Cover Band Hosed By Bar

[guitargod2112]

Colorado

Here's our situation. A couple of weeks ago, we signed a contract to play at a local club for $1000 for a couple of nights. After all was said and done, the bartender paid us $400 in cash and cut us a check for the remainder ($600). We gave the check to our bass player who deposited into his account, and paid out all of the band members, booking agent, and sound guy. A few days later, he receives a copy of the check in the mail with a message saying the payment was stopped and a bunch of fees were applied to his account. We've contacted the booking agent and explained our situation. A few days later, he leaves a message on my phone offering to give back his booking fee of $150. Ooookay. So, no explanation at all from him, but something seems shady. I'm guessing the bar owner did not like the band very much or we didn't bring enough people.

Here's the caveat. Our contract was for 5 performers because we are a 5 piece band. For the first night, all 5 of us were there. On the 2nd night, our rhythm guitarist got sick and couldn't make it. We didn't really think anything of it because his parts are easily covered by me (the lead guitarist). We sounded pretty good both nights, in mine and a few other people's opinions. Someone even recorded us the 2nd night and it sounds very good. We did get to talk to the booking agent once prior to this whole debacle but after we had performed and he mentioned that the bar owner wondered why there were only 4 of us there.

So my question is, is a small claims case worth pursuing because we technically did breech the contract, but we still performed. Did he have a right to cancel the check and cause our bass player to incur all kinds of fees? The check was written out to our bass player, but do I have the right to take him to small claims court on behalf of the band (which is not a business entity).

Thanks for any advice!

 

[justalayman]

Since the band is not a legal entity nobody can represent the band. You can't represent the bass player either. He has to represent himself.

 

[quincy]

Colorado

Here's our situation. A couple of weeks ago, we signed a contract to play at a local club for $1000 for a couple of nights. After all was said and done, the bartender paid us $400 in cash and cut us a check for the remainder ($600). We gave the check to our bass player who deposited into his account, and paid out all of the band members, booking agent, and sound guy. A few days later, he receives a copy of the check in the mail with a message saying the payment was stopped and a bunch of fees were applied to his account. We've contacted the booking agent and explained our situation. A few days later, he leaves a message on my phone offering to give back his booking fee of $150. Ooookay. So, no explanation at all from him, but something seems shady. I'm guessing the bar owner did not like the band very much or we didn't bring enough people.

Here's the caveat. Our contract was for 5 performers because we are a 5 piece band. For the first night, all 5 of us were there. On the 2nd night, our rhythm guitarist got sick and couldn't make it. We didn't really think anything of it because his parts are easily covered by me (the lead guitarist). We sounded pretty good both nights, in mine and a few other people's opinions. Someone even recorded us the 2nd night and it sounds very good. We did get to talk to the booking agent once prior to this whole debacle but after we had performed and he mentioned that the bar owner wondered why there were only 4 of us there.

So my question is, is a small claims case worth pursuing because we technically did breech the contract, but we still performed. Did he have a right to cancel the check and cause our bass player to incur all kinds of fees? The check was written out to our bass player, but do I have the right to take him to small claims court on behalf of the band (which is not a business entity).

Thanks for any advice!

Your contract would need to be reviewed in its entirety to determine if your "technical" breach would allow for only partial payment by the bartender. If you contracted with the bartender for two nights for $1000 for 5 band members, and you performed for two nights with your second performance with 4 band members instead of 5, I would think you would be owed $500 for the first night, at any rate.

It seems odd to me that the bartender would write a check for $600 knowing when he wrote it that you only had 4 band members perform the second night. I would think he would pay $500 for the first night only and leave it at that.

That said, you and your band as individuals can sue for what you believe is still owed. Here is a link to information on Colorado Small Claims:
http://litigation.findlaw.com/going-to-court/colorado-small-claims-courts.html