Jay Reatard And Toronto Promoters Disagree About Aborted Toronto Gig

Jay Reatard and the promoters of his April 17 show at Toronto's Silver Dollar are trading blame after Reatard aborted the gig after three-and-a-half songs.

Reatard was playing with Montreal's CPC Gangbangs in support of his new Matador Records series of seven-inch singles. During his first song, "Blood Visions," a fan jumped on stage. Reatard punched him in the back of the head and ripped his shirt.

A beer pitcher was thrown at Reatard, which ChartAttack's Cameron Gordon says was launched back into the audience. Fed up, Reatard started screaming that he was "done." He packed up his gear and left the club.

Retard posted an entry on his blog the next day that blamed promoter Craig Laskey for letting too many people into the venue. The Silver Dollar's website says it has a capacity of "200+," but Reatard says at least 350 people were inside the club. Reatard said that would have been fine if the show had security, but he insisted there was none.

"After three songs all our gear was smashed and unusable," wrote Reatard. "Even when shit gets that crazy at Circle Jerks show there's at least some security but when I asked Craig Laskey about it before the show he told me 'I thought you guys were a garage band.'"

Reatard stated he tried to finish his gig using borrowed equipment, but Silver Dollar booker Dan Burke wouldn't leave the stage.

"We'll come back in Toronto soon and do a free show to make it up to the fans in Toronto," Reatard wrote at the end of his entry. "And we'll steer away from greedy promoters who don't have any control of their shows and who don't care about doing right by the audience."

The promoters have a different story. Jeff Cohen of ATG Concerts, the promotion company behind the gig, sent an email to ChartAttack that said there was a security person present and Reatard could have handled the situation better by asking people to stop what they were doing. Cohen insists that Laskey tried to get Reatard to finish the show, but the artist refused. Cohen says Reatard was given the option of not being paid and refunding everyone at the show. But he claims Reatard refused and said he wanted to be compensated, so he was paid in full.

"Jay's rant on his blog, was not only highly unprofessional it was factually inaccurate," wrote Cohen. "While passionate, it was just a blame the promoter diatribe.

"Not cool. IMO, Jay, everyone who works with him, his agent, his label, the promoters he works with, and especially his fans, deserve much better."

Burke wrote in an email to ChartAttack that there weren't 350 people in attendance for Reatard's fifth show at the venue. Burke wrote on the Stillepost website on April 18 that the Silver Dollar would have had security people present for "heavily-attended shows." Burke also pointed out that the club had held performances attended by as many or more people than Reatard's, and nothing of that nature had happened before.

"After reading Jay's unfair and demeaning comments about Craig Laskey, I don't care if he ever plays the venue again," Burke wrote in his email. "Craig Laskey is one of the few thoughtful and conscientious people I know in this business."

Reatard often plays about 15 minutes before things get out of control. He kicked a crowd member in the face at a show in Las Vegas last year.

In a video shot at the Silver Dollar, Reatard can be seen punching and ripping the shirt of a fan who jumps on stage:

A separate video shows Burke on stage yelling about Reatard's early departure: