Rack 'Em

A 4th&B show headlined by LBC, a Long Beach Sublime tribute band, ended with the bassist beaten and hospitalized by an unhappy fan and an opening band claiming they were underpaid by $1000.

“It was a hideously awful night,” says Laura Brady, manager of L.A. band the Skeletones. Brady says she was emailed an offer of a $1500 guarantee for her ten-piece ska/reggae band to open for LBC on Saturday, August 8. Brady says $1500 is standard pay for her band but that she did not ask for the customary 50 percent deposit because “…it was 4th&B. We ask for a deposit if it’s a shitty promoter. But this was 4th&B. They always had such a good reputation. They had our name on the marquee.… I was told a week before that we would be paid in full before LBC took the stage.”

Brady says it was her understanding that Q-Ball, the bassist for LBC who sent her the offer and who seemed to be promoting the event, was connected with Sublime. “I found out after the show this guy had nothing to do with Sublime and never has.”

Brady, who had to pay $500 out of pocket for hotel, food, and transportation costs for her band to play the show, found out on arrival that the $1500 guarantee was not going to be paid. “It started to get a little ugly. Here I am, one woman.… What was I to do? I can’t fight them. I said, ‘I guess I’m going to have to call the police on this.’ That’s when the owner of 4th&B, Vince Puma, gave me a check for $500.” Brady says the check cleared but that she’s still short $1000 and is considering small-claims court.

LBC’s Q-Ball admitted by phone that though he emailed Brady the $1500 guarantee, he said he was acting on behalf of Las Vegas promoters who backed out of the show. “The show wasn’t selling too good. No Doubt was playing the same night. When the promoters backed out, we wanted to cancel, but we decided just to go ahead and play and not get paid. Vince said he didn’t want to ruin the reputation of 4th&B by canceling the show. We gave [the Skeletones] the opportunity not to play. They got $500 and we got nothing.”

But things got worse for Q-Ball. “Some crazy girl kept harassing me onstage. She was mad because one of the other bands didn’t play long enough. She started throwing things at us.” Q-Ball says that after the show in the parking lot the girl and her boyfriend attacked him. “Her boyfriend came up behind me and hit me in the head with a piece of lead. I spent two days in the ICU at Scripps Mercy. I had a concussion and I keep throwing up. I take blood thinner. I could have bled to death.…”

Vince Puma of 4th&B didn’t respond to a request for comment.