In an event similar to what happened to Milli Vanilli in 1989, local funk and soul group Beat Kitchen received a stunning backlash from fans at their concert earlier this month after an apparent “audio error.”
Seconds into their song “People Say,” lead singer Brandon T. Washington made a motion to someone off stage that he was having some type of difficulty. Moments later, there was a noticeable skip in audio while Brandon and his rhythm section continued to play, oblivious to the glitch. The audio track then proceeded to speed up and wind down in reel-to-reel tape fashion to an end. By that point, Brandon expressed discomfort, gave a waving motion indicating that there was some kind of malfunction, and signaled the end of the evening with the rest of band looking on in disbelief.
Not much has been reported in the aftermath of the incident, except for a statement made by Brandon T. Washington a day later:
“I am sorry for the technical error last night. I have been suffering from severe exhaustion which has stressed my voice. The track that was heard was actually a guide track for my drummer to listen to which glitched last night. We are sorry for the error.”
Fans, however, have not been so forgiving. Myspace.com username Furious4U2 writes:
“I am deleting all of your MP3’s [sic] from my hard drive and deleting you off of my top friends list! I hate you for what you (have) done!!!111!!!1!”
Local artist Kayla Brown has stepped forward to support the group.
“…Guide tracks are a part of the music business, as is touring and making records. Everyone in the industry has used it at some point, myself included. No one wants to hear you struggle and croak through a song, so you have to find any way you can to please these people.”
Beat Kitchen has agreed to appear in January to perform for The Great Cover-Up. It is unknown if Brandon will be joining them.