Bamboozle founder gives post-mortem

Posted by aubin on Friday, February 22, 2013 at 11:00 AM (EST)

After the cancellation of The Bamboozle festival, there was a great deal of speculation about what exactly happened; while originally reports pegged the problems on the rather straightforward issue of being unprofitable , founder John D. noted that there was more than that:

There was a falling out at Bamboozle. A really bad one. But it wasn't with Live Nation as a company. It was with a few individuals at upper management. And the rumors are true. I F bombed them. I went in and told them to take their job and stick it as far up their asses as they could put it.

we have Bon Jovi headlining a concert. It wasn't a three day festival. There were billboards on the parkway that said "Bon Jovi: One Night Only." What do you mean? My festival is three days. There was a lot of creative differences, there was a lot of broken trust. We sold Live Nation 51% of Bamboozle. And we gave them that 1% because there was trust. That festival made money for 10 years. Not many festivals can say that they've made money every year

The rest of the interview can be found via Property of Zack.

The Bamboozle (52 comments)

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

subwayscott (February 22, 2013)

Boo-fucking-hoo.

wentz_equals_death (February 22, 2013)

no no, bamboozle. boo fucking hoo is in atlanta every year i think

preston (February 22, 2013)

Ha. I wish there was an emo festival with that name.

Blades (February 22, 2013)

8/10

johngentile (john g.) (February 22, 2013)

Never base a business deal on trust, baby. Base it on the word of the contract.

drewbob (February 22, 2013)

As a second year law student, I concur with the judgment.

threetimesalady (February 22, 2013)

Live Nation is a disgusting organization. I recently paid a 50% service charge on a ticket I purchased through them. I try not to go to their shows but sometimes you just suck it up because you want to see the band so badly.

paulsilence (February 22, 2013)

So are you rocking a Goatse butthole yet?

maverick (scott) (February 22, 2013)

Where did this quote come from? There's no citation.

-Scott

mclz (February 22, 2013)

Skate and Surf posted this online from an Interview. I forgot where.

That said old Skate and Surf > this skate and surf.
The 1st year of Bamboozle was great because it was just like Skate and Surf and in Asbury. After that I couldn't stand it.

zzarrillo (February 22, 2013)

it's from here: http://propertyofzack.com/post/43656339103/poz-presents-a-tell-al l-interview-with-john-d-on-the

Baronvonfuckyoustien (February 23, 2013)

Second Bambaz- what ever fuck it was called was best. Dan Yemin just took a huge verbal shit on everything they stood for during the Paint It Black set. Anyone got it on the Youtube of it. Bamboozle 2006.

Wesley_Snipes (February 23, 2013)

Who cares for sources, let's start rumors !!

zzarrillo (February 22, 2013)

Full article is here: http://propertyofzack.com/post/43656339103/poz-presents-a-tell-al l-interview-with-john-d-on-the

4petessake (February 22, 2013)

Fuckin right John D.!

drewbob (February 22, 2013)

Someone explain to me how a guy getting fucked over by Livenation is news.

johngentile (john g.) (February 22, 2013)

Perhaps the news is that someone, quite bafflingly, would base a deal with Livenation on "Trust"

drewbob (February 22, 2013)

Valid point. I would put Livenation somewhere between Lehman Brothers and Nazi Germany on my grand list of trusty worthy organizations. I wonder why someone who obviously has never bought a ticket to a show is running a festival?

krudsma (February 22, 2013)

Hey. Godwin's Law.

Tudor (February 22, 2013)

New Off with their heads leaked, but also. go buy the real thing dorks.

ebolarama (February 22, 2013)

Link? Don't worry, I preordered.

twstdbydsn (February 22, 2013)

On listen # 2... Damn good stuff!

notfeelingcreative (February 22, 2013)

Already preordered. I'm too old fashioned for leaks.

loki13 (February 22, 2013)

If you are REALLY old you get all sorts of leaks.

Dante3000 (rich) (February 22, 2013)

Livenation: we ruin everything!

Dante3000 (rich) (February 22, 2013)

Though really if Livenation owns 51% of Bamboozle, don't they have the choice of bringing it back forever, in whatever form they choose? So next year's Bamboozle, "One Night only! Bamboozle with David Lee Roth and Justin Bieber!"

drewbob (February 22, 2013)

Bamboozle is now a one night event hosted by Ted Nugent, entitled "Guns and the Awesomeness Therein"

Dante3000 (rich) (February 22, 2013)

He plays "Wang Dang Sweet Poon Tang" 10 times and then spends the next five hours shooting guitars with different guns.

Holy shit, I would actually see that.

palzer_boo (February 22, 2013)

Whenever I hear the name Ted Nugent I have to think of Cotton Hill for some reason.

thedoodlyman (February 23, 2013)

"I killed fitty men"

Blades (February 22, 2013)

Are you kidding me? Diamond Dave blows Bon Jovi and pretty much anyone else out of the water!

Dante3000 (rich) (February 22, 2013)

I'm so sad and lonely.

Michael_Berryman (February 22, 2013)

well, yeah. he could drown!

Sho-Nuff (February 22, 2013)

"It wasn't a three day festival. There were billboards on the parkway that said "Bon Jovi: One Night Only." What do you mean? My festival is three days."

WAS IT OR WAS IT NOT A THREE DAY FESTIVAL?!

How I am to sleep with this ambiguity hanging over my head?!

Dante3000 (rich) (February 22, 2013)

I believe he means it WAS a three day festival but it wasn't being treated as such by Live Nation. So you essentially had a three day festival, where only the one night was being promoted.

Sho-Nuff (February 22, 2013)

Leave me and my irrational annoyances alone.

returnofdebs (February 22, 2013)

Bamboozle got bamboozled. Amirite???

badbrain (February 22, 2013)

totally metta

Stagedives (February 22, 2013)

Bamboozle sucks and so does Bon jovi

keithybobeefy (February 22, 2013)

I went to Bamboozle once and I had a good time. I always liked going to Asbury for shows.

killtaker (February 22, 2013)

I know the American dream is to built something (myspace, AOL, Bamboozle, a ton of other shit) and sell all or pieces of it to someone for a huge payout but what about building something and maintaining and sustaining success independently? There are a ton of stories about guys who do this stuff and then are unhappy about the outcome or how their product is then treated.

obxmotorbike (February 22, 2013)

its a sad day for... umm... well... hmmmm... no-one? hey you wanna see that band that never tours play for like 20-25mins in New Jersey? nah im good. I'll hold out until they come and play for an hour or two... or someone gets a festival together that has hour long sets featuring no bands that are dance-punk, dance-pop, dance-core, pop-core, or nu metal...

drummerx (February 22, 2013)

So, you gave Live Nation (a company that has single handedly done whatever they can to increase their profit margins, ruined the live musical experience in many ways, price gouged bands and fans for tickets/concessions, and a bought up numerous properties in an attempt to instill a monopolistic live music market) majority stake in your company because of "trust?" That's your excuse? Gotta call "bullshit" on that one.

You sold majority stake (and your festival's soul) to Live Nation for MONEY. Majority stake means it's in THEIR control, and Bon Jovi "one night only" is what you got. Good job, buddy!

Further proof of lining your own pocket? I have a friend who I went to school with that worked for Bamboozle and busted her ass for an entire semester (on the clock under the promise of pay, mind you) and received ZERO pay after all her hard work. She put all her free time and efforts into said year's festival under the assumption that she'd get paid and maybe even land a job, and received nothing in return. Nothing. Again, way to go!

You ran a successful festival into the ground of your own volition, and did what you could to make a profit. Based on how it was run over the past few years, good riddance. Take the blame for your actions, and realize what you had is gone because of YOUR screw ups.

killtaker (February 22, 2013)

Live Nation is just the new name for Clear Channel right?

vocalyouth (February 22, 2013)

Yep. Garbage corporation.

killtaker (February 22, 2013)

I think that the old clear channel radio stations in Pittsburgh are now owned by Haliburton.

skolarx (February 24, 2013)

more or less they spun the concert promotion side of things (Clear Channel Entertainment) off into a "separate" company (still run by the same CEO) so that they could avoid being called out as the monopoly that they are. I believe the Clear Channel side of things has died down quite a bit at this point, with them selling off a lot of radio stations and whatnot. I worked for them for close to 10 years and i still think the dumbest thing they have ever done (outside of systematically firing off all of the people who worked for the local companies they bought out) was trying to franchise the Fillmore as a brand and changing the name of established venues to the Fillmore while trying to replicate the original venue. If I go to another city for a show, I"m not looking for the exact same experience that I would get seeing a show here, just an all around dumb idea

droneclone (February 24, 2013)

One of the many reasons I can't stand House of Blues.

droneclone (February 24, 2013)

So, you entered into an "exclusive relationship" with Buzz Media (a company that has single handedly done whatever they can to increase their profit margins, ruined the online musical experience in many ways, engage in nefarious and obtrusive marketing techniques, and a bought up numerous properties in an attempt to instill a monopolistic online music market) because of ??

You sold Punk News (and it's soul) to Buzz Media for MONEY. It means it's in THEIR control, and pop-up Miracle Whip ads is what you got. Good job, buddy!

Further proof of lining your own pocket? I have a friend who I went to school with that wrote many reviews and submitted many articles for your site and like many others, helped build it up thinking that no one was making a ton of money off the work of the well-intentioned volunteers. She put all her free time and efforts into your site under the assumption that it was a non-profit and would stay that way. Again, way to go!

You ran a successful site into the ground of your own volition, and did what you could to make a profit. Based on how it was run over the past few years, good riddance. Take the blame for your actions, and realize what you had is gone because of YOUR screw ups.

drummerx (February 25, 2013)

It's nice to inspire.

Baronvonfuckyoustien (February 23, 2013)

Being a Jerseyite, I have friends work for this man and they had nothing nice to say. Compared him to the man who own Victory Records and were stoke to find grown up work in the boring world.

tonerrr (February 26, 2013)

Looks like founder John D. got Bamboozled.