Hal Abramson

[August 31st, 2005] A couple thousand jam-band fans descended on Columbia Meadows last Thursday in St. Helens for the three-day Shakedown music festival, which promised neo-hippie stars Galactic, Spearhead, former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and more.

But instead of transcendental noodling or consciousness-enhancing lyrics, fans arrived to find a canceled festival and enough finger-pointing by organizers to make the Rogue Desk take notice. Wild theories circulated on jam-centric websites ("I hope this is just a fluke and not a concerted political effort to suppress uprisings..."). And the murky situation worsened when Hal Abramson , the festival's Florida-based promoter, went off the radar for four days.

Abramson resurfaced on Monday, posting 2,200 words on the festival website to blame Lowell MacGregor, the Portland music-industry veteran who runs Columbia Meadows, for the problems."He obviously has a compulsion about money, to the point of it being a mental problem," Abramson told WW.

Abramson claims MacGregor repeatedly changed Shakedown's agreement, demanding an exorbitant share of the $110,000 venue rental up front. Abramson says he would have paid in full-if MacGregor had let the gates open.

MacGregor, needless to say, recounts a diametrically opposed version. "It's a lot easier for him to say that stuff than to pay the deposit on time," MacGregor says. "He's coloring what we agreed on to make me look like the Antichrist." MacGregor says Abramson never delivered promised funds, and that he worried if the festival started without enough cash on hand to finish.

It's unclear if all ticket buyers will get refunds; as of Monday, Shakedownfest.com instructed fans to contact the agencies where they bought tickets.

Meanwhile, the Rogue Desk has no idea who's lying. But Abramson did himself no favors by skipping town and going incommunicado between Thursday's cancellation and Monday's Internet screed. (On Friday, his Portland attorney described him as too "shell-shocked" and "out of it" to field calls.)

Abramson says he and his staff left in fear of violence from fans and unpaid contractors. We say that if you're going to promote a three-day rock festival with a six-figure budget, you should stick around to sort through the chaos when it falls apart.