Fans of Bamboozle music festival allege false advertising and online threats

Scamboozle.

That’s what some frustrated fans have dubbed the return of Bamboozle, once one of New Jersey’s most celebrated music festivals, featuring headliners like Bon Jovi, 50 Cent, and the Foo Fighters. Ahead of the festival’s comeback shows — scheduled at Atlantic City’s Bader Field from May 5 to May 7 — a chorus of ticket buyers say they feel cheated by the show’s ticketing practices.

In social media postings — including on Scamboozle, an anonymous Instagram account started in February that now has nearly 1,000 followers — fans say Bamboozle festival organizers used false advertising to sell pricey early-bird tickets far ahead of the festival and failed to land promised big name acts. They say Bamboozle festival founder John D’Esposito refused refund requests and trolled and cyberbullied fans who complained.

In one case, D’Esposito publicly threatened to publish the home address of a fan who had posted criticism and wrote show sponsors about D’Esposito’s aggressive online measures. In online postings and on his podcast, D’Esposito promised “rewards,” like upgraded tickets, show merch and VIP passes, for fans who showed up at the man’s doorstep as part of an “anti-bullying fundraiser.”

“You need to hide after the podcast,” D’Esposito wrote Alphonso Cino in a March email provided to The Inquirer. “You are going to be the daily joke and mascot of this year’s event. This is going to be soooo much fun.”

D’Esposito eventually abandoned the tactic. But the fan he singled out, Cino, a 38-year-old insurance agent, has filed complaints against the promoter with his local police department and the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit.

“I never would have fathomed that a business owner with such a large platform would be allowed to just carte blanche threaten and harass ticket buyers,” said Cino, who lives in upstate New York, with his fiancée and 4-year-old daughter. “To say it’s unprofessional is an understatement.”

D’Esposito, in an interview this week, says he was simply defending Bamboozle.

“It was tongue in cheek,” he said, of his trolling. “I was joking around and having fun with him. I probably should have just went the charity route … I should probably apologize.”

According to NJ.com, Bamboozle ticket buyers have filed complaints with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. Rob Rowan, a spokesperson for the office, said 21 complaints had been received about Bamboozle, ranging from false advertising to refund requests.

Fans say they paid premium for presale tickets because D’Esposito repeatedly promised on social media that tickets costing as much as $366 would jump in price as more stars joined the bill.

But when fewer top billed performers signed on than normal — the biggest names of this year’s show include Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, and Motionless in White — tickets prices fell, leaving some fans feeling bilked. Tickets are selling for as much as $325, but others are priced much lower. Discount codes offer $100 rebates.

“I love the New Jersey music scene. It brings people together, and is a loving space. This is going against all of that,” said Chris Sicoli, 31, a fan from Jersey City who filed a consumer affairs complaint over tickets.

D’Esposito founded Bamboozle in 2002 and helped turn it into a mainstay of the Jersey festival scene. Sold-out shows at the Meadowlands Sport Complex and Asbury Park Convention Hall featured diverse bills with superstars from indie rock, hip-hop, and emo punk. Everyone from 50 Cent and Snoop Dog to Mac Miller and My Chemical Romance to The Roots and Fall Out Boy have headlined Bamboozle. By 2012, the festival’s final year, over 100,000 fans attended the shows in Asbury Park. Soon after D’Esposito left Bamboozle because of a falling out with partners, Live Nation and House of Blues, and the festival fizzled.

D’Esposito said he repurchased the festival’s trademark in 2020 in time to plan this year’s comeback festival marking the show’s 20th anniversary. In order to succeed, the festival had to go back to its roots of showcasing lesser known talents on the way up to become headliners, he said.

“It couldn’t come back with Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters because that’s not the climate right now, and also not the direction for the future,” he said. “They’re not Bamboozle fans if they’re not supporting artist development. We develop artists and produce a scene.”

Fans unhappy with this year’s lineup “can’t let go of a memory,” he said. “If you don’t like it, don’t go.”

For his part, D’Esposito expects upward of 15,000 at the Atlantic City shows, and says 47 fans in all have been refunded for the price of their tickets by credit card companies. He didn’t challenge any refunds, he said.

“It’s a minute portion,” he said. “The fan base is fired up for this party.”

Andrew Kramer, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office of Atlantic City, said they have been working with Bamboozle on all required permits and expect the show to go on as planned. D’Esposito said he’s not been contacted by any police regarding the complaints filed against him.

For his part, Cino, who first attended the festival 15 years ago, says he will not be attending Bamboozle this year.