The LouFest Saga Continues — in the Courts
While this blog is mostly for promoting aspects of our town, this is a story I was compelled to tell. Or should I say the story so far as it’s still unfolding … a heavily edited version of this appeared in a national publication I’m a senior writer for.
As the 9th annual event known as the LouFest Music Festival was within days of the first note being played, one of the largest live event vendors pulled out, citing missed deadlines for payment for that festival in addition still being owed $30,000-plus for the previous year’s services. Now that vendor, Logic Systems Sound and Lighting, is being sued for $8 million in a lawsuit filed in February.
Chip Self of Logic Systems made the unusual decision to speak of his withdrawal publicly, announcing to St. Louis Public Radio on August 31 that his company would not be part of the event scheduled for September 8 and 9. In that interview he said he was going public because of his concern for all involved, including artists booked for the festival. Logic Systems had done the annual festival for several years, and this time they were supplying audio and video for all four main stages, and lighting for all but one. Headliners included Robert Plant, Modest Mouse, Kacey Musgraves, and Gary Clark Jr. The organizers, Listen Live Entertainment/LouFest, would then cancel the festival at 3 a.m. on September 5, leaving sponsors and all the other vendors in the lurch with thousands of dollars lost.
One major sponsor was craft brewer Schlafly, who had designed a special commemorative can exclusively for the festival. They issued a statement: “We are extremely disappointed in the decision to cancel Loufest. Not only for our investment in the local music festival, but all of our additional local restaurants, makers and artist friends who lost a lot. Loufest should be a celebration of all things St. Louis, and we were the first craft brewery to support the event when it first began years ago. We were still excited to be a part of it although we did have some concerns about the organization of the event.”
Logic Systems filed a suit in December that included $50,000 for nonpayment of the festival. Self again spoke St. Louis Public Radio, saying he considered it a “long shot” that the suit would yield a payday. He sued, he said, in part to stand up for other vendors who haven’t been paid for their services.
Countersuit
On February 15, 2019, Listen Live Entertainment/LouFest filed the $8 million lawsuit alleging Logic Systems purposely sabotaged the event. The suit reads in part that Logic made “negative, misleading comments about Plaintiffs [Listen Live Entertainment], exaggerated statements regarding LouFest funding issues, and suggested LouFest would be canceled, all in a strategic effort to cause artists to withdraw from LouFest 2018 and/or alter the terms of their contracts to accelerate payments in full in advance of their respective performances.” Self states that Listen Live Entertainment’s claims are false, including the one that alleges that Logic Systems pulled out before an agreed-upon payment deadline. He has documentation of exchanges between himself and festival organizers of payment deadlines being missed, extensions being requested and granted, and then those deadlines being missed. Promises of payment, in part or in full, were never met, Self says. Other vendors involved, including at least one more suing Listen Live for nonpayment, declined comment.
In the press release announcing the festival’s cancellation sent out on September 5, Listen Live Entertainment’s Managing Partner Mike Van Hee noted that “there were some scheduling and contract issues with major artists and the company is dealing with existing debt from previous events” and “a bit of unfortunately timed media coverage.” The loss of two major sponsors and weather was also cited (it did end up raining that weekend). In the recent lawsuit, however, he blames the festival’s failure solely on Self and Logic Systems. When an interview with Van Hee was requested, Van Hee emailed this statement: “This litigation is just one step toward remedying the cancellation of last year’s festival and working to rebuild it for years to come. A variety of circumstances made LouFest 2018 impossible to carry out, and we’ll continue to shed public light on that larger story, as appropriate. We apologize for disappointing the city of St. Louis and its music fans, as well as the LouFest sponsors, partners, musicians, and vendors who were financially impacted by the event’s cancellation. Our work hasn’t stopped since September, and we’re dedicated to restoring lost trust as part of our path forward.” Questions were emailed to him about the specifics of the allegations, about which he declined comment, deferring to his lawyers. They also declined comment.
Festival Coup?
Logic Systems was founded by Self in 1986 and is a major live event supplier of the region (they’ve won the Parnelli Awards Hometown Hero for best regional company for both sound and light). Self denies any “sabotage.” In regard to the contact with the artists: “Those artists’ representatives contacted us as a standard part of their advance calls. We were honest with them about our situation, as anyone would expect us to be. At no time did we initiate contact with these people. They contacted us as a part of their standard procedures.”
The suit also alleges that Self tried to take over LouFest. “On or about September 5, 2018, Defendant, Logic Systems, by and through its agents and/or employees, including Chip Self, contacted the Office of Special Events for the City of St. Louis and inquired whether Defendants could get Plaintiffs’ permit for a music festival in Forest Park for the same dates in 2019,” the lawsuit reads. Ann Chance, St. Louis’ Special Events Program Executive, said: “No. Chip Self nor anyone with his company has ever contacted my office about permits or staging an event. Absolutely not.” She added that she has gotten to know Logic Systems through the years because they are often a vendor at festivals, fairs, and political events. “They are a big company who do big stuff, and I have no idea why anyone would say they wanted to run [Loufest]. Do they want to do a good job if involved? Of course. But I never got the impression that they wanted to be in charge.”
The LouFest Music festival was founded by documentary filmmaker Brian Cohen in 2009 with the first event happening in August of 2010. Through the years, he built it up at a steady pace, adding more acts. From its first show until 2016, acts like Jeff Tweedy, Questlove, Wilco, the Killers, OutKast, Arctic Monkeys, Hozier, Ludacris, and the Avett Brothers headlined. In 2016, Cohen sold his stake to Listen Live Entertainment and left town. Listen Live had previously staged Murmuration, a music, arts and technology festival in St. Louis that was to be annual but lasted only one year. After the 20018 cancellation, Cohen was interviewed by a local publication where he said: “[Listen Live’s] statement listed ticket issues, vendor and sponsor issues and weather. If tickets are soft, you typically know that a few months in advance. The same with sponsorship, you have to have that stuff locked up months in advance if it’s going to be successful. And with vendors, you have to pay your vendors. There is no way around that, so I think the issues may have been valid, but it seems like they could have been disclosed much earlier. And I think organizers have to take responsibility.” He added: “This was supposed to be my legacy to the city.”
While the sudden cancellation was initially a blow to the live-music-loving community of St. Louis, a herculean effort was made to fill the void. Music venues found spots for many of the local and regional acts that were on the Loufest bill. Plus, Robert Plant made it to town anyway, playing a sold-out show at the 2,000-seat Pageant in what was reported as a “magical night.” There was even a major social media push to make sure make sure all the food vendors that had paid to be part of the festival were supported … after all, beloved local Italian deli Gioia’s had 600 pounds of beef to unload. As for the brewer Schlafly, those who showed up to their Tap Room with a LouFest ticket got a free commemorative LouFest ’18 can of beer.
