Chelsea Grin’s Bassist Wants $2,300 of Your Money for His Puppy’s Surgery
Kickstarter and Indiegogo are all the rage. Bands routinely ask for PayPal donations when their gear is stolen. I get it, it’s fine, I’m not bitter like some folks are, and I’ve donated to all three types of crowd-funding campaigns multiple times. It’s a tough world out there for a metal band.
But now Chelsea Grin’s bassist David Flinn has taken to the band’s Facebook page to ask fans for $2,300 for surgery to repair three of his puppy’s broken fingers and growth plate. Here’s Flinn’s statement:
Dear CG Army,
This is David Flinn, first and foremost I want to apologize for what im about to ask for. Today my puppy Solo broke three fingers and his growth plate. The vet has told me he needs surgery and scheduled it for 10:30am tomorrow morning. Some of you may know that most musicians dont make that much money. The surgery is going to cost $2,300 and I have to pay it up front. I know this number sounds ridiculous for a pet but im sure if any of you have had to go through this you know it is not cheap. I have enough money to pay for rent and food for my family but after that I can not afford the surgery so I have no choice but to ask for your help. If I had anyone else to ask I would but I dont really come from money. So this is where you come in. If anyone would like to help by donating any amount of money it would help greatly. If you would like to help please send money to my Paypal account. I will do everything I can to make it up to you all. The email for my Paypal is my personal email.
Paypal email: [email protected]
Once again im so sorry to ask this of any of you. Thanks for you time and help.
Love your favorite bass player,
David Flinn
At what point does crowd-funding go too far? I’m not going to complain that this request is ridiculous (even though it is) because Flinn seems to have plenty of self-awareness of that fact; he mentions several times in his Facebook post that he’s embarrassed to even have to ask. And hey, it’s a free country, people can ask for money for whatever the hell they want to. Instead I’m going to argue that this is a really bad look and horrible business move for Chelsea Grin.
Hear me out. So let’s assume Flinn gets all the money he needs for the surgery. OK, good for him, good for the puppy. I like puppies, you like puppies, we all like puppies! The tike deserves a chance in the world. But at what point does Chelsea Grin risk wearing out the patience and generosity of their fans? When the band keeps asking for more, and more, and more… whether it’s in the form of money for dog surgery, buying the next album, coming out to the show, buying a t-shirt… at some point fans are gonna say “I’ve had enough” and that moment will only come sooner when band members are abusing the band’s popularity and leverage to fund things like surgery for a pet.
Of course I could be completely wrong and the fact that Flinn is an animal lover could endear him to Chelsea Grin’s fans on a whole new level.
I just checked CG’s Facebook page again and it appears David has now reached his goal:
Anymore money sent from this point out will be refunded immediately! We have reached the goal and I dont want anything else. thank you so much for all of your help. this is insane. Chelsea grin fans are the best in the fucking world I owe you all my life!!!!!!
So… good for the puppy. Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Thanks: Jade S.
