TAINTED ENTERTAINMENT: COMMENTS ON DAMAGES AT THE BASEMENT, KINGSTON, NY

New York based metal promotions company TAINTED ENTERTAINMENT has commented on the damages incurred from the last show (10/7/2011- IMMOLATION, GIGAN, JUNGLE ROT show) at the now defunct live music bar (metal, hardcore, punk, open mikes) THE BASEMENT, Kingston, NY.

EDITORS NOTE: ITP V.011's author was NOT in attendence at said show at THE BASEMENT.
FROM TAINTED ENTERTAINMENT:
It has come to our attention through both word of mouth and local media of the damages incurred at The Basement in Kingston, NY following one of our shows that we promoted at that venue. We would like to go on record ( Again ) as saying that Tainted Entertainment or its affiliates neither condone nor support that kind of senseless activity ! We pleaded with the club Manager Rob S. to retract his p...ublic announcement to the fans saying "Tear the place apart" and "F***ing Destroy everything in here". Not only were we worried for the safety of our supplied talent and equipment, but also for the majority of the fans who were well behaved. Going one step further, We cut the set short and packed up to leave as Rob and his goons continued their rampage and threatening verbal assaults towards us. In our opinion, it is people like this that give decent fans and bands in the metal community a bad name. We here at Tainted will continue to provide quality entertainment to the public and to the MANY venues that can attest to our professional behavior and welcome us back time after time.

FROM KINGSTON TIMES:
While engineers from the Army National Guard were carrying out the long-awaited teardown of the old King’s Inn, a bit further up Broadway, death metal fans and other patrons of a popular drinking spot and music venue were doing their own — decidedly less welcome — demolition job. Now the building’s owner and police are trying to determine who is responsible for damages reportedly totaling upwards of $50,000.

Early in the morning on Saturday Oct. 8, hours before landlord H. Lee Wind and sheriff’s officials were set to serve an eviction order at the Basement bar at 744 Broadway, a triple-bill metal show ended in an orgy of destruction. Wind said that by the time he arrived early Saturday morning, the former bar was a wasteland of powdered drywall and broken glass with every fixture, from the toilets to the ceiling fan either smashed or hauled away.



“I guess you had some people who believe, to some extent in anarchy in music,” said Wind. “The problem is, they tried to transfer that anarchy into a real situation.”

The destruction occurred at the conclusion of a musical bill headlined by death metal rockers Immolation. Photos posted on the Facebook page of Poughkeepsie-based Tainted Entertainment, which produced the event, show fans cavorting in a snowstorm of floating drywall and tearing down a ceiling fan. Other pictures and accounts from patrons who turned out for the show describe a chaotic scene with free liquor flowing freely, scantily clad women dancing on the bar and a sledgehammer taken to various fixtures.
Wind said casualties of the venue’s death throes included the heating system, air conditioners, lights, mirrors, bathroom fixtures — everything, in fact, with the exception the bar’s ATM, which managed to withstand the fury of the crowd. The room also suffered flooding from water pouring from the pipes of broken toilets and sinks and an ice machine that was removed before the water was shut off.

“It’s clear that it was pandemonium in there,” said Wind, who offered a preliminary damage estimate between $50,000 and $100,000. “There was nothing in that place that was salvageable.”

No rent since January

According to Wind, the demolition of the Basement came at the conclusion of a long-running eviction process against the bar’s proprietor Rob Stango. Wind said that Stango, who has leased the space since 2007, had not paid rent since January and had not been carrying insurance for the venue. Wind said that after several failed attempts to resolve the situation, he proceeded with an eviction action in Kingston City Court. After a final court hearing on Thursday, Wind received the eviction order and made plans with Ulster County Sheriff’s Chief Civil Officer Don Ryan to execute the document on Saturday morning. When he arrived to find the find the bar in ruins, Wind said, he immediately suspected that Stango had a hand in destruction.

“I believe that he either permitted that destruction to occur or encouraged others to do so,” said Wind. “Rob knew it was going to be the last night and he had nothing to lose.”

Wind said that ominous Facebook postings, including one billing the Immolation show as a “night of rage,” added fuel to speculation that the riotous culmination of the evening was not entirely unplanned. One photograph on the Tainted Entertainment Facebook page shows Stango at the bar that night. But the shot was apparently taken before the worst of the destruction occurred, as evidenced by its lack of swirling plaster which appears in photos taken later in the night. Wind said he has had no contract with Stango since the Oct. 6 court date and he is leaving matters in the hands of police. Stango responded to a request for an interview Tuesday by texting that he would talk to the Kingston Times on Wednesday, but did not respond by press time. (Editor’s note: We will have Stango’s side of it in next week’s issue.)

Kingston Police Lt. Egidio Tinti said detectives were looking into the case with an eye to potential criminal charges against anybody who took part in the vandalism.

“At this point we’re exploring the criminal part of it,” said Tinti. “It will be up the landlord to decide if he wants to go that way or just proceed as a civil matter.”

Before its sudden and apparently decisive demise, the Basement served as a popular music venue for local and out of town acts with an edgy, aggressive style. The bar was known for booking acts in genres like Death Metal and Hardcore that other places shied away from for fear of liability from rowdy mosh pits and unruly fans. Stango also offered the space for community-focused events, teaming up with the substance abuse prevention group Kingston Cares for alcohol free all-ages shows and hosting readings of The Vagina Monologues to benefit Family Domestic Violence Services.

Two weeks after the Basement’s final act, Wind said that he was still tallying up the damage and trying to determine what to do with the space. Wind said that he was considering reopening the space as a bar, but one a bit more upscale, with more experienced management and perhaps a less combustible mix of live music.

“I’m so traumatized by this experience that I’m reluctant to rent this property to anybody to do this sort of thing again,” said Wind.

FROM Andrew Johann Datoush (THE BASEMENT GROUP FACEBOOK): Since this article is set to just point fingers prior to getting any sides of the story other than the building owner's, let's just say it's all the devil's fault, note the Hail Satan on the garbage can. Seriously, what was the point in that? Show me one bar in Kingston that does not have graffiti of some sort written on the walls.

I admit, I wasn't there that night, so I didn't see anyone incite a riot, death metal fans going wild, or a band causing anarchy, but I can tell you all the "water damage" in the place wasn't limited to the bathrooms. I've seen first hand many leaky ceilings, causing damage to the floors, furniture and soundboards, all while the venue was still open.

Not taking sides, just stating that the only "victim" this article seems to really tell us about was a big part of the problem himself.

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-