The Wishing Well visits campus, violates USC solicitation policies
The Wishing Well, a five-part Australian orchestral rock band traveling from Charleston to Atlanta for another gig, stopped by Greene Street afternoon to blast music and sell CDs.
One problem, though: They weren’t invited by USC, and no one knew they were coming. So a little after 2 p.m., about four songs into their impromptu set, the band’s members were approached by Russell House officials, told they were in violation of USC noise and solicitation policies and asked to leave.
“I guess we were not allowed to play today,” said Rivkah Larkan, one of the band’s two violinists, as the band packed up their instruments and amplifiers. “We were here for about 20 minutes; just long enough to get warmed up [before being asked to leave].”
Larkan said the band hadn’t looked into playing at any local music venues, but had stopped in to just market their music.
“I got a call ... saying ‘What do you know about this band?’ and I said, ‘What band?’” said Ryan Gross, event services coordinator for the Russell House.
The main violations the band had committed were the use of amplified sound after 2 p.m. — the band had large amps set up on the sidewalk — and the fact that members were selling CDs, which constituted a violation of the university’s solicitation policy, according to Gross.
“There were problems across the board,” Gross said. “You don’t want vendors just showing up at any time. They were really nice about it. But we’re gatekeepers of policy, and they were in violation of it.”
Kim McMahon, director of the Russell House, noticed the band first and reported it to Gross.
“People do that a lot,” she said, referring to unannounced solicitors. “People want to sell to college students.”
The band played at the Blind Tiger Pub in Charleston earlier this week and will perform at WonderRoot in Atlanta with Greenside Manners, Sons of Daughters and Louder Milk and Moon tonight at 8 p.m.
“They were pretty good,” Gross said. “If there were a way to get them back legally and according to policy, we’d love to have them back.”