Pretty Girls Make Graves show cancelled

Deyo, a local concert promoter, learned a US$5,000 lesson this past week: beware bands without managers. The Pretty Girls Make Graves gig — part of the post-punk rockers' farewell tour — slated for April 28 at 4 Live has been cancelled.

Basically, to make a long story short, the band had passport — not visa! — issues. “Two passports were totally trashed, one was going to expire in May and another had no more pages for stamps," say Deyo. Sounds like a nightmare if we ever heard one — everything that could possibly go wrong did.

A make-up show doesn’t seem to be in the cards either. “We might be able to postpone the concert but, at this point, my faith in the band’s ability to get things done is low and I don't want to burn more cash. I told them if they are serious then they should put the money up for a ticket change and I would pay them back once they arrived, but I’m not sure if they will go for that,” shrugs Deyo. “Everyone in the band is really cool. It was my fault for dealing with them directly. They, like many bands, need someone — a manager — to hold their hands through the process or they get lost. Lesson learned.”

PGMG was the first major act Deyo was working with. In the past, he’s brought many Chinese bands through Shanghai, including Joyside and the Scoff, as well as the Shotgun She-Ras from Hong Kong and Orange from Uruguay.

So support his upcoming shows (or give him five grand): 8mm Overdose, a thrash band who has toured with Slayer and Kill Switch Engage, will play April 28 (ENO) and April 30 (Yu Yin Tang). Then Norwegian rock outfit Rock Hard Power Spray is playing May 5 at both venues.

“Both bands are here for Midi so passports are already taken care of,” says Deyo. “They promised!”