"Thank God No One Was Hurt"

I wish I never produced & funded a free Janes Addiction concert in Times Square. The band was encouraging chaos & urging the crowd to go wild. The environment turned dark & dangerous. I believe Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro wanted anarchy that night. The show ended when we pulled the power to the PA and turned on the lights (with the help of a trusted friend & producer @EvanKorn). Nothing comes ahead of safety so we brought the show to and end thus deflating a potentially bad situation.

My bank account was the only real causality. It took years to recover financially. It could have been much worse. Let me share a few lessons that are usually learned from decades of experience.

#1 You will be personally sued if someone is seriously injured at your show. It doesn't matter if it wasn't your fault. It doesn't matter if you have insurance. It doesn't matter if you think you have the "shield" of working for a company. You can still get dragged into court. You may spend tens of thousands of dollars of your personal money on lawyers in the best of scenarios. You may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (of your personal savings) if the injured people have aggressive council.

#2 Yes, you can write "The artist will not say fu*k, g-d damn or su@k my dick" in a contract. If you don't want the band to scream obscenities during your family friendly show, then put that in the contract. Be specific.

#3 Carefully word the exact consequence of dangerous behavior in the written agreement. What are you going to do it the artist violates the contract by screaming "the promoter told me I can't cuss tonight. Well he can li@k my balls!'' Are you going to sue them? Good luck with that. You must include: "the artist will not get paid if they do that" in the contract. That usually works.

#4 The agent might laugh if you ask for #2 & #3. That's because they don't know you and likely don't trust you. Dave Grohl probably can't go grocery shopping without saying "mother-fu@ker" yet the Foo Fighters don't cuss on Jimmy Kimmel Live. They like Jimmy and they respect his rules. You need to hire a seasoned producer if the agent blows you off. The agent will treat a veteran talent buyer much differently than they will treat someone they don't know. That's just life.

#5 "You can't do a good deal with a bad person." Most road managers are hard working professionals. A few (who I won't mention) have reputations for being overly tough and mean. A few other manager are the kindness people in the world. Earning the title of "saint" are Robert Reynolds, Mac Reynolds, @JohnGreenberg, and Scott Booker. Consider yourself lucky if you can work with their artists like Imagine Dragons, The Killers, and Flaming Lips. Avoid like the plague working with a--hole managers no matter how much you love their band. Do your homework on the management. If you don't know how to find out; then hire someone like me who can point out the people to avoid. No band is worth it.

#6 Don't count on the band's sound-guy to cut the stage mic or let you talk if you think things are not safe. The sound guy has no idea who you are, he doesn't work for you, and he can't hear you anyway. If you find yourself yelling at the sound guy to do anything; you've already lost. This is another area where a trusted live music producer can help. They will work out the details in advance of how to interrupt a show or slow the pace of the evening if needed.

#7 Don't be afraid of your client or the band. I've seen many talented event professionals who are fearful of upsetting their client. You need to take charge if things feel unsafe. You can't be worried about upsetting an account manager for a consumer products company if a rap artist starts to get a crowd overly energized. Have conversations in advance with your client about the protocols for live events. Add those to your written SOW. Be specific. You may not have time to track down "Karen from marketing" if you want to end a show early if she has her best clients in the crowd. Everyone wants a safe show. Unfortunately not everyone is level headed in the heat of a live performance by a leading celebrity.

I will not bore you with the details of my Jane's Addiction concert it Times Square. I will simply say that I was too busy with running a large festival to pay attention to all of the contracts. I trusted a few people to do things that were simply over their heads (not their fault, but mine). I also thought I could do "a good deal with a bad person." I was wrong. I believe I prevented people from getting hurt but I lost a huge client in the process. I didn't lose the client because I ended the show. I lost the client because the night took a dark turn and the artist was difficult to manage. I know I made the right decision that night by pulling the plug. I wish I would have made some better decisions in the weeks leading up to the show.

That was in 2014. I haven't repeated any of those mistakes and I am a much better producer today. In fact, I am on the verge of my biggest project ever.

Let's do a show together in 2021! I will keep it fun for you, exciting for the crowd, and safe for everyone. - Tim Hayes