It’s now official, the Sunset Junction Fair is filling for bankruptcy! After being denied its permits last August, the fair was canceled at the last minute and the organizers were left with hundreds of unpaid bills. Not only they were even unable to reimburse most of the tickets bought in advance, but they owe the city, the vendors, the IRS and of course the 100 artists who were supposed to play. According to court documents and the LA Weekly, the organization’s liabilities total the horrific sum of $928,423.04!!
It is a shame, despite critics blaming a bad management, an inefficient organization, and a ticket price that had reached the roof these last years, I loved that fair!
The LA Weekly has obtained court records that reveal how much each band was supposed to be paid (and were not). The list is somewhat surprising. I always wonder how exactly you can put a price tag on a band, but, 24 and 22K for Butthole Surfers and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? I had no idea they were that pricey! And Hanson? They are still riding high on their 1997 hit song ‘MMMBop’, because what have they done lately?
And, honestly, a lot of ‘small’ local bands (Lady Danville, Shadow Shadow Shade, The Belle Brigade, The Fling, Vanaprasta and others) are too good to be only paid 500 bucks.
Still, I will never understand what went wrong exactly: they said there were 200,000 attendees at the fair in 2010, and since each of them paid $20, the organizers should have been left with $4,000,000!
Here is the complete list of the bands that were supposed to play, with the sum they should have been paid:
Butthole Surfers $24,000.00
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah $22,000.00
Hanson $20,000.00
k.d. lang $20,000.00
Ozomatli $20,000.00
Bobby Womack $15,000.00
Gayngs $13,000.00
Peaches $12,800.00
Lil' Jon $10,000.00
Tapes 'n Tapes $10,000.00
Art Brut $8000.00
Arthur Adams $6000.00
Charles Bradley $5500.00
Dum Dum Girls $5000.00
Helmet $5000.00
Rooney $5000.00
The Growlers $5000.00
The Melvins $3300.00
Butch Walker & the Black Widows $3000.00
EC Twins $3000.00
The Original Vandellas $2500.00
Kim Weston $2250.00
Brenda Holloway $1500.00
DJ Trent Cantrelle $1500.00
Morgan Page $1500.00
Natalia Kills $1500.00
The Hundred Days $1250.00
400 Blows $1000.00
Cary Brothers $1000.00
Madi Diaz $1000.00
Soft Pack $1000.00
The Rescues $1000.00
DJ Swedish Egil $800.00
DJ Lazr Tag $750.00
DJ Reflect $750.00
He's My Brother She's My Sister $750.00
Lemon Love $750.00
The Stripminers $750.00
Chris Pierce $650.00
Arm The Animals $550.00
DJ David Palmer $500.00
DJ Drew $500.00
DJ Fashen $500.00
LA Derby Dolls $500.00
Lady Danville $500.00
Nick Waterhouse $500.00
Shadow Shadow Shade $500.00
Sunny War $500.00
The Belle Brigade $500.00
The Fling $500.00
Vanaprasta $500.00
Vaud And The Villains $500.00
Art vs Science $480.00
DJ Derterous $450.00
30 Years After $350.00
Carina Round $350.00
Jim Bianco $350.00
Milo Greene $350.00
Barrio Tiger $250.00
Cinderella Motel $250.00
Greylag $250.00
Hands $250.00
Holly Conlan $250.00
Lesands $250.00
Nicole Eva Emery $250.00
Olin & The Moon $250.00
The Bitter Branches $250.00
The Steelwells $250.00
The Three Degrees $250.00
Ruby Summer $200.00
The Damselles & The TC4 $200.00
Buddy $150.00
Erin McLaughlin $150.00
Yellow Red Sparks $150.00