Though some students have been able to receive refunds for last month’s cancelled E-40 concert at Theta Xi fraternity, tensions are still high with the promoting company used to plan the concert.
The concert, which was scheduled to occur on Apr. 25, was organized by 6trees Production Company, doing business as Dallas Imbimbo’s company, Twyce Incorporated Promotions.
The concert was cancelled on Apr. 17 by the fraternity after the Davis Police Department discovered that the noise permit filed by Imbimbo did not mention a performance by the advertised performer, E-40.
Those who bought tickets for the concert online – approximately 400 people – could not attain refunds through the fraternity because all funds were connected to Imbimbo’s PayPal account, which was frozen and inaccessible to Imbimbo and purchasers.
A few buyers should potentially be able to receive refunds; however the majority of the buyers have still not been able to obtain money back for their tickets, which cost at least $20.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten a refund for my ticket, but I had to go through PayPal,” said Zach Parolla, a sophomore design major. “They did an investigation when I reported that I hadn’t received what I purchased. I haven’t seen the refund on my credit card bill yet, but I assume I’ll appear soon.“
Further information regarding the situation and its consequences was provided by members of the Beta Epsilon Alumni Board, which oversees the property management and finances of Theta Xi.
“In whole, the undergraduates were responsible for organizing, scheduling, securing, permitting and the execution of every aspect of the event without any outside influence from promoters or other potentially self-serving interests,” said Joe Russell, a member of the alumni board.
“The choice to use a promotion company was greatly discouraged by the [Alumni Board]; however, the undergraduate in charge of concert planning opted otherwise,” he said in an e-mail.
Chris Lau, president of Theta Xi, said the fraternity chose to use a promotion company because it essentially seemed like a good idea at the time.
“6trees said they would pay for everything,” said Lau, a senior Spanish and linguistics major. “We thought, ‘Why not? How could it fail?’ It just seemed like it would be easy, but we just weren’t aware of Imbimbo’s sketchiness.“
Lau also stated that Imbimbo had a connection through some of the fraternity’s alumni, which is how they became aware of his promotional company.
The fraternity has worked with Pack My Dorm, another of Dallas Imbimbo’s companies, with some Theta Xi alumni to plan an Andre Nikatina concert in 2007, although the company helped with the down payment and had nothing to do with the promotion or planning of the event, Lau said.
The venue agreement for the concert stated that “Twyce Inc agrees to pay Theta Xi a total rental fee in the amount minimum of $1,000 as long as 800 tickets are sold.“
Any additional revenue would be given to Theta Xi, who intended to donate the money to the charity organizations, Habitat for Humanity and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“[Theta Xi] approached me and asked me to do this show for them,” Imbimbo said. “As soon as they came to us, we took control. If this was their money, they wouldn’t have even cancelled the event to begin with.“
The Alumni Board for Theta Xi has decided not to pursue legal action unless Imbimbo sues them, in which case they would countersue him, said Jonathan Saul, member of the alumni board and lawyer with Minder and Associates.
“This didn’t impact us financially,” he said. “We do consider the remarks defamatory but we don’t intend to take any legal action affirmatively.“
LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
