By TOM CHESEK
Anyone know exactly what’s going down down at the Internet CafĂ©?
It seems that dozens of ticketholders to an all-ages rock show last Friday night were refused admission to Red Bank’s grooviest grotto, leaving a lot of peed-off band parents and pink-haired teens to freeze outside in the courtyard alleyway.
Details are sketchy, but redbankgreen has learned that the person manning the door told showgoers that the event — promoted by Avail Entertainment and headlined by the popular MySpace-spawned combo Eyes Set to Kill — had been “oversold.” To say nothing of overcrowded, always a panic-button issue in a town that tends not to look the other way when large groups of people intersect with heavily amplified music.
Patrons who stepped outside were snipped of their plastic wristbands and denied re-entry, while some band members were reported to have had difficulty retrieving their equipment.
Perhaps most disappointing to those who made it inside, Eyes Set to Kill was unable to take the stage with their unique mix of melodic chick-vocal rock and guttural “screamo” when borough inspectors arrived and
shut the place down. Needless to say, keyboards were abuzz with angry e-mails within the hour.
There’s no official word yet from Red Bank on all this. We spoke to Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels yesterday as he was heading into a meeting, but he declined immediate comment. He said his office would issue a press release, probably today.
Attempts to reach Internet Café owner Joe Cullity or anyone from Avail Entertainment were unsuccessful as of Tuesday night.
We do know that promoter Jerseyshows.com of Matawan was forced to relocate an event scheduled for Saturday at the iCafĂ©, taking it across West Front Street to Chubby’s, where the promoters regularly present their all-ages, “pay to play” programs of local and national acts. An acoustic matinee scheduled for this past Monday at the iCafĂ© was also apparently canceled, as was another event announced for last night.
Jerseyshows honcho Dan Fulton confirmed that a matinee bill slated for this Saturday and headlined by Virginia band Mile High School was still on for the iCafe, as was an additional all-ager penciled in for February 16. But the busy booking agent and record label owner did allow that one or both of those shows could be quickly relocated if need be.
