Today Mat Zo went on a Twitter rampage, uploading quite a few tweets calling out Ultrabar and DC club owner Antonis Karagounis for overselling their venue on December 19th. It all began when Karagounis tweeted out a response to Mat Zo’s question “Has anyone ever moved to Cleveland because they wanted to?“
Has anyone ever moved to Cleveland because they wanted to?
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 25, 2013
. @Mat_Zo_MRSA Yes. Hard working Americans. Don’t be ignorant.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
After being called ignorant, Mat saw an opportunity to speak his mind:
Mat Zo: “Im glad this club owner called me ignorant, i was looking for him.”
@AntonisDC do you run ultra bar as well as glow?
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC because last week you oversold the venue until it was packed to the point that it was dangerous. No one could move at all
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC since im from cleveland and my comments about the it are from experience, maybe you should think twice before calling me ignorant
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC because now i can call you out for being greedy and overselling and creating a fire hazard
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Mat Zo, clearly upset, took Karagounis’ words to heart and continued to express his frustration on the topic of overselling venues, using Ultrabar as an example. After Mat consistently responded to and retweeted quite a few fan tweets supporting his claims, the two continued their back and forth for the rest of the day:
“@chris_celebrity: thank u 4 calling out such owners. It ruins the experience for all involved and drives away the good people.” @AntonisDC
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
If youre a club owner and you respect your customers, I will respect you, but if you pack out the club until its dangerous imma call u out!
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
“@m1k3c0p3: thank you. Only show I’ve ever left because I couldn’t move and felt trapped” @antonisDC
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
“@jayselig: yeah Ultrabar was awful in DC. Ruined the night for me” @AntonisDC
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Similar to Deadmau5, Mat isn’t afraid to speak his mind on issues that bother him. Overselling venues isn’t a new thing, it’s been an issue since the very start, and it’s about time someone with a following spoke up about it.
.@antonisDC thanks for running your mouth and giving me this opportunity to call you out. I hope you change the way you do business
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA I did not run my mouth. There’s no need to use Twitter to bash on people etc. Humility is a virtue. Being nice is a value
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA DJ’s are supposed to be about the music and the fans. Don’t put people down. You’re a successful artist. Use it for good!
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC you called me ignorant about something im not ignorant of. Thats not very nice is it? Plus im sick of greedy club owners like you
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA Mat, it’s an expression. You have called me names in every single tweet. I also said you’re a talented artist right?
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC what names are you referring to?
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA standing up to what? Come on man. You’re taking this the wrong way and actually attacking.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC btw i AM all about the music and the fans, you obviously are not. If you were you would’ve given my fans some room to breath
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC you called me ignorant unprovoked, you brought this on yourself
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at it) things started to calm down.
@Mat_Zo_MRSA I said don’t be ignorant. It’s an expression. Anyways. Apologies.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC dont apologise, just dont oversell to the point of a potential disaster. Anyone else calling me ignorant i wouldve let it go
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@TheGoosiest great artist for sure. What’s there not to love?
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA Mat, the venue has 5 levels. There was no line after midnight. Everyone stayed on the main floor to see you.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA and yes it was very packed on the main floor. But people were there to see you. It was never out of hand.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC it was out if hand. I got a lot of complaints after. Ive never seen a venue that packed before.
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC if all 5 levels were open why did ppl still complain? Many people have said overselling is a problem at other clubs you run too
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC and if its not overselling its overstating the capacity which is just as bad
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC i just want you to recognise the problem with overpacking clubs. Its not fun and its dangerous
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC im not calling you names or even using profanity. What you call an attack, i call standing up for club goers
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
@Mat_Zo_MRSA Mat, this conversation does not lead anywhere. It was a Great set, and a good night. Let’s enjoy the holidays.
— Antonis Karagounis (@AntonisDC) December 26, 2013
@AntonisDC ok, i hope you will at least think about ways to spread people out more so it doesnt happen again. Happy holidays
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Due to having a big nose, i can always smell bullshit
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Being given the opportunity to raise an important issue is like a late Xmas present 🙂 couldn’t be happier right now! Happy boxing day!
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) December 26, 2013
Karagounis probably meant no harm. Nonetheless, I feel like someone needed to say something about the issue. Did Mat Zo take it on too aggressively? Maybe, but it was the least he could do after what happened. Share your thoughts and tell us what you think about the topic down below.
Source: White Raver Rafting
And that’s how you never get booked to play a venue again. FYI- Matt ZO isn’t that great of a DJ. He blew up cause of Will.I.Am! LOL
i agree tho last venue i went to i also left because there was so many people no room to breath or have a good time
Who the DJ is doesn’t matter. The fact that DJs are pushing back is a good thing. There’s plenty of venues DJs can play and people can go. Greediness needs to stop on both sides, it’s ruining EDM. It’s not hard to have a safe venue to accommodate the DJ and audience. Especially with multiple shows and venues. Accountability is key. It is after all about the music and experience!
I don’t think Mat Zo could’ve said it any better. I want to get his music just because of all the things he said about the situation!
If you’re going to try and run a legitament music blog, you could at “lease” try and use correct grammar and punctuation. Not trying to be an asshole and I understand it’s just a blog, but you should still take pride in your work. I notice a lot of misspellings and misuses of the English language in your posts. It takes thirty seconds to skim and edit. I do enjoy your site but please step your shit up…
mat zo destroyed him…
This is a problem in all “multilevel clubs”. Per fire code the place has a set capacity for the WHOLE venue, however they put a big name DJ in their main room and everyone crams in there. What otherwise is a comfortable place – during a normal night thats at capacity – is ruined because the one of the many rooms crams the entire clubs capacity in to it. The same issue happened at Castle in Chicago when I recently saw Markus Schulz. There was no room to lift your arm to drink, let alone dance, but there was nothing illegal about because the building as a whole was still within legal fire code limits. Club owners want to maximize sales, so they sell a whole clubs worth of tickets/covers when only one of the rooms has the draw for those tickets. They need to do a better job at locking down the main room and keeping it to only ticket holders, maintaining a set capacity for that floor only. In contrast, saw Dubfire at SpyBar over thanksgiving with a capacity house and there was never a time we worried about being stepped on. Its a 300 person capacity space, with room for all 300. Thats how you run a club, for the music NOT the bros and sluts.
btw…mat’s damage control album is one of the best of 2013 hands down!