A lot of folks thought that the promoter left after the first set, but he was there all night. He just changed out of his tie into a t-shirt. However, that still does not excuse his lack of professionalism in showing up almost an hour late. The show went on as scheduled, mainly due to the fact that we (S.O.) had come in at 5 to load in and sound check since we were going on first. If we had waited until after the “required meeting” to load in, like the instructions stated, it would have been a lot later. And as for the “meeting”, it was mainly “if you sold presale tix, gimme the money”. And then we were informed that the winner would be featured at the National Rock Summit, but the band has to pay it’s own travel and lodging expenses. WTF? Part of the $12 ticket price was supposedly going to defray the expenses of the bands getting to the Summit…. All in all, SCAM. Big time.

Actually, by the time Dirty Sons went on, dude had split.

i actually spent some time in pensacola where mr knight comes from. he’s been ripping off local bands there for about 5 years. he takes most if not all of the door for ‘expenses’ and more likely than not, promotes bands that aren’t even confirmed for his shows. stay far far away

I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT A STORY COULD BE PUBLISHED WITH OUT CONTACTING THE PROMOTER FOR THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY.

Rock Summit is not a scam, it is legit. Check out the FAQ on the MySpace page.

Hey Mr. Knight!………you’re handling of affairs with regard to this particular event is all of “your side of the story” that we need to hear to figure out which way the wind blows…….

ROCK SUMMIT - “To Legit To Quit”

Hi, this is, Derrick Knight, the founder and promoter of Rock Summit. I just want to start out by saying I thought that this OpEd column was really hurtful and derogitory. I do not recall whatsoever speaking with any of the people that say they spoke personally with me. RocK Summit is a legitimate operation. I and the booking agents who book the talent have no desire in taking advantage of the bands that perform at each local Rock Summit.

Each band is given a detailed mail out of how we operate and have plenty of time to move forward with their decision in performing in the audition. When bands perform at the scenes local Rock Summit they are really auditioning for a spot on the line up for the National Rock Summit, which is August 30 in downtown Pensacola.

This is the first year I have taken Rock Summit national. I started 4 years ago while a senior in high school in Pensacola. The first 3 I did were really successful. Some business executive coaches who I befriended while living in New York City, suggested I follow my ambitions and take it on the road nationally, which I have accomplished, I am very happy to say.

It seems like the more successful you become the more people want to bring you down. Producing Rock Summit is REAL WORK. I spend about 12 hours a day thinking and working on it. Why would I waste my time “scamming bands”? There are many times where I find myself saying why do I do Rock Summit, I could be at the beach right now, but I know the answer. I am not happy as I am at the beach, when I am putting together a show.

I INVITE YOU to come to the national Rock Summit August 30th in Pensacola. We have companies such as Geico and Guitar Center who are looking at sponsoring us, there will definitley be sponsors next year/go around which will make the operations run more smoothly.

Barack Obama brings hope, joy and change and he is attacked. Jesus was attacked. I try to bring a community of local music lovers and makers together in every scene and then climax at the national scene, and again I am attacked.

But I do love Augusta, it was where I saw my first concert when I was 3. MC Hammer, I can still remember him singing “To Legit To Quit”/

By the way, the venue had no AC, I did change.

I was there for the entire show.

Judging is also done when people come in the door and tell us who they are at the Rock Summit to see. The decision process of selecting a band is complex, that is why we don’t announce until the following Monday.

Britney Spears is a legend.

And Stoney, I looked you up on MySpace and I have never seen you before in my life, I am sure I would remember you–so how don’t how “you spent time with me in Pensacola”. Anyhow, your accusations can’t be true because you don’t know. You should have been professional and at least approached me at this Rock Summit. May peace be with you, be that light you want to see in the world brother.

Hey Derrick -

That’s cool of you to compare yourself to Barack Obama or Jesus. Really high class.

Second, “Britney Spears is a legend.” WTF does that have to do AT ALL with ANYTHING ANYONE has said in or about the article? Seriously?!?

OK, third, Stoney never said he knows you and never said he spent time with you in Pensacola. If you actually read what’s on this page, you’ll see that a reader named Bryan said he “actually spent some time in pensacola where mr knight comes from.” He also didn’t say he knows you.

It’s hard to see your side of the argument with this crap in it.

Wow. This guy, who showed up late, did not bring the second stage he had promised, who did not even call the venue owner when he was late, instead called one of the band members, who LEFT the venue even before the last band played their whole set, is LEGIT?? What a crock. During several of the bands sets, the guy was outside, not jusding any bands, and was more interested in taking the door money than actually listening to the bands. SCAM, brother. And until you turn water to wine, raise the dead, and bring salvation, do not EVER compare yourself to Jesus.

complete scam.
%100.
but in the same breath, any band that doesn’t look up the qualifications of rock summit before signing on shouldn’t talk shit.
this is the first link when you google rock summit - bands should look this shit up before signing up.
but anyway, i can say, this project is a joke, little kids play (dude is like 21), and jesus is a cunt.

I will guarantee that not a single band from further than 2 hours away will be at the NATIONAL ROCK SUMMIT in Pensacola. I would guess that at least 80% of the bands involved in these fiascos around the country have already seen that Mr. Knight is full of shi*. So why would anyone travel halfway across the country… on their own dime… to play ANOTHER sinking ship show to no more than 100 or so people?

Here’s some inspiration. Derrick Knight has been working in local music for about five years. That’s about the only truth of his statements besides Britney Spears is Skanky, I’ll give him that one too.

Every local pensacola band I have ever known him to work with (60 cycles of sound, american suicide, deadly fists of kung fu) has been screwed. This is a guy who when he ran his own venue told local bands, you have to play three shows for me before i will consider paying you. these rock summits are all so utterly disorganized. it’s probably a good thing he isn’t personally attending each one, you may actually end up with a competent booker that way!

He also has a habit of confirming bands who have not given him the go ahead to confirm. check his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/derrickknight

the last pensacola show, where mad happy is scheduled to headline? didn’t agree to play. This is only part of the shadiness. I like the idea that he’s portraying himself as a victim. People would not be posting these messages to others who may be thinking of playing if they were happy with it right?

let’s put it this way, he pockets most of the money that comes in the doors for expenses. This can and probably does include his airfare, PA rental, flyers, food etc. Granted on a large scale operation, these would come into effect. But as far as all local bands are concerned? nuh uh! It is them bringing people to your shows. They deserve a cut from these tickets they are selling.

Also, he once booked a show for Shiny Toy Guns which he promoted heavily. Something happened day of the show, like the PA wasn’t acceptable or something. Instead of going to the venue and dealing with it himself, he sent his GRANDMA! yes. His grandma.

I have never worked personally with DK. As a booker and label owner, I like to operate on an equal trust level in my dealings. I was around his hometown for long enough to know, never do business/play shows for Derrick Knight/Hikkie Diddle/Rock Summit.

This isn’t about people hating him because hes successful? it’s about watching other peoples backs who may not otherwise know better.

WOW! Direct input from a Pensacola insider! I agree, as far as Lokal Loudness is concerned, this has nada to do with the amount of success Knight has had because we don’t know the first thing about him. What it does have to do with is: In Augusta we share a unique cameradie and love for each other in our music community and we don’t take it lightly when someone decides to screw with it. We also look out for bands from other places that come to Augusta and those bands have been known to take that with them when they leave. It’s not always easy to be in a band and a scam artist scum bag (that’s right, I freakin said it!) coming into our little neck of the woods and taking advantage of the good people here will NEVER go unnoticed. Maybe someone just thought “Augusta…an easy bunch of hicks to take advantage of.” Well buddy…words getting out…believe me cuz there are folks in this town helping push the word along. And Mr. Knight…don’t come back…Augusta doesn’t have any love left for you.

Well said, Stoney.

Bryan aka Stoney I don’t think I know you personally. I have a few corrections about your false statements.

Every band that plays a Rock Summit gets $3 for each ticket they sale.

If you only knew what the financial of Rock Summit was in the first season, you would know I am definitely not in this for the money.

The reason why bands had to perform 3X’s at The Hikkie Diddle is because we were a new venue and simply could not afford to waste money on bands that didn’t even have an established reputation if we wanted to be a prospering business, which the Hikkie Diddle did become. It became very successful.

SHINY TOY GUNS , that show was booked through my booking agent and my entire family was there to represent me at that show because I was in New York City working.

This was the first year I have taken Rock Summit national and please give me a break, you guys act like you have never made mistakes before. I am not making excuses I am just saying. There are going to be some bumps in the road.

Do you really think I just sent working all day thinking, how can I screw over this or that band. Hell No! I am trying to build something people will enjoy and look forward to, but you guys want to do is give me a modern day lynching.

And a lot of my peers when I started in high school and owned the Hikkie Diddle made a lot of false rumors about me and were jealous I owned the Hikkie Diddle and I did make mistakes in those early years, I was 16.

As far as this Augusta show, this was a successful show, and no bands were screwed over, that’s period. I helped organized the show and picked a band from Augusta to appear at the National Rock Summit and this show was great. I will be routing Augusta again next year, so hopefully I will see some of you guys out there!

Peace

Oh, by the way the 1st Annual National Rock Summit is August 30th Labor Day Weekend in Pensacola, Florida. I hope this site covers it. I am really stoked, this will be life changing and Rock Summit is only growing from.

Haters make me famous.

FROM BRYAN AKA STONEY
“the last pensacola show, where mad happy is scheduled to headline? didn’t agree to play. This is only part of the shadiness. I like the idea that he’s portraying himself as a victim. People would not be posting these messages to others who may be thinking of playing if they were happy with it right?”

That would be a joke to have Mad Happy HEADLINE, are you serious??!! They aren’t even a Rock band. I am not going to comment on any band specifically, but all I can say is I make sure I have the band confirmed before any press material is released, sometime there is a lack of communication with on the bands END. That happens quite a bit when you have 5 band members, one confirms, and then 1/5 can’t get off work.

And the official reason Shiny Toy Guns had to reschedule their date was because the generator failed. No power no show. And all of those tickets were refunded.

This is useless I am wasting my time trying to defend my reputation I just hope know anyone who reads this, just doesn’t take these “bloggers” seriously everyone is so STRONG behind their keyboards.

this isnt about you being successful or famous. i think most of us could care less about that. you wanna parade in your underwear in fashion magazines, more power to you. this isn’t about your career it’s about protecting bands who are paying $5 a gallon for gas and trying to get their music heard.

on paper, this sounds like a great idea. i personally respect the idea that you have chosen to live your dreams. more people should do something with their lives. there’s a difference though especially catering to the market you are, on the idea of helping the bands, i gotta speak up.

i followed your tracks on the googles. everything i go to that is listed as national rock summit leads to a myspace page with little to no sparse info. like specific people are being led to specific locations to hide the truth, a web of deceit if you will pardon that pun.

again, just to re-iterate, this isn’t attacking the famousoity of your character, this is speaking up for bands and letting sponsors and advertisers know what is up.

voting for the national rock summit was supposed to start on july 26th, i watched the page, nothing happened. today, 7-30, the lineup is scheduled to be released on 8-1.

it’s all smoke and mirrors. this promotion cant make 2 stages run smoothly most of the time, how in the world they are going to make 5 run concurrently with 100 bands placed in the middle i have no clue. i would however probably go just to see the chaos if nothing else.

congratulations derrick knight from national rock summit. you are a celebrity!

now geico, lieutenant governors, business people, city centers, bands, sponsors, advertisers and volunteers of the national rock summit

can search for information and schedules for the national rock summit

and see a page that doesn’t change or have past mistakes removed.

we all make mistakes, it’s not about that. sometimes you have to own up to them.

do you like cocaine or something?

I’ve heard many great things about bands in Augusta sticking up and having each others back from Atlanta bands who have visited your city. It is great that Augusta has not only a great neighborly support system in the music community but also some great organizations such as Lokal Loudness to house it all together so nice and neat. I’ve enjoyed reading Lokal Loudness for several years now and recently added Confederation of Noisemakers to my weekly music enjoyment after finding out about the site on Lokal Loudness. I say don’t sweat this putz from Rock Summit. We’ve heard the grumbling here in ATL as well and as far as we’re concerned, the ass clown has pretty much burned most of his bridges. Now all that’s left is for him to disappear back into his own obscurity.

Well, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. Shotgun Opera is going to take a chance and head down for this thing (and play a couple gigs along the way!!) so you can expect a FULL report on how it turns out when we get back!!

alright, ive had quite a laugh at all this, but i am from pensacola and i do know bands that play the local rock summit and yes they have been scammed out of money. well not payed would be more correct, and thats the thing most local bands will overlook that for exposer. however for someone to take advantage of that is incredibly immoral considering there the ones bringing the people.

“dont bite the hand that feed” seems appropriate here.

i personaly have not dealt with them YET. give me to the end of the month and ill give you a full detailed report on how things go. honestly im going in knowing how things work. i just really want to see how it all plays out. i dont even know how hes planning on doing that considering how downtown pensacola and the people who go to shows down here are. however. it should be interesting enough and hell.. i just want to play

OK first things first…in all honesty we here at Lokal Loudness would like nothing better than to see Rock Summit do well and see all of the bands proper as a result of the event. Lokal Loudness has love for not only unsigned CSRA bands but unsigned bands period. We just reported obvious things that happened at the AUGUSTA Rock Summit prelim. I will admit that the Rock Summit sites have been confusing as a previous reply to this article has mentioned and our experience has made it difficult to jump on board this event thought to support unsigned bands but Lokal Loudness would rather sit back and miss out than jump in and have our love for these bands be tarnished in the event something bad happens. We certainly hope for the sake of the bands that this event is everything they hope it to be and more. We are just very skeptical at the moment. The “almost scripted” interview on the Rock Summit page didn’t help much either but hey…”A” for effort.

I’m gonna be brief. I am currently signed up with my band for the national rock summit festival in pensacola. I’ve read all of the comments and i am really pissed off! It’s as right now that i have come to realize that my band has been scammed. i have no idea of whats in store for us. I’m coming all the way from NJ to play this show. I have messaged Derrek about our equipment situation and he says the amps and drums will be provided. IDK man i feel like we are definatly wasting our time and money

Pat -

If Derrick Knight doesn’t follow through (including the amps and drums) he’s finished. I would say keep any messages or emails just to have something in writing. From the way it looks, he’s gonna have to really bring it and throw down in Pensacola or no bands are ever going to hook up with him again. With that said, I’d give it a shot. Who knows, it could totally kick ass. We’ll just have to see.

We do wish all the bands luck and like I said…I would like to see Derrick prove the naysayers wrong if for anything…all the bands who are spending time and money to take part. I wouldn’t consider Lokal Loudness a naysayer…just a skeptical bystander due to appearances on the lokal level. Then again…sometimes negativity can be a driving force to make something even better. Who knows. I think a lot of people plan on coming back on here and commenting about their experience at Rock Summit. Matter of fact…any and all bands, no matter where you’re from, can hit us up after the event at info@lokalloudness.com and we would love to get some comments and quotes for an article.

I will definatly fill yous in on how it all went. I’m still skeptical on how all of these bands are gonna play their sets with a crowd watching them. The festival seems to be spread out all over the town of pensicola

Bottom line is Derrick is a fucktard and I’m not afraid to say so, which is why I have posted my real full name and a legit email address. If any out of town musicians run into trouble while they are here in Pensacola please feel free to drop me a line and I will do whatever I can to help you out. I unlike Derrick have a legit reputation here and can get things done. Oh, and if you’re not doing anything around 10pm my band is playing down at the handlebar. Anyway, to set the record straight I have dealt with Derrick on several occasions personally and he is completely useless at doing anything except collecting money. Just check out his grammar. The fucking guy can’t even talk. I have had the unfortunate experience of having to bail him out on several occasions because he has set up shows, and even one of the supposed “rock summits” without any sound equipment. I recall the “Rock Summit” we played at. Derrick called me less than 8 hours before it was going to start saying he had no sound and wondered if I could provide sound for 2 stages and he could only afford to pay 100 bucks. WTF! Amazingly enough I did and was able to play that night as well (My drummer helped quite a bit so I can’t take much credit). So at the end of the night based on the numbers I saw the show was a huge success. I’d say probably 300-400 people came out @ $15 a head, might have even been more (several years ago). The venue was $500, he had to pay out I believe $200 to the “headline act”, none of the other bands were paid, and then what ever he paid for advertisement. He then at the end of the night had the gall to say that he didn’t make as much money as he thought and was wondering if he could just give me $50. I pretty much told him no fucking way and he forked over the dough. This scenario was repeated on several occasions. The only reason I bailed him out was because the guys in the other bands were personal friends of mine and I am also passionate about the local music scene so I don’t like to see shit completely fall apart. Point being Derrick Knight is a scam and also a dumbass. I really enjoyed his interview that his friend did, where he stumbled through answering questions that he came up with himself. What an idiot. How about you at least edit that shit to not make yourself look like an uneducated nitwit. Anyway, that’s enough for now.

Just a word to the band from NJ playing Rock Summit, be SURE to get definitive info before travelling all the way to florida without your drum set. This kid in no way is going to have drum sets for each of the stages, what like 5 of them? most of the time he’s too busy doing forced interviews or youtube videos about himself to worry about things such as PA’s or equipment. If he does provide drums, you should also know he is NOT a musician and like was stated above, about the only part of doing shows he’s good at is collecting money. thats gonna be crummy if you travel all that way for him to spout excuses. Also, downtown pensacola is extremely spread out, travelling from downtown to the handlebar is NOT going to be a fun walk. at the very least, it should be an experience..

So who went to Rock Summit in Pensacola and what did you think? Me personally I thought it was madness and completely unorganized. I would never pay to see any of this kids shows ever again. Not only were the people that paid to see the bands upset but the bands were complaining too! Rightfully so! I would love to hear comments about the Pensacola Rock Summit…….

Well, here is what I took back home with me after the Rock Summit.

It wasn’t a scam. That was apparent.

It WAS disorganized as all hell.

The promoter was spending all of his time telling people how great he was and how he was getting ready for next year, instead of fixing the MANY issues that came up.

The bands that came down were for the most part cool as HELL, and we had a VERY fun time hanging out with them.

It’s a good thing we came down too. We ended up letting several bands use our gear, because they were told by the promoter that backline and drums would be provided. Which they were not.

We made a TON of new contacts, with bands from Texas all the way to New Jersey.

The venue we played was pretty awesome.

I’d LOVE to get back down to Pensacola to play more gigs. Just not if Mr. Knight is involved.

After seeing firsthand what all went on, I really believe that he wasn’t out to screw anyone, but that he’s just clueless as hell on how to organize a festival like this.

Well we went and what can i say other than Derrick Knight is a complete and utter MORON. ONE….yes ONE of the venues allowed the bands to play, but not all of them. I think 30 didn’t show up and of the ones that did, some dropped out because of the venue (some bands had to play outside in an area smaller than my back deck with, and there was no stage so they were level with the crowd), and most of the local bands got bumped because there wasn’t enough time. BUT WHERE WAS DERRICK DURING ALL OF THIS? Not telling or talking to the bands. He left that to the poor guy who volunteered to help out the day before. Nope, he was at the register dealing with the money and staying as far away from everything as he possibly could have. There was ONE house PA and one that had to be rented from a band called “Horizon”, a pretty good who went on just before us. There was no drumset supplied or any equipment at all aside from the PA so the NJ band just used our stuff which wasn’t a problem at all cuz they were on after us anyways. The volunteer that was running the load-in and out was just overwhelmed and trying his best but it was just impossible to make up for the cluster-fuck that Knight created. We even stepped in to help with back-staging which helped alot but still…..COMEON….. We did have an absolute blast though. Met a TON of cool bands and fans and can’t wait to go back to ‘Cola to play a legit show. As for Douche-bag Knight….. get a new shirt you piece of shit.

As someone from Pensacola who has delt with Derrick in the past(and threatened him) i know for a FACT that almost all his statements are lies, he DOES in fact rip off bands, the National rock Summit was a Joke. This guys was trying to renegotiate his PA contract when the poor sucker showed up so they said “fuck you” and left, wow no Pa for 2 Venues. Only 2 out of the 5 venues he advertised were actually running. THis guy knows shits gonna get rough cuz hes not gonna pay teriffic kid so he grabs some beer and splits when they start playing. Yea dude good thing these guys dont know where in Milton you live huh? But hmmm they probably do by now.He had bands show up from hrs away and then wouldn’t let them play because of “time constraints”, yea constraints of how fast he can pocket the money and split, all in all a huge clusterfuck. I also know for a fact that the “Shiny Toy Guns” show he promoted here in town was canceled because the band showed up, saw there was no PA, and told the kid to fuck himself and demanded their guarantee. Hope it helps you sleep at night buddy, giving our town a bad name and fucking people over. if you’d take a break from the gay bars and sucking cock it’d be nice if you jumped off a cliff.
And that is my email address so Mr. Knight if anything ive said is untrue please feel free to email me, you know or go and eat some more dick.

“And the official reason Shiny Toy Guns had to reschedule their date was because the generator failed. No power no show. And all of those tickets were refunded.” hahaha this venue hes talking about the American Legion on Barancas here in Pensacola, DOSENT HAVE A FUCKING GENERATOR! like everywhere people live, or work, of shop…… its connected to power lines!! What a piece of shit

Well as a person who has put on a couple of mutli-stage festivals…I can say it’s not easy but a healthy relationship with those in the music community can help that immensly. In 1999 and 2000 Lokal Loudness put on YAMA shows on the river which was free to the public and the bands were generous enough to play for free and the city provided the venues for free as well. still, if not for great volunteers, great sound guys and some great bands working together, it also would have been a huge cluster. It great to want to put on something but staying within your means and outting on a successful event is better than trying to put on a huge event and falling way short. Hopefully Shotgun Opera can get some of these bands to come Augusta!

On a lighter note as a member of the audience at the Pensacola Rock Summit the bands we did get to see rocked!

Speaking of getting out of town bands to come here……The guys we played with in Columbus on Friday will be with us at the Playground this Friday, and yes we did get quite a few numbers and info from other bands so hopefully sometime in the future we can get as many of them together as possible and do it the right way. Im sure all of the venues around here would be more than happy to help out

Actually, Rock Summit isn’t a scam.
Derrick is just really unorganized.
And from all the drama at the pensacola Rock Summit,it’s going to be taken over by some of the stage managers who put their own time in for free to try to fix all the problems when it wasn’t their job to do so.
So the next time you hear of a Rock Summit-it’s under new management pretty much.
so chill the fuck out;the bands got paid.

Derrick Knight hosted a Rock Summit at my nightclub, Crossroads on July 12th in Garwood, NJ. We had negotiated a door split with him… but he ran out with all the money! Derrick AND Rock Summit are a COMPLETE SCAM! We’ve contacted him a few times, and after repeated promises to send us a check; we’ve heard nothing from him. AVOID THIS SCUMBAG AT ALL COSTS!!!! After 12 years in the business, this is EASILY the worst, and most dishonest promoter i’ve ever come across. His own staff has recently been driven to mass e-mailing hate mail about him. Defend that one Derrick…. you piece of shit

My band played Rock Summit Nationals, and were promised food and water, getting it twice confirmed on the day of the event that both would be provided, it later came to mind around 8 or so when i asked derrick knight himself,” Hey man, where’s our pizza and shit?” He replied,”What pizza?” “THE FUCKING PIZZA WE WERE PROMISED!” I exclaimed. He then in a drunk inedbriated state said,” COME PARTY WITH ME AND ILL GIVE YOU SOME PIZZA!*WINK*” My friend then asked,”NAKED?” He then gave an inappropriate gesture and continued to make his way outside to a limo filled with Male strippers.

this guy is shitty, he didnt act as a promoter, his shit wasnt together, he lied/scammed/cheated all bands out of their time and money.

if it waddles like a duck…….and it quacks like a duck……..and it looks like a duck…….it’s probably a FUCKING DUCK!(please substitute opportunistic,piece of shit for the word “duck” at will)…….

What bands got paid?? We certainly didn’t…

Actually all the bands did not get paid at the Rock Summitt in Pensacola so please get your facts straight K; before lying about it. I know of a couple of bands that did not get paid and I am really close to one of them. if people saw what was going on after the Rock Summit Saturday night they would have seen Derrick Knight ride away with a smirk on his face because he got away with screwing some bands over again. I heard shitty stuff said about him, but the band I know gave him the benefit of the doubt, I guess lesson learned. Just because you are friends with Derrick Knight does not mean you have to lie for the boy. I think Derrick Knoght has screwed one to many bands especially after this year…he shouldn’t get too many bands (at least locally) that would want to play a show that he is involved with. Screw Derrick Knight!