, not local. They informed us that the state construction board had been given jurisdiction of all property west of Ocean Avenue a month prior to ensure success for the redevelopment of the ocean front. We were never informed of this mandate by the city and when we brought it to their attention for help, all were surprised. We were the first event since the change in jurisdiction. The permits were mandatory and we could not begin the process until the morning of the show, leaving only hours to complete before showtime. The permit processes usually take two months for review and approval, which resulted in a delay to the festival. The requirements we needed took hours to find and more time to install. The delay caused us to fall over two hours behind schedule forcing shortened sets and relocation of some acts that could not be properly distributed to attendees. The bands all knew the situation at hand and handled it with such grace - rather than getting upset, they all worked with our production managers and amongst themselves to make the best of a bad situation. The state officials later pointed out that the fire marshall should have informed us of the requirements especially since one of the requirements were fire resistant certification that they mandate before permits are issued. He never asked for any paperwork and was well aware of our plan to rent these tents. We lost all our rental costs for the tents and had expenses as a result of these issues which were never recouped. This was the first sign that more trouble could be on the way.
MAPS AND SCHEDULE CHANGES:
The most important aspect to the event was to provide advance information to make the weekend a better experience for all - we posted set times, made flyers, included maps online and in the sponsor paper. Maps of the festival area indentified all key points and areas of interest since the layout spread over ten blocks. The maps became useless once we were forced to relocate stages due to incliment weather and permit issues at the last minute. We lost the two boardwalk stages, forcing one to Bradley Park and the other inside the Stone Pony. The Bradley park stage worked out better than expected while The Pony stage caused problems on Saturday because of weather. With all of these changes coming so late we were unable to notify everyone that we feel the most problems stemmed from. Bands did not get to play to their fans, fans got confused and advanced planning was basically useless. As weather prevented the outdoor stage at The Pony to play, we moved the stage inside so the show would go on. There were two stages being condensed into one and again could not spread the word properly.
OVER CAPACITY, SHUT OUTS AND THE ISSUES
This was the biggest issue and was the subject of legal battles which all were decided in our favor. Our first come, first serve policy was approved by all and was to be used only when venues reached capacity. As noted earlier, we hired extra security and fire officials were positioned to regulate the policy. Since we had fire officials at entry and exit points we felt confident that no venue could exceed capacity. When venues were shut down, we could not understand how this could be since we followed direction and officials were in charge to prevent it. The decisions of closure and shut downs were made by the supervising fire marshall, who all along intended to bring down the event which became more evident as the weekend went on. At each point of closure, event officials were on hand to oversee the problems. The reasons behind the decisions were not based on facts, simply on one mans opinion. Our private security had clickers with attendance numbers available at all times, the fire officials hired to regulate the capacities never raised a concern nor called for the fire marshall to their aid. Our Fire marshall based his decisions on his judgement which we did not want to question for safety reasons and sensed an alternative agenda. We hoped that he could explain his position which we never were granted. His decisions were final and carried out with little regard to our actual numbers or the agreements made in advance. His behavior was unprofessional and led to legal proceedings. The fire marshall shut down Convention Hall when capacity was far from exceeding limits, bands were first to complain that the back floor and seats were light - they had the best view. He did not allow entry for those waiting in line as fans exited which caused a large gathering in the arcade during Further Seems Forever. It is my opinion that he did this on purpose The gathering could not be organized as he would not allow the usage of partitions on site to help structure the flow of traffic. He did not communicate with security in a professional manner so that fans could be informed - leaving everyone angry and disappointed. Instead, he took film and photos which he would use as evidence against us after the event. For our own protection, we hired a professional photographer who shot images that would contradict the story he was trying to write. Some fire officials and police were quick to appologize to us as they could not understand his agenda and spoke that it is not a reflection of the departments. We never thought it to be and in one meeting with offcials words were exchanged between the police and fire marshall. Also on Saturday, the marshall shut down two sets at The Stone Pony. We were told by a Stone Pony bouncer that he walked into the room, pointed to a young girl sitting in the corner by herself and turned to him and said: "See that girl, she's not having a good time, turn on the lights - the show is shut down"...The band was stopped,the lights were on and the building was emptied. Again, we felt that we could not have been overcapacity with a fire official at the front door at all times plus a pony bouncer used a clicker showing numbers under the limit. If the fire marshall had doubts, he should have had the crowd counted as they left as is standard policy to get accurate numbers to base fines from. Instead, he stood on stage and informed the venue manager that he wanted a written document from the venue that placed guilt on the promoter for violating capacity. The venue wrote a letter, but it asked for a review of the decision made by the fire marshall plus stating a violation of the merchant rights. The marshall was forced to allow patrons to enter and the band finished their set. He then stopped the following bands set due to his judgement for safety concerns but allowed the set to finish once the crowd calmed down. Capacity was lowered by his mandate for these two performances that caused some to see these bands. We had our hands tied and had no one to see if these actions were legal. Both bands knew what we were dealing with and per our recommendation performed a second set later that night in Bradley Park to make up for those who could not get in. The fire marshall has the most power in public safety issues which we did not want to challenge in hopes that he would work with us. That never happened and he later displayed more aggressive behaviors which were the reasons of disappointment for all. We had to accept our beatings knowing that no one could over turn his decisions nor did we want to ask that of anyone.
FLOGGING MOLLY AND BOUNCING SOULS RELOCATED
Sunday morning will always haunt the future of entertainment in Asbury Park. The fire marshall asked me to come to Convention Hall around 11:00AM. When I got there I was instructed to read a laminated poster that the fire marshall had on the table. This poster listed the laws for public safety that he was basing his decisions on. He must have had this poster done in advance as it was large and laminated. He said that he was not going to allow the event to start until I agreed to his orders and the other stipulations he was about to provide. He called for police officers to get in position for my arrest as I was enciting a riot and placing lives in jeopardy. I asked to have my lawyer present before we discussed the situation and that I would not resist arrest if the event was allowed to proceed - I figured that jail may be better than another day in his hell. Our lawyer quickly came to mediate the situation, asking for the marshall to allow us the chance to work with him rather than explore punishment. I asked the marshall for his reasoning which he noted was based on a poll he conducted earlier on the boardwalk and from an article he read in Rolling Stone. He was adamit from the poll, which only included six kids, and from the article he read that Flogging Molly was the biggest band on the festival and they were going to attract the biggest crowd causing the venue to over capacitate leaving kids angry in the arcade potentially starting a riot. I thought it was a joke, my lawyer asked if the poll was documented and if the six kids was a fair representation of the audience. He got angry and displayed facial expressions of frustration. The marshall surprised everyone by ordering an immediate hearing to be held on the second floor of the Paramount Theatre. All event officials, band representatives, building managment and on site city officials attended where the marshall ordered change to the days line up. He ordered Flogging Molly and Bouncing Souls to perform on the stages in Bradley Park simultaneously with the sets inside the Hall. Alkaline Trio and My Chemical Romance stayed in the Hall and we followed his instructions with all the band representatives informed of the decision. Again, the bands understood and helped us get through the end of the event. I had to go and tell My Chemical Romance that the fire marshall decided that they were not as big as Flogging Molly - Flogging Molly band members laughed when we had to tell them...Major agents witnessed first hand the verbal abuse I received and his anger. He referenced his distaste for concerts and events in public. The fire chief came to the scene per recommendation by the city officials, but could not over rule his decisions. After talking to the marshall, he came over to me and asked for my cooperation which I
assured would happen. Per my lawyers advice I was told to not comment or communicate without his presence and stayed out of view until the end of the event. At this point the damage was done and I knew that the damage he caused would be difficult to explain to the public. I think I had a nervous breakdown for a few hours and barely remember the day. The industry understood and supported us through the most disappointing months of my career. We knew we let a lot of people down and looked to the fans like the event was poorly planned and executed. Now we had a legal situation which forced us to not comment leaving many in the dark without explanation.
THE AFTERMATH
I wanted to write an official statement which was prepared and later put on hold as we were issued two fines by the marshall that amounted to the price of a new car. The charges against us were never stated in detail, leaving us with no foundation to prepare a defense. We appealed the fines and were granted a hearing in a county court which would rule on the charges. We prepared a defense which would show that excessive force and malicious intent by the marshall to damage our company reputation. The city presented their case and evidence to the court which had no substance. The testimony and evidence were confusing, at no point was there actual facts to support his case. The court often asked for further explanation and needed our input to understand what was being presented. The witnesses they called were useless and the board started to lose patience for his lack of substance. He even said during his testimony that he issued the fines after the event because he got letters from fans asking for actions against us. The court looked at most times in disbelieft. There was a recess where our lawyer was advised to request a dismissal before we continue. The dismissal was requested before we even were allowed to present our defense. The motion was had an immediate second and they threw the case out, clearing us of wrong doing and noting that the city improve future practices before issuing fines. We discussed filing a lawsuit against the city which we all agreed was not the best answer, instead wrote a letter which asked for a review of this situation by the city council to prevent this behavior for future events. We felt that the issue was closed and it was time to move on. A week later, I received a letter from the NJ Attorney General stating that charges were raised against our company by an attendee who wanted a refund based on the fact the we exceed capacity. We investigated the charges as privledged information was detailed in the letter that had to come from someone with inside information. Our research showed that the complaint came from a sibling of the fire marshall with the same home address. This guy is clever, he really had a deep bag of tricks. The marshall actually bought a ticket which he planned all along to add more controversy to the situation. The complaint was in his writing, we compared it to other documents we recieved from him....
THE CONCLUSION AND FUTURE
The Bamboozle will most likely never return to the city it called home. The festival was intended to stay in Asbury for the long term, where it was born and named after. In conclusion, we have met with the city and have been assured that there will be new procedures to prevent anymore harm. The new procedures are documented by our legal advisors and any future events we produce in the city will include methods of protection against unfair practices by fully documenting the event Since the festival, few shows have taken place in Convention Hall as a result of this event. The damage will be felt for a long time and the effects will hurt innocent venues and businesses who looked forward to this weekend. We are going to continue to do shows in the city were Max Cruise was born.
There was no discipline for his actions and that is disappointing. Even though he never asked for money, what he did was wrong. It was abuse by a public official, if we took our case to court we would have been rewarded for damages suffered from the event and to our reputation. That city does not need another lawsuit in a time so crucial for its revival.
To all the fans who were let down, we are sorry. We feel so helpless and hope that this brief explanation will help all to understand the frustations we faced throughout the event. The damage this caused to our reputation and company morale are still being felt. This year has not been easy for us, we took a step back before moving forward. If it was not for the artist and their representatives support, the event would have died that weekend.
Now we ask the fans to allow us a chance to learn from our mistakes and allow us to fulfill our dreams which we set out for last year. The Bamboozle will relocate to a better venue and will include a partnership with organizations who will make the event all that it can be. We thank you for your patience and understanding. Max Cruise Entertainment is a company focused on artist development and encourages our fans to help build our company to better serve your needs.
Sincerely,
John D.
Max Cruise Entertainment
To Absolute Punk....
I am writing to issue a long overdue apology to those who did not have a great experience at The Bamboozle Festival last year in Asbury Park. For the past seven months, all of us at Max Cruise are constantly reminded of the problems the event suffered and those who were disappointed. We have read most of the posts and due to legal reasons have not been allowed to offer an official response. I hope to address the major issues in the next few paragraphs and provide some information about the future of this festival. Max Cruise has accepted full responsibility for the problems and have been in legal battle defending our reputation in court. Here are our explanations of the issues that some experienced which led to confusion throughout the event. The subjects which I took from your comments on absolutepunk.net are broken down into sections for easier reading and reference. These are my words based on my experiences, I accept full responsibility and these comments are not excuses.
BAMBOOZLE 2005 PLANNING AND APPROVALS....
Before we announced last years event, our company worked with numerous organizations to plan what we thought would be a great weekend for the bands, fans and local community. Applications were submitted and reviewed in length by the City Of Asbury Park and its officials. Our plans complied to all local and state laws which was unanimously approved by the City Council with input from all public services. Throughout this process we received criticism from the newly appointed fire marshall who publicly opposed this type of event or anything similar from the first time we met. We did not know what motivated his hostility and made every effort to work together. He denied our initial special event application which led to numerous meetings with the department for revisions and recommendations which would allow for the event to proceed. The event could not go to council without his approval. Strategies were implemented to address the first come, first serve policy we were going to enforce once venues reached capacity. We hired professional security, additional EMS and fire officials to ensure a smooth weekend and to assure all parties that capacity issues were impossible. Asbury Park city officials were very supportive, and like most of us, could not understand the position of this fire marshall who made public comments about his feelings for myself and the events. Never in the past has an event faced such scrutiny and resentment - the city was known for a musical history. The concerts have always been the only infusion of traffic to the oceanfront for years and provided much needed income to area businesses. A festival which we produced in the same venue the year before experienced a fire related situation that we all agreed could have been dangerous which led to the exclusion of a stage in the arcade area in Convention Hall for our event. We completely understood the issue and never intended to use the area with hopes to expand this event to include local merchants who expressed interest for involvement. Venues outside the Convention Hall Complex were to add more opportunities for bands and to spread out the flow of traffic. We had an art gallery and bowling alley to make the event more diverse. We noted in all marketing and promotion that events were first come, first serve which is a practice used across the country in many different situations. Wristbands were numbered and accounted to ensure total capacity which we believed to be easily controlled. After countless meetings and revisions, the fire marshall signed off on the event which allowed us to go before council which was approved without question. The local merchants and community gave us strong support which led us to believe all issues had been addressed.
DELAYED START, FIRST DAY OF EVENT
The day before the event we did a final walk through with city officials and organizers which would address any potential issues and allow for correction before doors opened. Few comments were made and all was corrected in minutes. Later that same day we encountered our first hurdle which we believed no one could have prevented....however it was later suggested that one official with held some info for the intention to damage the event. State officials, on their own notice, arrived to the site at 5:00pm on Thursday after noticing the size of our tents and asked for our permits. We showed the paperwork issued by the city which they noted was not state issued which would prevent us from carrying out our plans for the park area as it was state jurisdiction, not local. They informed us that the state construction board had been given jurisdiction of all property west of Ocean Avenue a month prior to ensure success for the redevelopment of the ocean front. We were never informed of this mandate by the city and when we brought it to their attention for help, all were surprised. We were the first event since the change in jurisdiction. The permits were mandatory and we could not begin the process until the morning of the show, leaving only hours to complete before showtime. The permit processes usually take two months for review and approval, which resulted in a delay to the festival. The requirements we needed took hours to find and more time to install. The delay caused us to fall over two hours behind schedule forcing shortened sets and relocation of some acts that could not be properly distributed to attendees. The bands all knew the situation at hand and handled it with such grace - rather than getting upset, they all worked with our production managers and amongst themselves to make the best of a bad situation. The state officials later pointed out that the fire marshall should have informed us of the requirements especially since one of the requirements were fire resistant certification that they mandate before permits are issued. He never asked for any paperwork and was well aware of our plan to rent these tents. We lost all our rental costs for the tents and had expenses as a result of these issues which were never recouped. This was the first sign that more trouble could be on the way.
MAPS AND SCHEDULE CHANGES:
The most important aspect to the event was to provide advance information to make the weekend a better experience for all - we posted set times, made flyers, included maps online and in the sponsor paper. Maps of the festival area indentified all key points and areas of interest since the layout spread over ten blocks. The maps became useless once we were forced to relocate stages due to incliment weather and permit issues at the last minute. We lost the two boardwalk stages, forcing one to Bradley Park and the other inside the Stone Pony. The Bradley park stage worked out better than expected while The Pony stage caused problems on Saturday because of weather. With all of these changes coming so late we were unable to notify everyone that we feel the most problems stemmed from. Bands did not get to play to their fans, fans got confused and advanced planning was basically useless. As weather prevented the outdoor stage at The Pony to play, we moved the stage inside so the show would go on. There were two stages being condensed into one and again could not spread the word properly.
OVER CAPACITY, SHUT OUTS AND THE ISSUES
This was the biggest issue and was the subject of legal battles which all were decided in our favor. Our first come, first serve policy was approved by all and was to be used only when venues reached capacity. As noted earlier, we hired extra security and fire officials were positioned to regulate the policy. Since we had fire officials at entry and exit points we felt confident that no venue could exceed capacity. When venues were shut down, we could not understand how this could be since we followed direction and officials were in charge to prevent it. The decisions of closure and shut downs were made by the supervising fire marshall, who all along intended to bring down the event which became more evident as the weekend went on. At each point of closure, event officials were on hand to oversee the problems. The reasons behind the decisions were not based on facts, simply on one mans opinion. Our private security had clickers with attendance numbers available at all times, the fire officials hired to regulate the capacities never raised a concern nor called for the fire marshall to their aid. Our Fire marshall based his decisions on his judgement which we did not want to question for safety reasons and sensed an alternative agenda. We hoped that he could explain his position which we never were granted. His decisions were final and carried out with little regard to our actual numbers or the agreements made in advance. His behavior was unprofessional and led to legal proceedings. The fire marshall shut down Convention Hall when capacity was far from exceeding limits, bands were first to complain that the back floor and seats were light - they had the best view. He did not allow entry for those waiting in line as fans exited which caused a large gathering in the arcade during Further Seems Forever. It is my opinion that he did this on purpose The gathering could not be organized as he would not allow the usage of partitions on site to help structure the flow of traffic. He did not communicate with security in a professional manner so that fans could be informed - leaving everyone angry and disappointed. Instead, he took film and photos which he would use as evidence against us after the event. For our own protection, we hired a professional photographer who shot images that would contradict the story he was trying to write. Some fire officials and police were quick to appologize to us as they could not understand his agenda and spoke that it is not a reflection of the departments. We never thought it to be and in one meeting with offcials words were exchanged between the police and fire marshall. Also on Saturday, the marshall shut down two sets at The Stone Pony. We were told by a Stone Pony bouncer that he walked into the room, pointed to a young girl sitting in the corner by herself and turned to him and said: "See that girl, she's not having a good time, turn on the lights - the show is shut down"...The band was stopped,the lights were on and the building was emptied. Again, we felt that we could not have been overcapacity with a fire official at the front door at all times plus a pony bouncer used a clicker showing numbers under the limit. If the fire marshall had doubts, he should have had the crowd counted as they left as is standard policy to get accurate numbers to base fines from. Instead, he stood on stage and informed the venue manager that he wanted a written document from the venue that placed guilt on the promoter for violating capacity. The venue wrote a letter, but it asked for a review of the decision made by the fire marshall plus stating a violation of the merchant rights. The marshall was forced to allow patrons to enter and the band finished their set. He then stopped the following bands set due to his judgement for safety concerns but allowed the set to finish once the crowd calmed down. Capacity was lowered by his mandate for these two performances that caused some to see these bands. We had our hands tied and had no one to see if these actions were legal. Both bands knew what we were dealing with and per our recommendation performed a second set later that night in Bradley Park to make up for those who could not get in. The fire marshall has the most power in public safety issues which we did not want to challenge in hopes that he would work with us. That never happened and he later displayed more aggressive behaviors which were the reasons of disappointment for all. We had to accept our beatings knowing that no one could over turn his decisions nor did we want to ask that of anyone.
FLOGGING MOLLY AND BOUNCING SOULS RELOCATED
Sunday morning will always haunt the future of entertainment in Asbury Park. The fire marshall asked me to come to Convention Hall around 11:00AM. When I got there I was instructed to read a laminated poster that the fire marshall had on the table. This poster listed the laws for public safety that he was basing his decisions on. He must have had this poster done in advance as it was large and laminated. He said that he was not going to allow the event to start until I agreed to his orders and the other stipulations he was about to provide. He called for police officers to get in position for my arrest as I was enciting a riot and placing lives in jeopardy. I asked to have my lawyer present before we discussed the situation and that I would not resist arrest if the event was allowed to proceed - I figured that jail may be better than another day in his hell. Our lawyer quickly came to mediate the situation, asking for the marshall to allow us the chance to work with him rather than explore punishment. I asked the marshall for his reasoning which he noted was based on a poll he conducted earlier on the boardwalk and from an article he read in Rolling Stone. He was adamit from the poll, which only included six kids, and from the article he read that Flogging Molly was the biggest band on the festival and they were going to attract the biggest crowd causing the venue to over capacitate leaving kids angry in the arcade potentially starting a riot. I thought it was a joke, my lawyer asked if the poll was documented and if the six kids was a fair representation of the audience. He got angry and displayed facial expressions of frustration. The marshall surprised everyone by ordering an immediate hearing to be held on the second floor of the Paramount Theatre. All event officials, band representatives, building managment and on site city officials attended where the marshall ordered change to the days line up. He ordered Flogging Molly and Bouncing Souls to perform on the stages in Bradley Park simultaneously with the sets inside the Hall. Alkaline Trio and My Chemical Romance stayed in the Hall and we followed his instructions with all the band representatives informed of the decision. Again, the bands understood and helped us get through the end of the event. I had to go and tell My Chemical Romance that the fire marshall decided that they were not as big as Flogging Molly - Flogging Molly band members laughed when we had to tell them...Major agents witnessed first hand the verbal abuse I received and his anger. He referenced his distaste for concerts and events in public. The fire chief came to the scene per recommendation by the city officials, but could not over rule his decisions. After talking to the marshall, he came over to me and asked for my cooperation which I
assured would happen. Per my lawyers advice I was told to not comment or communicate without his presence and stayed out of view until the end of the event. At this point the damage was done and I knew that the damage he caused would be difficult to explain to the public. I think I had a nervous breakdown for a few hours and barely remember the day. The industry understood and supported us through the most disappointing months of my career. We knew we let a lot of people down and looked to the fans like the event was poorly planned and executed. Now we had a legal situation which forced us to not comment leaving many in the dark without explanation.
THE AFTERMATH
I wanted to write an official statement which was prepared and later put on hold as we were issued two fines by the marshall that amounted to the price of a new car. The charges against us were never stated in detail, leaving us with no foundation to prepare a defense. We appealed the fines and were granted a hearing in a county court which would rule on the charges. We prepared a defense which would show that excessive force and malicious intent by the marshall to damage our company reputation. The city presented their case and evidence to the court which had no substance. The testimony and evidence were confusing, at no point was there actual facts to support his case. The court often asked for further explanation and needed our input to understand what was being presented. The witnesses they called were useless and the board started to lose patience for his lack of substance. He even said during his testimony that he issued the fines after the event because he got letters from fans asking for actions against us. The court looked at most times in disbelieft. There was a recess where our lawyer was advised to request a dismissal before we continue. The dismissal was requested before we even were allowed to present our defense. The motion was had an immediate second and they threw the case out, clearing us of wrong doing and noting that the city improve future practices before issuing fines. We discussed filing a lawsuit against the city which we all agreed was not the best answer, instead wrote a letter which asked for a review of this situation by the city council to prevent this behavior for future events. We felt that the issue was closed and it was time to move on. A week later, I received a letter from the NJ Attorney General stating that charges were raised against our company by an attendee who wanted a refund based on the fact the we exceed capacity. We investigated the charges as privledged information was detailed in the letter that had to come from someone with inside information. Our research showed that the complaint came from a sibling of the fire marshall with the same home address. This guy is clever, he really had a deep bag of tricks. The marshall actually bought a ticket which he planned all along to add more controversy to the situation. The complaint was in his writing, we compared it to other documents we recieved from him....
THE CONCLUSION AND FUTURE
The Bamboozle will most likely never return to the city it called home. The festival was intended to stay in Asbury for the long term, where it was born and named after. In conclusion, we have met with the city and have been assured that there will be new procedures to prevent anymore harm. The new procedures are documented by our legal advisors and any future events we produce in the city will include methods of protection against unfair practices by fully documenting the event Since the festival, few shows have taken place in Convention Hall as a result of this event. The damage will be felt for a long time and the effects will hurt innocent venues and businesses who looked forward to this weekend. We are going to continue to do shows in the city were Max Cruise was born.
There was no discipline for his actions and that is disappointing. Even though he never asked for money, what he did was wrong. It was abuse by a public official, if we took our case to court we would have been rewarded for damages suffered from the event and to our reputation. That city does not need another lawsuit in a time so crucial for its revival.
To all the fans who were let down, we are sorry. We feel so helpless and hope that this brief explanation will help all to understand the frustations we faced throughout the event. The damage this caused to our reputation and company morale are still being felt. This year has not been easy for us, we took a step back before moving forward. If it was not for the artist and their representatives support, the event would have died that weekend.
Now we ask the fans to allow us a chance to learn from our mistakes and allow us to fulfill our dreams which we set out for last year. The Bamboozle will relocate to a better venue and will include a partnership with organizations who will make the event all that it can be. We thank you for your patience and understanding. Max Cruise Entertainment is a company focused on artist development and encourages our fans to help build our company to better serve your needs.
Sincerely,
John D.
Max Cruise Entertainment