The Convalescence Kicked Off Otep Tour, Band Calls Her an ‘Absolute Nightmare to Work With’
Metal band The Convalescence have revealed they were kicked off their recent tour with Otep by singer Otep Shamaya personally. The band made a statement on Facebook detailing what went down on tour from their perspective, revealing how they were treated on the tour as a direct support band.
The group shared an incident of being accused of buying weed from the venue staff and a feeling a general disrespect from Otep herself, with The Convalescence calling the singer "an absolute nightmare to work with."
Their full statement reads as follows:
We will no longer be a part of the remaining dates of “The Resistance Tour” with Otep. After years spent on the road touring worldwide and never having a problem, this is a first. Otep kicked us off the tour after already loading in for tonight’s event in Pittsburgh.
This stemming from an alleged incident that occurred in Michigan two nights previously where claims were made that we sold merchandise during the intro of their set.
This was not the first time being threatened to remove us from the tour. First happening in Jacksonville, FL after their driver accused us of buying weed from venue staff the night before and went as far as to say we forced a venue runner to drive with him and a kid in the car to pick it up. This was in an attempt to take the heat off the driver himself because he called the police on the bands guitarist after an argument between them that morning.
In both instances, we were unable to explain or make any attempt to approach the situation since even after 50+ dates as direct support- unless she felt the need to threaten to kick us off the tour and belittle us, we weren’t even allowed in the same room.
After being told we were not needed on the tour, that we were not helping the attendance, we were simply a time filler and countless other negative comments about us being part of this tour we came to a mutual decision that we could no longer share a stage together.
We are all about being team players on the road. After going out of our way with things like covering her merch table every night during their set, helping the band with security at understaffed venues, and helping her band and crew load in and out daily. We were met with only disrespect from Otep herself.
We have no hard feelings towards her hired band and crew but Otep is an absolute nightmare to work with.
Again, we apologize to any of our fans that had planned to see us on this tour. Thanks for your continued support and we’ll see you on the road this Fall!”
It didn't take long for Otep to respond. She released the following statement via Facebook:
“We had to remove one of our opening acts. We do our best to give our tour package an opportunity to play for our fans who are the most loyal & Passionate people on the planet, but if the band begins to act entitled or jeopardizes our message then they gotta go.
I’m sure rumors will be abound about this but it’s for the greater good & we will give another band who appreciates & are grateful to play on our stage an opportunity to live their art with us.
Thank you, My TRIBE, for your unending support & belief, It matters. xoxo OTEP.”
Notably, Otep doesn't confirm or deny any of the statements made by the Convalescence, or go into detail about exactly why they were removed from the tour beyond "acting entitled." In a Facebook comment, one of the owners of Otep's Facebook account made the following reply:
Let's be clear on something, while the whole incident with selling of merch is going to be looked at as the straw that broke the camel's back, Otep wasn't looking to kick the Convalescence off the tour. In fact, Otep instead came up with that the Convalescence and Brand of Julez switch places in the lineup for the last few days Brand of Julez was on the tour. Brand of Julez was only playing selected dates on the tour, and they only had 5 or 6 shows left with the tour. After that, everything would have went back in terms of the lineup, but the Convalescence was having none of it. So this isn't people trying to say Otep got pissed because they sold merch during Otep's set and thus kicked them off the tour. They'd still be on the tour with Otep if they just did the lineup change for a few shows. -Brett-
It's not the first time issues have arisen on the road with Otep, as two years ago she alleged the singer of Terror Universal attempted to sexually assault her at a show. Time will tell what will happen next for Otep and The Convalescence as they now go their separate ways.
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