Trimming the Rat -- er, Mouse

About 700 people saw Eek-A-Mouse play on Saturday, September 22, at the Peter Tosh Day concert in Rosarito Beach; no one saw the reggae star perform the next day at Street Scene even though his appearance had been advertised for weeks. He only made it to a Street Scene stage to say: "I'm here. They won't let me play. It's not my fault." At that point they turned off his microphone and security waved him off the stage.

J. Gonzales of Eek-A-Mouse Management/J.G. Productions says Live Nation hired his client to play the event earlier this year through Ric Bracamontes of Chicago-based American Famous Talent.

"Mouse officially let [Bracamontes] know he was no longer his agent in August," says Gonzales, who has been managing Eek-A-Mouse for about six weeks. "The bottom line is, two weeks prior, I personally tried to communicate with Live Nation. I reached out to [Street Scene founder] Rob Hagey and told him Ric had been fired and that now everything regarding Mouse goes through my company." (Hagey worked at this year's Street Scene in an advisory capacity.)

Gonzales says it was his understanding that Bracamontes received a $1000 deposit on the $10,000 that Mouse was supposed to be paid for playing Street Scene.

"When I arrived [at Street Scene], I got stage passes, guest passes, and parking passes," says Gonzales. "When I went to get the trailer for my artist, I was told we weren't performing and I needed to speak with the purchasing manager on site....

I was shown an e-mail from [Live Nation vice president of booking] Rich Best's office that said Mouse was not going to play [the 4:15 p.m. slot] and instead they were getting some other band to play for a lot less."

Gonzales says he paid for rooms and per diem expenses for Eek-A-Mouse and his five band members. He is unsure whether or not he will pursue legal action.

Ric Bracamontes says, "Everyone agreed, including Eek and his management, that we would continue with the shows that were already on the books. I have e-mail correspondence to prove that." Bracamontes agreed that he received a $1000 deposit check from Live Nation. "I expect [Live Nation] will stop payment on the check."

Greg Terlizzi, the L.A.-based spokesman for Live Nation, said he would look into the incident.