Fuck the Vortex and Duct Tape Productions
Thursday, July 9, 1998 we did the Anti - Product / Carol Ann show at space here in Phoenix called "The Vortex". It is run by a guy who goes by the name of Johnny Duct Tape and a few others. When we first dealt with these people, they seemed nice and assured us that the bands would get paid as well as possible and that there would be no rock star bullshit going on at the place. Well, guess what? they lied.
Upon arrival we found out that there was a huge chainlink fence placed in front of the area where the bands were going to play in order to separate them from the crowd so that the people watching the show couldn't get "too close". After arguing with them for about 10 minutes to take the fence down, we were finally 'allowed' to let the bands string their cords through the gate and play in the crowd, but the drummer still had to play behind the fence.
As shit went on, things got worse, including comments from them about how "punk shows like these suck because they don't make any money." The show space was fairly large with a number of empty rooms and this prompted some people to ask why they don't use the place as a homeless shelter or to help people out who live on the streets etc. and they simply replied with "fuck the homless. they haven't done shit for me.", "they're worthless people and i don't think they deserve shit", as well as a whole bunch of other comments along these lines. Their only reasoning was that homelss people are shit and that they wouldn't be able to pay them any money to stay there and so it's pointless.
Towards the end of the night, we talked with them about how much money was made and how much the band would get. According to them, only $68 was made (which was impossible because there were WAY more people than that and the show cost $5 per person). So after getting pissed about that, they staggered outside drunk and stoned (off the bag that they "sneakily" went and bought after collecting the money at the door) and started telling us that "because they never gave us any guarantee that the band would get paid..." they were only going to get $10. $10! Anti - Product is from New York, had driven all the way from Oklahoma to play in Phx., their singer had broken her ankle two nights before and still played the show, and these guys were paying them $10 and walking home with the rest of it in their pockets, while claiming that they "fairly" paid each band $10, including the local bands. They also informed us that the show "promoters" had to be paid, even though the only people to promote the show were people not affiliated with the Vortex in anyway. They finished their arguement with " sorry, but this is how the industry works". Carol Ann donated their portion to Anti-product, while the other local band "Secular End" (a cocky pop/rock band whose arrogant singer wore silly looking corpse paint and refused to allow his equipment to be so much as touched. He also refused to help out when anti-product was in need of a mic cord, even though Secular End had one they weren't using..) walked off without blinking an eye. As if this wasn't bad enough, after this bullshit went down one of the guys from the Vortex has the nerve to ask if he could have a free record in his "dreamy" voice while refering to each female at the show as he talked to them as "honey", "sweetie", or "babe".
Everyone got together and decided that it was time to act on this guy. There had been other shit that had happened throughout the night that made the show space seem shitty but this was the final thing that did it. Carol Ann was to play last and by the time they got on, things were insane. As Carol Ann played their set, shit got destroyed inside, lights were ripped from the ceilings, the fence that once stood between the crowd and the band was ripped apart and smashed into the walls and ceilings, bent all to hell beyond repair, people clogged the toilets, ripped shit out of the walls, set a trash can on fire, broke bottles on anything we could find, puked in the club, pissed in the club, threw over huge industrial fans, and all sorts of other stuff.
As Carol Ann finished their set by saying "Fuck the Vortex!", everyone headed outside where shit continued to get smashed and people began yelling at the owners. They came out front and this led to a HUGE confrontation between everyone there that was standing up to these guys (no, it wasn't just punk kids either) and the owners of this shitty club. As the shouting got louder, more and more people got pissed, yelling at the owners and calling them on their shit. There were so many things said to them that they could not answer and so many things that they contradicted themselves on that it was pathetic. It was obvious to everyone there that this place, and the people running it, were full of shit and cared about one thing only, money.
The shouting got worse and more arguements insued between everyone there and the owners. Eventually they started getting pissed, calling us, among other things, "faggots', "niggers", "bitches", and so forth. One guy made all sorts of comments along these lines, and it was pretty obvious that these weren't just words he was using for "shock value", he meant these words in the hateful & derogatory way that they originate from and saw nothing wrong with this because, in his own words, "theres a difference between a black & a nigger, and you guys are acting like a bunch of niggers right now." This is only one of the classic token idiot lines this guy gave us, while trying to justify the reasons he was a prejudiced, lying piece of shit. So, it turns out not only are these fucks money grubbing bastards, but they also turned out to be racist, sexist, & homophobic as well, oh boy.
So many amazing and intelligent things were said to these worthless fucks to make them look like the morons that they are , it was great. By the end of the night we managed to get Anti - Product close to $50 (from our own pocket and from donations from people that were pissed about what had happened at the show). The outcome of this show was something amazing, and great to see. Everyone came together, people helped each other out and stood up for one another because it was what was right to do. Nothing else mattered, all the shit was pushed aside; everyone's differences with each other, all the shit went away and we all came together to work for a common goal and it was great. We want to express our extreme thanks to Anti - Product for playing and for being such great people. We would also like to thank Carol Ann for playing as well, for being great, sincere people, and for providing a soundtrack for the destruction. And, lastly, we would like to thank all of the people that attented the show and cared enough to take a stand against what happened there.
We are urging everyone to boycott the Vortex, do not go to shows there, no matter who is playing, the owners are worthless pieces of trash and should not be supported under ANY circumstances. We are also urging all traveling bands to not deal with the Vortex, Johnny Duct Tape, or Duct Tape Productions. These people have no buisiness dealing with punk rock, or anyone for that matter, and we can only hope that another band doesn't have to deal with the bullshit that happened there the other night. FUCK THE VORTEX!

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