A PATRON has been banned for life from the Kinross Woolshed Hotel after flouting backstage security at Jimmy Barnes’ concert by impersonating the pub’s owner.
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The Thurgoona hotel’s venue manager Ian Gulliford said the concert-goer made his way to the rear of the stage on Saturday night towards the end of Barnes’ set.
“He claimed to be the owner, but he wasn’t,” Mr Gulliford said.
“He said ‘I’m the owner, I want to duck in behind the stage’.”
Mr Gulliford said the man was taking video with a camera and may have spoken to one of Barnes’ daughters and sound technicians.
Regional Touring director Duane McDonald, who has overseen concerts at Kinross but was not at the hotel on Saturday night, posted on Facebook on Sunday.
“The way Jimmy Barnes….and his crew were treated last night was an absolute discrace (sic) and you should be ashamed of yourselves,” Mr McDonald wrote to Kinross.
“And the racial vilification against one of the crew by one of your employees is well noted.”
Contacted by The Border Mail on Monday, Mr McDonald said he deleted his post on Sunday night and declined to elaborate further.
He referred inquires to Barnes’ agent Frank Stivala, who did not respond to The Border Mail.
Mr Gulliford said he was not aware of any racial abuse.
“None of Jimmy’s party came to see me and complain about anything,” he said.
“The only thing we’ve heard is what the bloke from Regional Touring put up.”
Mr Gulliford said he “wasn’t very happy” at the post “because there was no facts to it” and the episode had upset Kinross owner Chris Moscher and the pub’s workers.
“It had nothing to do with the owner or our staff and they’ve taken it very badly,” he said.
“You’re trying to do something for the community and someone gets on social media and looks to ruin it.”
Mr Gulliford said there had been 12 security guards and seven police on site throughout the concert.
“You get one idiot who wants to make a name for himself, it’s hard to keep an eye on him, and that’s what happened,” he said.
Mr Gulliford said the patron was removed by security and had been banned for life from the premises.
He is hopeful the incident will not stop Barnes, who has performed at the Kinross a number of times since 2009, returning.
- This article was first published on The Border Mail
