Hier ist mein Geld!

German agent Willi Wrede has paid one of the Austrian promoters the money he owed him but seems to have disappeared without settling with the other one.

Wrede, who is managing director of ROM Entertainment & Consulting GmbH in Metzingen-Neuhausen, hasn’t responded to e-mails and phone calls.

Christian Gerber, an Austrian promoter who claims he can’t get euro 6,250 worth of deposits returned, thinks Wrede may have gone to ground.

The issue looks to revolve around Wrede collecting deposits and hanging on to them in order to cash-flow his company.

"Wo ist mein Geld [Where’s my money]?"Austrian promoter Michael Ehrenbrandtner wrote to Wrede via e-mail after he failed to get back his euro 3,670 deposit for a canceled Foreigner show.

It eventually turned up within three days of a story in the October 1 issue of Pollstar, but Gerber’s still chasing his deposit for another show on the same Foreigner tour.

Wrede’s not saying if he’s still trading and hasn’t responded to questions about why he’s hanging on to deposits.

Ehrenbrandtner and Gerber agree that the amounts of money involved aren’t that significant, but feel that there’s a good practice principle involved that should be recognised throughout the live music industry.

Gerber’s particularly annoyed because on August 2 he paid a euro 3,500 deposit for Smokie to play a January show in an Austrian club, while John Wagstaff – the band’s manager – has confirmed that the act had told Wrede that the show was canceled three months earlier.

Jim Lenz of California-based Paradise Artists, Survivor’s worldwide agency, said Wrede didn’t get as far as sending any "advance money" to secure the appearances that Ehrenbrandtner and Gerber believed that they’d booked.

"I am not sure what [Wrede’s] office is doing and I hope that any issues between the local promoters and his office are resolved," Lenz previously told Pollstar. "I will confirm that we never received any deposit money from him regarding any Survivor dates. We are not holding any deposit money from his proposed tour," he added.