Late last week Watershed was notified by Promowest Productions that our annual Hate Michigan Rally was being bumped from the LC Pavilion-a venue we had rented under contract from Promowest- to the much smaller House of Crave to make room for Samsung, who wanted the LC for a big corporate event. Samsung, of course, was willing to pay big corporate dollars. So despite being under contract with us, Promowest grabbed for the money by simultaneously renting the venue to Samsung. This is shady double-dealing, made worse by the fact that Watershed’s event had been promoted-and tickets had been on sale-for weeks.

I will spare you the boring behind-the-scenes details, but in a nutshell Watershed is 100% in the right, and Promowest is 100% greedy, unethical, manipulative, and, legally speaking, 100% wrong. Over a long and very stressful weekend we consulted with lawyers and music industry veterans, and all were unanimous: This was an outrageous injustice, even for the music business. On Monday morning a major Columbus law firm took up our case because Promowest’s breech of contract was so blatant, so brazen, the lawyers felt compelled to act on our behalf.

As of this writing, negotiations have ended and the show will happen at House of Crave. Here’s why: Had we chosen to exercise all our legal options, the show would have ended up in a courtroom and not on a stage where it belongs. I don’t think anybody wants that. I know we don’t. And the many fans who have already bought tickets surely don’t either. Besides, the Hate Michigan Rally is bigger than Watershed or Promowest. This show has always been about the fans and their contribution to the OSU/Michigan rivalry.

It’s never fun to stand up to a bully. Whether it’s the big kid on the school bus or a major corporation, the overwhelming odds are that the big kid will smash your face and the corporation will end up hijacking your gig. But if you try, then at least you can go to bed with the knowledge that you went down swingin’.

C. Gawel