On Monday afternoon, a big and surprising (to say the least) announcement was made by concert promoter, FYF fest organizer, Sean Carnage: The Strokes were scheduled to play at Pehrspace next Monday for the modest sum of $5.
Pehrspace? The place, that is so hard to find, at the back of a parking lot, where all these underground bands play? Wow, unbelievable, this place looks like an apartment unit and cannot contain more than 40 people! Did you say intimate? You have intimate!
But yes, I checked out the website http://www.seancarnage.com/2002/04/24/six-years-of-mondays-party, and the Strokes (not a cover band) were announced for Sean Carnage / Kyle Mabson Monday Night Six Year Anniversary Party, pt. 4 on August 22nd.
There was even a link directing to a YouTube video of ‘Last Nite’,… it sounded like the real thing?
But a little bit later, Sean Carnage posted that the Strokes’ appearance had to be canceled, declaring ‘The show must go on, but the headliner is cancelled. Your safety at my shows is my highest concern.’
This is what he posted:
‘There’s suddenly been a lot of interest in next week’s Pehrspace show, co-starring Clipping (Captain Ahab + Rale), MC Gaff E (from the UK), DJ Baglady and Secret Friends.
The headliners were to be a band whose moniker reflects the aspirations (sometimes disguised) of an entire generation. That this caused so much furor is a shock, but not entirely surprising in retrospect. A lot of the young people with guitars and mics in their hands right now are because of certain musicians named Julian, Nick, Albert Jr., Nik and Fab.
When the Strokes (not a cover band) called me originally, a Pehr appearance sounded like a fun treat for the regular showgoers. Lord knows we’ve done crazier things. It was not a publicity stunt. I know Strokes fans are mostly gonna hate what I do at Pehr. Who would want to risk their ire?
But, in the end, it all comes down to one thing: your safety at my shows is my highest concern. Therefore, at 12:13pm this afternoon, I called the Strokes and cancelled their appearance.
To their credit the band was apologetic and worried about Pehrspace mostly.
The Strokes (not a cover band) have been cancelled.
Their appearance will not be rescheduled.
I love those guys so I’m not going to apologize for booking them. But this is out of hand.
My biggest concern is for Pehrspace, which I love and I send my sincere apologies go to everyone there.’
Ok I believe you, it was not a publicity stunt! Sean Carnage, you are too cool for this kind of stuff, but what were you thinking? Did you want the place to be destroyed by 10,000 angry fans who couldn’t get in?
I believed it for a short while, well, it had been picked up by all the LA blogs, and a tweet by la-underground made me laugh:
‘All we know is that there were at least a thousand KROQ listeners Googling what a Pehrspace was and the cast of Entourage wanted VIP passes.’
Yeah, it would have been a mess!