Just Heard
Mom & Pop vs. The Kids: What happened at Monkeytown?
» Regular readers of Impose know that we've showered a lot of love and praise over the small group of musicians that had a free show scheduled at Monkeytown last week. Greg Fox of GDFX sent us a heated request to make public his experience at the venue, when him, dANA, Ana Lola Roman, Best Hits, and Teenage Souls, had to evacuate Monkeytown for Market Hotel as cop cars arrived on the scene. It's only fair to have Monkeytown's version of what went down, so here's two sides of the same coin, with Ana Lola Roman speaking for The Kids, and Montgomery Knott speaking for Monkeytown, or in his words, a Mom and Pop operation.
The Kids: Bad economy, an un-basement like atmosphere, cushy cushions, no RSVP’s, $6 burgers, and a strict, hardworking, tired-by-10pm bar staff was impetus for getting kicked curbside on this infamous pre-memorial day Sunday.
Doesn’t really matter that dANA traveled all the way down from Bard to play a free show only to have their car break down. Or that Teenage Souls rolled through from Baltimore with a fresh layer of post-driving sweat on his brow. Because the show was listed as "free", this gave the author and her friends more incentive to invite people through word of mouth.
Mom & Pop: We're a mom and pop operation. I make less money than our dishwasher. We get noise complaints from our neighbors all the time. We're in the midst of a lawsuit with our landlords. Our waitstaff has had too many evenings where they're standing around with more members of bands than people in the audience.
The Kids:“We just didn’t understand or catch the bureaucratic undertones of their booking policies,” said Charley, from dANA. “We arrived early and were told to wait outside for 20 minutes before we could even load our stuff. I mean there was absolutely no personal communication with the bands. In a way, I felt like the staff was not interested in being calm or communicative with us.”
Bands arrived on the scene at 9:30pm. The show was listed on the Monkeytown website for 10pm. Minutes prior to pre-load in, Teenage Souls walks out the door and cryptically says, “I’m taking it to the streets!” Soon after, Greg Fox (GDFX) was immediately instructed to break down his gear by Mr. Knott, all while Greg had just purchased a $6 dollar burger.
M&P: By 10:30pm (for a 10pm show) there were about four or five audience members here and around a dozen band members. I said that if this was how many people were going to show up, we should just cancel the show, it's not worth if for us. Then, at a certain point in the "discussion" they started insulting me, our waitress, the venue and our chef.
At one point, they said, "We could have just booked a house party" and I responded, "Yes, you should have." We're not a DIY venue; we're small, intimate venue that serves food and has to support a kitchen staff.
The Kids: Matt Weiner from Best Hits, who booked the show, had only received two emails from Mr. Knott, none of which informed him that he was required to RSVP, only that it was advisable.
M&P: [Our reservation policy] was laid out in our email to them, but they ignored it. There were no reservations, it was half an hour after door time and there were five people present. I offered to wait half an hour more, but then the verbal abuse started
The Kids: While loading up and getting away from an epicenter of negativity and all around bum out, Monkeytown took it upon themselves to call the cops. Bands and patrons stood outside in utter, total, stunned silence when NYPD’s finest pulled up in not just one patrol car, but three patrol cars. The men in uniform stood around in stern silence as all the bands tried to load out and mobilize in a calm, organized manner.
M&P: The reason I called the cops is because somebody in those groups (I don't know who) poured a glass of water on our 12-channel mixer. We still don't know if it will function properly again. We're a very small venue and that sort of thing harms us immensely. If I knew who it was, I would definitely have had them arrested.
We've hosted over 1,000 bands at this point, and there's an element in the pixelated-hippy aesthetic that gets pretty annoying when it trades in righteousness and a sort of privileged condescension.
The Kids:“I don’t know, I think maybe he felt threatened,” explained Charley about Mr. Knott. “He felt threatened and repulsed by who we were. I guess we were not the norm of people who play there.”s
Posted on May 29, 2009
More on: ana lola roman, best hits, dana, gdfx, monkeytown, teenage souls
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I have to say that this story was not at all surprising to read. I have played Monkey Town 5 or 6 times and have never experienced anything other than an astounding lack of professionalism, an unparalleled absence of courtesy for both performers and patrons, and a general bad vibe that is most certainly not conducive to the creative process. Whenever asked by touring musicians about places to play in NYC I always steer them away from Monkey Town. The same goes for local musicians. Whenever someone I know does play there, their post-gig report is always the same: they didn’t get paid, they were treated like shit by Montgomery, and received more than one intimidating email leading up to their concert. Not to mention the always less-than-stellar reviews of the food, but we’ll save that for another forum… I booked a cd release party there last April (the only show that I ever booked there). After packing the place to standing room only I was handed $90 at the end of the night to split between three groups. Keep in mind that there was not a single person at Monkey Town that night who was not there to hear music. 100% of the revenue that night between the hours of 7:00 and 11:00 pm was generated by the musicians. I personally had a $75 food and drink tab (my girlfriend likes wine). Monkey Town is so unprofessional in fact that they had their bartender also working the door. I’d imagine that it would be a bit difficult to make mojitos AND account for every paying listener… If I had known that that they were planning on ripping us off that hard I would have put every single person who came on the guest list. The following day I engaged in an email exchange with Mr. Knott that was truly priceless. He is so clueless on every level (business man, club programmer, restaurant manager) that it truly is a wonder that that place is still open- he must be up to his ears in debt. I would urge anyone who is thinking of booking a gig at Monkey Town to find another sleazy restaurant with a back room that you can rent, because that is all Monkey Town is. They are not the hip venue that they posit themselves to be and there really is no point to playing there. If any good music does happen at Monkey Town I can assure you that it is purely by accident. Jeremiah
— jeremiah on June 02, 2009
a few points to be made here: 1. montgomery is, as a matter of FACT, perhaps the biggest of all delusional douchebags in williamsburg. the smug cluelessness that frames everything that comes out of his mouth is truly astounding. before we even begin to talk about the bullshit policies monkeytown employs in it's booking and production it is imperative to establish this fact. montogmery is a giant, vinegary douche.
— mike on June 01, 2009
i was "banned" from Monkeytown for sending out an email blast hyping the show but with the disclaimer "despite the bullshit food & drink minimum, we will make it worth it", but some asshole on my list passed it on to the owner who kicked my band off the bill. i say if you are that sensitive, leave NY. Anyway, let's call for an all out boycott of Monkeytown and spread the word! Musicians are too often treated badly, especially by asshole club owners. We don't deserve that shit! FUCK MONKEYTOWN!!!
— owltopus on June 01, 2009
Montgomery Knott: "I make less money than our dishwasher." Not surprising...
— mike on June 01, 2009
also, awesome story. much love.
— david bowie on June 01, 2009
Dang. Well if venues cared so much about staying open, they'd put more effort into promoting their shows, rather than COMPLETELY relying on the touring bands they book to bring in a crowd. Guess the dANA boys should've stopped at a starbucks to use their wifi to tell all their facebook friends from upstate to go.
— david bowie on June 01, 2009
fucking wack. has anyone been to monkeytown since and happen to notice a different mixing board?
— RIC LEICHTUNG on May 30, 2009
When I walked in to set up my stuff, I caught wind of the fact that they were talking about the possibility of canceling the show. I asked Montgomery what was up, coolly, calmly, and respectfully. He was immediately insulting, short, and condescending. I asked him if they were canceling because they were losing money, and he said yes. I told him that I had just purchased dinner and a drink, and that others had done the same as would more as they arrived for the show (which many people in fact did after we were kicked out) I also reminded him that this wasn't a paying gig, and that people had done some traveling to get there both to play and to see the show. He mocked me, saying something along the lines of, "ooh, big rockstar got a burger and a drink." My attempts to simply discuss with him what was going on were met with complete negativity, and it climaxed in Montgomery and another women just screaming at us, "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT" over and over again. At that point we walked outside and the cops pulled up. I know nothing about the mixer incident. I think a venue, when booking bands, has it upon them to either promote the event or make it clear that it is the bands responsibility to do so. Especially when the venue doesn't pay the bands, and when the bands end up buying food and drinks from them, being treated with such hostility was to say the least a major bummer. When the cops showed up I really felt that a major line had been crossed, so I emailed Jeremy to tell him what happened. I'm not trying to make this my personal sounding board or anything but I thought the story was worth publishing. Reading this article makes me cringe a little because I feel ultimately like it might have been better to just never play there again instead of increasing the level of hullaballoo.
— greg on May 29, 2009
Inside sources have told me that Montgomery Monkeytown is in fact a nasty cokehead. Or at least he was last year. I've been there a few times and have found the vibe uptight and negative. It's too bad because the idea of the place has a lot of potential, but not for many live undreground acts.
— aokny on May 29, 2009
I have never liked that place.
— Aus Rotman on May 29, 2009
this is all so ridiculous. and despite the hotness of this article---its doesn't even come close to capturing the stupidity of the entire situation. monkey town is just a bunch of over-ripened scenesters stressed out from their stupid jobs that pretend to----but have nothing to do ---with.....music.
— LongJohn on May 29, 2009
Yo, the burgers are ELEVEN DOLLARS before cheese even enters into the argument. Overrated, overpriced, staffed by the meanest people around, I bet they go out of business sooner rather than later.
— planet of the apes on May 29, 2009
Interesting to see both sides of this...we're still not sure if anyone actually poured water on the mixer, i never saw this happen and no one has suggested they did such a thing...I heard the police laughing at the fact that Mr. Knott was complaining about someone spilling water on the couch, but a mixer? that seems absurd...
— matt on May 29, 2009
(Whats an electro ernest hemmingway?)
— Gdfx on March 11, 2009
Wow, that was really nice. This man is hardly busy. He pumps this stuff out of he sleeps.
— Cool Ruler on March 09, 2009
I really like his stuff, was going to post about him too, bastard.
— Always Right on March 09, 2009
really liking the album. the neighbors are gonna be pissed.
— Joey P on February 25, 2009
this stuff is rad!
— manowar on February 25, 2009
very cool. do they play out?
— disagreeful on February 25, 2009
yeah.. they do.. i think i've been told they're playing ny sometime in the coming months... look out for them.
— jeremy on February 25, 2009
yea, check their myspace.com/danafantastik they'll list shows as they book them
— cecil on February 25, 2009
Whoa. This might be the best I've head from them yet.
— nate d on February 09, 2009