THE UNHEARD MUSIC Miscommunication dooms Summerfest BY BOB GULLA

Citing safety concerns, the Providence Board of Licenses last week pulled the plug on Summerfest at the 11th hour, costing organizers thousands of dollars and seriously disrupting the schedules of dozens of bands. Floodwaters Entertainment, a concern established by the band Floodwaters to present the show, insists it had secured the appropriate licenses for the event, which would have featured more than 30 bands on Elbow Street, outside the Call and around the corner from the Century Lounge, on Saturday, September 6. But after reading an article advancing the festival in the Providence Journal, city officials became concerned that organizers didn’t accurately represent what was happening.

And so, at an emergency meeting at City Hall on the afternoon of Friday, September 5, the day before the festival was to take place, Summerfest was canceled. Richard H. Aitchison, head of the Board of Licenses, says, "There were issues with public safety for the Jewelry District. And information brought forth earlier by the organization regarding how many bands and the amount of people expected to attend proved to be untrue. The Providence Police Department, who had handled recent violence in that area, along with the board, decided they could not ensure public safety in this case." Last year, the festival attracted more than 500 people. This year, with increased advertising and promotions, organizers expected up to three times that many.

"They accused us of lying to them," says Mike McNamara of Floodwaters Entertainment, who runs the firm with bandmate Jerry Meola. "When they saw it was advertised as taking place at the Call and the Century Lounge, they thought we lied to them. But the truth is, we were doing exactly what we said we would do: put some live music on outdoors between 4 and 11 p.m. That’s what we said we’d do, and that’s what we had planned to do."

Aitchison didn’t see it that way. "The article in the Journal detailing Summerfest proved that we didn’t receive the proper information from the applicant to make a full decision," he says, pointing to an excerpt that read, "R.I. Summerfest starts at 1 p.m. in and outside the Call and the Century Lounge, on Elbow Street in Providence. Outdoor music continues until 11 p.m.; indoor music until 2 a.m." McNamara, however, says there was never a plan to move the festival inside and that the info to the contrary was inaccurate.

Last year, when Summerfest debuted, Floodwaters (the band) had applied for an expansion of premises permit for the Call and the Century Lounge, and was denied. So the band members formed a nonprofit organization, applied for a Class F liquor license, as well as an entertainment license and decided to throw the party themselves, outside, independent of the venues. The tactic proved successful, and this year, they had police details lined up, spent thousands on advertising and promotion, and secured the commitments of 32 bands, including local favorites like Immune, Illustrious Day, and Mr. Lincoln. They expected more than 1000 people to attend the daylong celebration of music. Still, city officials perceived deception on behalf of the organizers. "Mr. Meola admitted he didn’t come forth with all the information that he should have," says Aitchison, citing attendance and logistical arrangements.

In the meantime, McNamara and Floodwaters are attempting to pick up the pieces of an infuriating clash with city officials. "We did nothing wrong," he says. "It was completely legal under our own entertainment company. It’s not like we’re a bunch of millionaires looking for a buck. We’re just trying to get a big crowd together to appreciate local music. And all it did was leave a bunch of kids in the hole a lot of money."

Whatever the case, the fallout threatens to linger. "Our reputation as a company is ruined, our rep as a band is discredited, and so are all of our relationships with our sponsors," McNamara says. "We jumped through all these hoops to do this, and to save themselves a headache they still shut us down."