If all the post-show bad press and obvious mismanagement were not enough for the fledgling BottleRock music festival, now a couple of vendors say that organizers wrote them bad checks. As reported earlier, depending on who you ask, the festival either failed to break even or a dispute between the primary food vendor and the organizer has held up payments to stagehands, the City of Napa, and others. Now at least two vendors have come forward saying that checks written to them by BottleRock were returned for insufficient funds.
The downtown Napa music and food festival happened for the first time May 9 to 12, and featured some 60 musical acts including big names like Kings of Leon, Jane's Addiction, and Macklemore. At the end of the festival, dates for next year were already announced.
A Rocklin-based security company and a food vendor have both come to the Napa Police Department complaining about bounced checks, and this follows on the earlier reports of Bauer's Shuttle Co. suing the festival for underpayment, and the 142 stagehands who claimed they had not been paid on time either.
According to festival founder Bob Vogt, the issue is not lack of funds, but stemmed from a conflict over the accounting with food and beverage vendor Fish Market LLC, a catering company set up for the event by local chef Cindy Pawlcyn. According to Pawlcyn's reps, they met all their agreements, and it was Vogt and his people who were perhaps too optimistic in their projections.
[AP/CC Times]
[ABC 7]
