Band calls out 'unprofessional' NYC venue that cut off their microphones mid-show, owner allegedly refuses to pay them: 'The venue takes 0 accountability'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 4, 2025 11:00 AM EST

This band gave rare insight into what a day in the life of a performing musician can be like, because they're totally unhappy with what happened at their latest show. 

When you go to a concert, all you have to do as a fan is hang out, stand in the crowd, and wait for the show to go on. It couldn't be easier! But for the bands, getting the concert organized and set up takes hours of planning and hard work. Depending on the size of the band, the musicians themselves may be making the arrangements (although bigger acts may have a manager to handle this kind of thing). But they also have to allot time to load in all their equipment, keeping in mind that their openers may have their own drum kit and guitars. Every instrument and mic needs a sound check; there might be special audio, video, or lighting cues. It's a huge process just to get the show off the ground! As audience members, we take this lengthy process for granted, but this band was so appalled by their treatment at one NYC venue that they spoke out about it publicly, sharing text messages about how everything went down. 

Alongside the unprofessional and impolite way the band was allegedly spoken to by numerous members of the venue, they also claim that they haven't been paid yet! There's usually a split, with the venue taking some of the ticket sale money and the band taking a percentage, and yet they (and their 2 opening bands!) may earn nothing from this whole debacle. At the moment, the venue's socials are being flooded with people calling for justice for the band! Let's hope they at the very least get paid after this hot mess of an interaction… and we can already presume that they'll never play at that venue again. 

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  • 01
    3 band members play music in front of large crowd of people with hands raised
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    The band shared an Instagram including text messages directly from venue workers themselves

    TLDR ⑥cuttingroomnyc has been the most disrespectful and unprofessional venue we have ever played at and its owners have little regard for the artists or audience members that they rely on to stay in business.
    via @doomgong
  • 03
    On top of their demeaning treatment of us/the other bands, they tried pressuring us into not performing so they could start their double booked late show on time (booked just days ago when our show has been booked for months). We decided to play anyway and they decided to cut our mics off ~40 minutes into our allotted 1 hour set time.
    via @doomgong
  • 04
    Never before have we felt so unsafe / undermined / taken advantage of playing a show as we did last night.
    via @doomgong
  • 05
    Starting earlier this week, the cutting room had made it clear that our headlining show at their venue would be an absolute nightmare. After days of failed attempts to get the necessary info from the venue, we reached out to any number that we could find including the sound person who was incredibly inappropriate the entire interaction.
    via @doomgong
  • 06
    <339 W William cutting Room > Text Message RCS Wednesday 10:27 AM Hey William, this is John from DOOM GONG (the headliner for the Saturday show at The Cutting Room). Wanted to get in touch about the production specifics! the band with the i iMessage stage plot that screws up everyones life? Well that's not the intention! But we are the band that has the unorthodox stage plot fix that for your future prosperity as a band
    via @doomgong
  • 07
    theres a show after yours with 300 tickets sold we need to move fast start on time play your aloted set times and kindly move off stage quickly theres a show before yours leaving you no time for sound checks venue was not aware of your adding two opening acts im told not here to argue about it Im just the house tech your only friend at this point
    via @doomgong
  • 08
    What time does the show after ours begin/when does our show need to end? Steve mentioned that "As long as people are drinking there is no curfew" but should we plan for something different? It looks as though our agent sent that there were 2 openers on September 17th but maybe it got lost in the thread - no matter what we are game to do what we need to do to help make everything run smoothly If you also have the advance info/ timeline, then please send it our way so I can get the info to the oth
    via @doomgong
  • 09
    the show after yours goes on at 11 supposedly they have a ton of gear and a standard plot that i have to rebuild back from your silly plot.
    via @doomgong
  • 10
    are there any other tech related questions? I'll ask Gerard to confirm then, and we will do what we can to make for a smoother night for everyone.
    via @doomgong
  • 11
    On occasion, we do an alternate setup where we use the backline drum kit and just add a second (un-miced) drum kit upstage that is struck for the other bands which you can see in the photo attached. We are happy to do this if it will make for an easier night in preparation for the later show. If we do the upstage drums, we use our own kit(s)
    via @doomgong
  • 12
    ok i just threw up in my mouth s most gastky image i hope it siunds better than it looks sorry did i say that outloud?
    via @doomgong
  • 13
    Stageplot in question (not that it matters) Bass DOOM GONG 2025 stageplot XLR out Gtr/Lead Vox Aux/Trumpet 2 Backup Vox Keys 1/Trumpet 1 Backup Vox Stereo DI Drums 2 (shared Kick and overheads) Drums 1 (shared Kick and overheads) Mono DI wwww Keys 2 1. Bass drum 2. Snare L 3. Snare R 4. Rack Tom L 5. Rack Tom R 6. Floor Tom L 7. Floor Tom R 8. Overhead L 9. Overhead R 10. Bass DI 11. Guitar Amp Mic 12.Keys 1 DI (Stereo L) 13. Keys 1 DI (Stereo R) 14.Keys 2 DL (Mono) 15. Lead Vox 16. Trumpet 1/Vo
    via @doomgong
  • 14
    We endured these demeaning remarks because we didn't want to jeopardize the 50+ presale tickets that fans had already purchased for the show. I was finally able to get in touch with one of the owners who quoted the other owner that "Openers half hour each, Doom one hour. If they want more cut the openers to twenty minutes each." We plan accordingly.
    via @doomgong
  • 15
    341 C Cutting Room Owner > DO We can do that. Do you know when the full show would need to be done so I can figure out the time distribution? you read my mind i'm trying to get a realistic answer from Management who booked this supposedly sold out Show after you guys Got it, please keep me updated! Straight from Steve... "Openers half hour each, Doom one hour. If they want more cut the openers to twenty minutes each. "
    via @doomgong
  • 16
    Got it, please keep me updated! Straight from Steve... "Openers half hour each, Doom one hour. If they want more cut the openers to twenty minutes each."
    via @doomgong
  • 17
    Friday 4:39 PM Got it, does this look right with 15 minute change overs? 9-9:30 Jake Schaefer and the realm of Possibility 9:45-10:15 Frankie Sunswept & the silver moons 10:30-11:30 DOOM GONG Yesterday 10:44 AM Question: Does it cost to use your alls backline? We're thinking it would be easier for the show if we used your: drumset (we'll bring breakables) Fender Deluxe Reverb 65' Reissue SVT Heritage 50th Anniversary Bass Head 4×10 SVT Cab 2 x style single tier keyboard stands 1 LP Bongos (1 sta
    via @doomgong
  • 18
    Fast forward to the day of the show, we are led to the back office of the venue only to be harassed by the owner(s) because they failed to realize THEY last minute double booked a show to start at 10:30 when our show was supposed to go until 11:30. The owners also failed to realize that there were 3 bands on the bill, even after they mentioned it in my texts with them and THEY put it on their own website/were let known about the fact over a month ahead of time.
    via @doomgong
  • 19
    One particular owner threatened that because they didn't realize this fact, we now only have 90 minutes in total for 3 bands to play, changeover, and to have the stage clear for the late show (for those who aren't familiar, that is barely enough time for two bands to play and clear the stage). After we didn't budge, they insisted we "at least" cut down our set - which we reluctantly agreed to and said we would play 45 minutes.
    via @doomgong
  • 20
    The owners also were trying to pressure us into interrupt one of the supporting bands who were currently playing and tell them to cut their set 10 minutes short because "they weren't that good". We would obviously never do something so inappropriate. Meanwhile, while me and a few others are trying to work how to solve the venues mistake, one of the people representing the bar begins harassing Misaki to see if she wants to go back to his place with him. Absolutely unacceptable.
    via @doomgong
  • 21
    Fast forward to while we are setting up ON STAGE ABOUT TO PLAY WITH THE AUDIENCE IN FRONT OF US, the owner approaches and asks if we would be willing to not play so their double booked show could start- which we obviously said no to. Even the entourage of the double booked late night act (who was not informed by management of the their time discrepancies) attempted to physically intimate us into not performing. We declined and held our ground that we would play the already abridged 45 minutes we
    via @doomgong
  • 22
    We start playing and ~30 minutes into the set, the sound guy comes over the PA and says we have 1 more song, which contradicts the agreement we had made earlier. ~35 minutes into our set, the owner comes up to the front of the stage and gives us the cutting throat "you're done" signal. ~40 minutes into our set, during the final seconds of our final song - they cut the mics on us. We play our last couple seconds of music acapella and as promptly as possible get off the stage and exit the venue to
    via @doomgong
  • 23
    It is obvious from the heated discussion that took place in the office after the show that the venue takes zero accountability and will attempt to use "the fact we played too long" as leverage so they can refuse to pay us or the other bands the 60% of revenue we are owed. We feel it necessary to share this not so we can get paid (that ship has likely sailed) but rather to speak out against these bad business practices and intimidation tactics that venues often times deal in. Those in the "art
    via @doomgong
  • 24
    business" tend to be much more focused on "the art of business" generally but this experience has been on an entirely different level. Artists should be able to make art with dignity. Venues rely on artists, not the other way around. We will make it up to all of our NYC fans, and play a proper show at a real venue very soon. In the meantime, support @jakeschaefer and @frankiesunswept, two incredible bands from your city.
    via @doomgong

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