A member of Twisted Sister's crew posted a lengthy rant on the band's website (which has since been removed) Tuesday detailing the horrifics of their recent experience performing at Amnesia Rockfest in Montebello, Que., calling it the "worst festival ever" and urging fans to go to elsewhere next year.
In the 2,500-word, profanity-laden tirade, which has since been taken down, 'Armadillo' Terry Sapp, a longtime member of the band's crew, complained about the inadequate dressing room, the band's rider not being fulfilled, disrespectful treatment by the festival crew and a too-short set on a too-small stage. He also said the band's audio was cut before they got to the final song in the 45-minute set.
"We can put up with terrible production. We can put up with lousy catering. We can put up with shitty dressing rooms, dirty toilets, small stages and poor treatment of us, the crew. But to disrespect the band by pulling the plug on the last single note without even letting them say the words, "Good night!" is unbelievable," he wrote.
During the show, singer Dee Snider made it clear he was not impressed by the short set and small stage. "How do we say goodbye in 45 minutes?" he demanded, noting that Canada is Twisted Sister's biggest country in terms of album sales. The concert was the popular '80s metal band's only Canadian show on their farewell tour.
In a statement, Rockfest founder and chief organizer Alex Martel said he was "extremely disappointed" to read Sapp's comments, and wants to set the record straight.
"In the 11 years of the festival, I have never seen anything like this," Martel wrote. "No member of the Twisted Sister camp contacted me at any point during or after the festival to express any concerns — we are always open to constructive criticism and improvement."
He said his team makes "serious efforts" to accommodate all the bands, "rather than giving priority to a single band." Logistical information was sent to performers weeks ahead, he said, "to ensure there would be no surprises about our hospitality, production or the site's geographic location."
Hundreds of bands are satisfied with their Rockfest experience every year, he added.
"Even though I strongly disagree with their claims and the way they chose to share their views, I still have tremendous respect for this legendary band and I wish them the best in their future endeavours."
Blink-182, Korn, Limp Bizkit and dozens more acts were divided between Rockfest's five stages at the Montebello marina site. The festival took place June 23-26.
Here are some highlights of Twisted Sister's road report on Rockfest.
Dressing room
"Twisted needs privacy before the show. At this place, it seemed like everyone had credentials and it was giant drunkenfest in the lobby leading to TS's dressing room. Notice the active word ROOM. Typically, we get a dressing for the band (preferably two), plus a room for crew and production, and a room for Dee. Before you start screaming prima donna, Dee needs that room so that he can stretch out, exercise and vocalize to get himself warmed up before stagetime. How they thought we would fit 15 crew, 3 video guys and 5 artists in a hot, stuffy 10×10 room is absolutely astonishing."
The rider
"Even worse, were the provisions that they left for us. Now mind you, we have a very simple rider. It's not fancy … it's not ridiculous or difficult … and it's actually quite flexible. Typically, we have a well-stocked fridge of juices, soda, coconut water, sports drinks, non-alcoholic and very small amount of regular beer and wine. There is typically a simple arrangement of fruit, cheese and meat trays and various snacks plus we usually go through 2-3 cases of water. In this dressing room: We had a dozen small water bottles. Five bags of chips. Three granola bars. A couple of tiny toffee candies. And a pack of something … I think it was gum. No mirrors. Some hand towels. Not even enough furniture for all five band members to sit down."
Transport to site
"If I tried to take a van, it could take 45 minutes or longer to get to the stage, because the festival had one road only, and it now resembled Mardi Gras in full swing, with stories of fans banging and rocking the vans of artists as they attempted to drive thru. … So I take a shuttle … to get to a dock … and board a F——- BOAT that took me 15-20 minutes across a pond where it deposited me at the end of a 200-foot floating dock. Then it was a dirty dusty jog down a side road, across streams of urine coming from the overflowing portapotties … then eventually … to the stage. The TEENY TINY Jagermeister stage, aptly named, because it made me want to throw up."
Stage/crew
"So Korn and Blink 182 get the human-sized stage, but Twisted Sister gets a stage the size of a gnat's mammography plate … We had nowhere to set up… nowhere to store our gear … nowhere to work. And from what I saw and experienced personally, some of their local crew treated us as if we were just the neighbor's kids playing air guitar on tennis rackets. In the six years that I have apprenticed with the crew, I have never experienced such a lack of respect."
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