Things appeared to be going well at Area Sheffield on the night of December 28, 2019, as club-goers enjoyed The White Party. Attendees were encouraged to forgo their typical black attire and don white clothing in celebration of the promotion brand Gatecrasher‘s year-end spectacular.

On the bill in Arena 1 were heavyweights Giuseppe Ottaviani, Snejider, and Danny Stubbs, along with Gatecrasher promotions co-founder, Scott Bond, among others.

Arena 2 featured Binary Finary, Signum, and Gatecrasher favorite, Ashley Bradbury, to name a few.

According to a Facebook post by Trance legend, Signum (Ronald Hagen), the DJ stated that he and his booking agent, Rick Power, were pursuing Gatecrasher staff shortly before midnight for monies owed prior to his 2 a.m. set. After several attempts, Signum stated that Rick was assaulted 30 minutes before his scheduled performance. “And this was the final act of complete lack of respect which made me feel absolutely disgusted with everything,” the DJ wrote. “I was left with two options, either play without getting paid, or not perform at all.” He chose not to play.

Signum Facebook Post

Fellow artist, Binary Finary (Sasha Vatoff), who shares the same booking agent, decided to play an extended three-hour set to satisfy the attendees. He expressed his concern for the events of the evening with his own Facebook post the following morning:

Binary Finary Facebook Post

The booking agent, Rick, issued a statement accusing Gatecrasher personnel of beating him to the floor and “my head kicked and stamped on Scott Bond and a guy named Ian Wells.” Ian has no particular affiliation with Gatecrasher other than a regular mainstay at popular events and is good friends with Scott and building lease owner, Simon Raines.

Courtesy: Rick Power Facebook Post

Gatecrasher has admitted to the altercation but denies any wrongdoing or involvement according to their statement. The promotions brand also said that the booking agent created the incident, and due to the violent nature of the altercation, “the represented DJ’s would not be paid for the night.” Gatecrasher went on to say, though, that “all artists would be paid whether they performed or not and that all other artists that performed were paid.”

Gatecrasher statement

This isn’t the first time Gatecrasher has been accused of non-payment to its contracted artists. Back in November, Trance pioneer, Judge Jules announced that he was canceling his event in Scarborough, England.

Courtesy: Judge Jules Facebook

Other artists have come forward as well. Singer/Songwriter, Jan Johnston, who has music signed to Armada Music, FSOE, and Perfecto Records, has publicly stated she is owed money along with DJ Amadeus Mozart, Hard House music label, Tidy, and many others.

Courtesy: Jan Johnston

The fallout of the incident has already hit the English Trance music scene hard, with many calling for a boycott of Gatecrasher.

Rich Miller, Director of Anomaly Artists management company, and the promoter of Trance Anthems Live announced on December 30, 2019, that Scott Bond would no longer be performing at the brand’s next scheduled event in February. The lineup includes The Thrillseekers, Signum, Matt Darey, and a soon to be named replacement fourth.

Attempts for further comment from Gatecrasher and Rick Power went unanswered as of press time.

This is a developing story.

Edit: Rick Power reached out to Trance Farm on the morning of December 31, 2019, but declined further comment on the incident.

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