Truly unbelievable story...

Joe Nerve · #1 03-21-2008, 12:35 PM

...for me at least.

I hang out and talk with the librarian at my school a lot. Her boyfriend is a bass player and plays in some kind of Latin band. She told me a couple of months ago that they got an email from some guy who said he found them in an online search, and wants his band to play for some pretty big $$$ in Argentina or something. They would cover hotel, airfare, and whatever. The bassist boyfriend's band took the bait and started going with it. I told my librarian friend that her b'friend needed to run fast, hooked them up with a similar scam thread from here, and gave my best words of wisdom.

Didn't stop the guys.

I got updates from Ms. Library. The people paying for their stay told them to come a day earlier so they could be rested up for the gig. They would book an additional night. He also asked if they wanted to take a manager or stage hand along. Sure! One of the bands girlfriends was going to get to go along too. They would make the arrangements, hook up the flights, give all the dates and details, and basically take care of everything.

They refused to listen to me.

The gig was scheduled for last week.

They went. They played the gig. They had everything paid for. They had a great time. It was all legit.

I'm floored. I emailed my friend for details and I'll post em as they arrive.

UPDATED WITH AN EMAIL FROM MY FRIEND A FEW POSTS DOWN. IF I DIDN'T KNOW THIS GIRL SO WELL I'D NEVER BELIEVE THE STORY. I'D HAVE NEVER GOTTEN THE GIG EITHER. :/ OH... I HAD A COUPLE OF DETAILS WRONG.

Tony G · #2 03-21-2008, 12:41 PM

Wow, it was legit??? Sometimes you just never know these days...

Valerus · #3 03-21-2008, 12:43 PM

Whoa dude. That's awesome. Lucky for them!

Bard2dbone · #4 03-22-2008, 05:35 AM

So maybe Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Great Pumpkin were in the audience.

I would have been with you on this one. And I guess I might have been wrong too.

perogato02 · #5 03-22-2008, 05:53 AM

Sometimes you have to jump into the deep ...

Woodchuck · #6 03-22-2008, 07:22 AM

The way to "try" to make sure it's legit, is to get half up front, and 1/4 when you land, and the rest after the gig.

troy2003 · #7 03-22-2008, 11:09 AM

Wow--I woulda did same as you.That had scam written all over it.I had visions of the band getting stuck for hotel bill,food,flight,etc.And Ms. Librarian sobbing on your shoulder about it

bongomania · #8 03-22-2008, 11:13 AM

Awesome setup of the story, too! You had me hanging on for "the big letdown".

Joe Nerve · #9 03-22-2008, 11:26 AM

so here's the email I got from my friend. going to xx out the names because I don't know how they feel about posting stuff here.

What kind of info do you want? I asked xxxx if his friend still had the original emails, but he didn't know. All I know is, someone in Finland who organizes the annual Latin Festival over there, found their band on Myspace and emailed them, telling them they liked their sound and look and were interested in knowing if they'd be available to perform, all expense paid. xxxx was the one who did all the correspondence back and forth and questioned everything. He explained that they would have to be paid on top of flying out there and the Finland people asked what a fair price they thought it would be, so xxxx requested I think, $3000 for all of them, $1000 went to him, $1000 went to xxxx and the remaining grand was split between the other 3 guys. Finland agreed and told them they'd be paying for the band, plus their manager which of course they didn't have and so xxxx girlfriend invited herself, arghhhh. Anyhow, they kept corresponding and when they finally agreed on the terms, Finland sent over a contract which stated if they screw up in any way, they pay the band $1500. If the band screws up and can't make it, they pay Finland $1500. They checked out the Finland festival website and apparantly this was their 10 or 11th year. Each night for a weekend, they do different Latin music. Friday night, it was a Brazilian band, Saturday night, it was them (salsa/rock) and Sunday night, they had Latin classical music. Finland sent them e-tickets a few months later and once they arrived in Finland, a girl picked them up and then acted as their tour guide for the 1st 2 days they were there (because Finland sent them out a little early so they could recover from jetlag). They were placed in a very nice hotel in what appeared to be their Times Square, were given tons of food vouchers, ate at very nice restaurants and didn't pay a dime, then on Saturday, they were driven to the theater for a long sound check and then performed at 9pm. It was an older, more cultured crowd. On Sunday they came home. They highly doubt they will ever get another gig as good as that one and xxxx told me he cannot go back to gigging small clubs for measly dollars like he used to, after this experience. So, that's about all I know, it far surpassed their expectations and the people over in Finland are apparantly very pleasant and nice, so maybe that's why this turned out to be legit. So, do with this info what you will, lol. By the way, HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY and HAPPY PURIM!! LoL

jonathan_matos5 · #10 03-22-2008, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

So maybe Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Great Pumpkin were in the audience.

I would have been with you on this one. And I guess I might have been wrong too.

i have it on good authority that the great pumpkin is Santa moonlighting

Darkstrike · #11 03-22-2008, 11:31 AM

TheDarkReaver · #12 03-23-2008, 10:37 AM

of course the the cynic in me does make me feel that you could be part of the scam and you're trying to get people to go along with future ones. of course that is the cynic in me.

Joe Nerve · #13 03-23-2008, 11:02 AM

The cynic in me would think the same.

I would also think I was just some kinda troll or strange dude trying to get some strange attention with a ridiculous story. People know me here though, trust me - this is a true story. I have a reputation to uphold!

I can't tell you how CERTAIN I was that these guys were going to get screwed.

Inflin · #14 03-23-2008, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

The cynic in me would think the same.

I would also think I was just some kinda troll or strange dude trying to get some strange attention with a ridiculous story. People know me here though, trust me - this is a true story. I have a reputation to uphold!

I can't tell you how CERTAIN I was that these guys were going to get screwed.

I totally wouldn't have believed it either, great to hear that not everyone in the world is out to screw everyone else!

lefty · #15 03-23-2008, 12:36 PM

i gotta' learn some salsa music!

S1dewinder · #16 03-23-2008, 01:06 PM

Lucky guys=)

Of course I'd ask a lot of questions before travelling across ocean, but if everything really seemed that ok, with contract, the festival being well-known (in Finland at least) and stuff, I probably wouldn't hesitate to go. Dunno, maybe some part of me still has some illusions about people left:-)