Zenith Touring, which represents the Foo Fighters, filed a lawsuit against a division of Live Nation in Nashville over unpaid money from a corporate concert that had been cancelled. Zenith filed the lawsuit in Davidson (Tennessee) County Chancery Court against SME Entertainment Group, which is a division of Live Nation that runs corporate events.

Zenith is asking for more than $1.5 million, which it says it is owed due to guarantees in the contract signed when Foo Fighters agreed to do the show in Denver, Colorado this August. The concert would have been a private affair for employees or clients of HR giant ADP, according to the lawsuit.

“We fully support the Foo Fighters as they were ready and able to play the scheduled performance on August 13 in Denver, until a third party cancelled the event,” Live Nation told Axios in a statement. “We are actively working to find a solution that works for all parties.”

It is unclear exactly who made the call to cancel the performance, but ADP is not named in the lawsuit as a defendant.

The lawsuit is an illustration of the tangled web of artist contracts and guarantees in the age of COVID, with a touring company (which has the band frontman David Grohl on the corporate masthead as CEO) filling a lawsuit against a part of the largest production company in live entertainment history – one which regularly promotes shows featuring that band and hosts them in its myriad of venues.

Foo Fighters have been one of the most active bands in the reopening from the long COVID pause on live events, reopening Madison Square Garden with its first full capacity show in June, headlining Lollapalooza, and performing throughout the summer and fall as venues began letting acts back in.

Upcoming Foo Fighters Dates

10/22 – Shaky Knees Festival (Atlanta, GA)
11/12-13 – Tecate Pal Norte (Monterrey, MX)
12/2, 12/4 – Park Theater (Las Vegas, NV
12/7 – Golden One Center (Sacramento, CA)
12/9 – Save Mart Center (Fresno, CA)

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