Scammer Using GREAT WHITE To Rip Off Small Clubs

Tina Amendola of PollstarOnline.com reports that a scam artist who booked concerts by pretending to represent ALICE IN CHAINS, DAVID LEE ROTH, POISON, BRET MICHAELS and others is now apparently using GREAT WHITE to rip off small clubs around the U.S.

Sullivan Bigg, GREAT WHITE's agent, was first alerted to the ruse by Chris King, owner of Sticky Fingerz Rock 'N' Roll Chicken Shack in Little Rock, Ark., in August. King had been approached via e-mail by a man named Bobby Jenks about booking the band, and was in the process of doing so when he decided to contact Bigg.

Bigg thought at first the offer to the Little Rock club was an isolated incident, he said.

"I got a phone call from a friend in western Massachusetts and he says, 'Hey, I see GREAT WHITE is playing at such-and-such a club.' I said, 'No, GREAT WHITE isn't even touring until spring,'" Bigg told Pollstar. "I contacted the buyer and he says, 'I got a contract.' I said, 'Dude, you've been scammed.'

"So I put a big disclaimer warning on the GREAT WHITE Web site. I was trying to get the word out to people to do their friggin' homework. Within 36 hours of posting that warning, three other buyers contacted me."

The alleged con artist used the name John Byrnes to book a November 4 GREAT WHITE / LITA FORD show at the Maximum Capacity Sports Bar in Chicopee, Mass., for $1,500. One tip-off the deal was phony: LITA FORD left the music business years ago after she married former NITRO lead singer Jim Gillette. But the phony artist rep knew enough to make it sound legit.

"He had somebody call [the club] and say, 'This is Lita Ford's husband, Jim Gillette,'" Bigg explained. "'I'm calling to cancel the show and I'll be sending back the money.' Of course, the money never comes."

Other clubs caught in the scam were located in Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.