The two men started picketing W.B. Yeats Irish Pub on West Franklin Street on the nights of March 1 and March 2 holding signs reading, "W.B. Yeats does not pay its bands."
The Scooby Brothers, UNC juniors and roommates Scott Hirsch and Bobby Sapp, had performed top-40 songs in a four-hour, two-guitar acoustic/electric set at W.B. Yeats on Feb. 25.
The duo said the manager of the pub had not reimbursed them $69.96 for P.A. rental that they said had been agreed upon on the condition that they "brought in enough people that night."
"We brought in all the business that night except two or three people; they were all our friends," Hirsch said. "Some of them were not old enough to buy drinks, but we did have two friends with 21st birthdays who were taking shots."
After not being paid, the two said they decided to picket the pub to inform the public of their plight. "My girlfriend's father gave me the idea to picket," Hirsch said.
Hirsch said he and Sapp stood outside the pub for three hours both nights holding signs and "kindly telling people not to patronize the bar because they don't pay their bands."
"A few of the regulars came out and hassled us," Sapp said. "One guy called me 'cupcake.' He thought he was a tough guy or something."
Sapp said the picket seemed to be more successful March 1, the first night they started. "We definitely screwed him back over after he screwed us," he said, referring to W.B. Yeats manager Nick Dodd.
But Dodd, who has managed W.B. Yeats for the past six months, said he had never guaranteed payment to the band.