On Saturday November 24th, Claudio Simonetti from Goblin performed a live set during the Dario Argento classic, Suspiria at The Murmrr Theatre in New York City. The performance lasted 90 minutes and after the movie was over, the crowd was rushed out during a meet and greet. However, let’s go back to Friday the 13th (7/13/2018) when Goblin announced that tickets were going on sale for their tour in the US.
Any die-hard Goblin/Claudio Simonetti fan knows that when Goblin is on tour, tickets sell out almost immediately. Claudio announced that the season tour this time around would be a Two-Act show opening with a live performance to the Dario Argento 1978 classic Suspiria, followed by a live additional performance of other Goblin hits such as Phenomena, Demons and Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) which can be seen live on YouTube.
I purchased my tickets 5 minutes after the ticket sale began on Ticketfly. The Facebook event page advertised the show at Murmrr as a Two Act performance.
Fast forward to 4 months later where my wife, my brothers and I made plans to be together, have dinner and go to the show. I have never been to a live Goblin show but have been a huge fan of Simonetti and Argento so this was extremely exciting. The Theatre was shared with another event next door. Men and women were told to share bathrooms delegated by the staff. This was kind of an issue for us as well but it’s NYC.
The stage was set with the live set; drums, keyboards and guitars. Claudio came out and received his standing ovation. When the show began, the musicians were sitting down, playing under the original recorded score, the live set could barely be heard with the exceptional parts where there was no score in the film( there were points where I felt that the drums weren’t even plugged in). The movie’s volume was louder than the band most of the night. After the movie was over, the band stood up and took their bows and left the stages immediately followed by set breakdown. What happened to the second set everyone paid for? Much of the audience raved about the performance but there were a few of us looking at each other in confusion. People were directed into a line if they wanted to meet Claudio while the rest of us were trying to call for our rides outside the venue. At this time, I was pissed off. My crew and I went out for food and my wife and I drove back to New Jersey to go home.
The following morning, I wrote on the Murmrr page and Facebook event about my dissatisfaction about the event and feeling ripped off. Moments later, more people were adding their experiences feeling cheated with the promise of a second act. I found out that Goblin’s performance on Monday at a different venue played both acts, as well as the rest of the other scheduled shows. Why is it that Goblin’s performance was different? Many of us felt swindled that we paid full price for a multiple set show and we were given a 90 minute film.
7 days before Goblin’s performance and Murmrr, I received an updated email of the show many of us paid and waited 4 months for. The updated email listed our show as a 90 minute show expected to end at 9:30pm on a Saturday night. Another concerned patron added that the Murmrr Theatre has been in trouble with noise complaints. My issue is why would you host a show if you get noise complaints?
It seems like this is NOT the first time Murmrr Theatre had this issue.
I have a high respect for Claudio Simonetti, I’m sure the band was upset as well. I will not support The Murmrr Theatre for all future events if this is how they choose to operate. The people who I have talked to have not heard from either Murmrr Theatre or Ticketfly about full or half refunds.
