House of Blues concert ends in backstage beatdown, or just an argument, depending on whom you ask

Members of the band that opened for Nigerian singer Davido at the House of Blues on Aug. 31 told the Boston Licensing Board today that the singer's beefy security entourage beat them up and chased them out of the backstage room where they had been enjoying a post-concert snack.

Police and several members of TMP Empire said the group was eating in one room shortly after 11 p.m., when a member of Davido's security entourage came in and told them to be quiet because the singer was doing an interview. Band members said they were quiet - and really didn't want to do anything to upset either Davido or his security crew, which they already knew had a penchant for violence.

But about two minutes later, band members said, security guys re-entered the room they were in, told them they had no right to be there and began to try to eject them from backstage, forcefully, in what turned into a beating that included punching, kicking and grabbing. They said they went to Tufts Medical Center for treatment.

On being questioned by police, Davido's security coterie denied any physical violence and said the incident had not risen above that of an argument, a BPD detective said. He added that, at the hospital, police did not find any physical signs of a beating among the TMP members.

House of Blues has its own security guards and BPD details, but they were not in the backstage band area at the time of the incident, a House of Blues official said. After a concert and after the public has cleared out, band members are generally left alone in the backstage area to allow them privacy to shower and unwind before they leave, he said.

"We had no idea anything had happened" until the next day, House of Blues attorney Dennis Quilty said. Quilty argued that whatever happened between the two groups involved Davido's security contingent, not the venue's.

The licensing board decides Thursday whether the venue could have done anything to stop the incident and, if so, whether it warrants any sort of punishment.