Teen billed for California Denny’s mosh pit damage speaks out: ‘My mom was so proud’
A teenager who got stuck with the bill after a punk rock concert mosh pit ripped through a California Denny’s last weekend is speaking out — and raising money to cover the expenses.
“They just texted me and told me they wanted $1,800 for damage and that I had to pay it through cashier’s check or money order,” said Bryson Del Valle, the 17-year-old high school senior from Costa Mesa who paid $100 to reserve a room at the restaurant, according to Billboard. “I don’t even know what a money order is.”
The mosh pit erupted Saturday night at an outpost of the 24-hour breakfast chain at 2530 South Bristol St. in Santa Ana, according to local police. Southern California punk rock band WACKO was playing at the restaurant, and clips of the chaos inside ricocheted across social media.
But by the time police arrived around 8 p.m., only the teenager who rented the room was left at the establishment, police spokesman Lt. Anthony Bertagna wrote Tuesday in an email to McClatchy News.
“There was damage done to one of the Denny’s tables,” Bertagna wrote, adding that “there were no arrests made.”
The band quickly created a GoFundMe page to help defray the cost of the gig, raising more than $1,000. The band called the 17-year-old “the true hero” of the Denny’s grand slam show, but said he’s “the only one who is left to pay for all the damages done to this Denny’s after we did our thang in thurr.”
Bertagna told McClatchy News that “this was a civil matter between the group that rented the room and Denny’s,” meaning the person or group that “rented the room will be responsible for the damage that occurred during the event.”
The organizers of the fundraiser wrote in the GoFundMe appeal that during the raucous mosh pit, damage was done to chairs, tables and “those chandelier hanging light thingys,” which can be seen swinging precariously in video online.
“All it took was some initiative,” Del Valle said of the planning process before the WACKO concert, according to Billboard. “My mom was so proud. She told me, ‘I’m trying not to be too proud because what you did was probably illegal, but I am proud.’”
Del Valle apparently created his own GoFundMe page as well.
“The damages for the Denny’s show ended up being a total of $1,800,” the fundraiser says. “I am still short $400. Anything helps. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day.”
It has already surpassed its goal, bringing in more than $600 in about a day.
Del Valle said the manager, who made all the concert-goers leave the restaurant, “was super nice the whole time,” according to Billboard.
According to Eater, Denny’s representatives denied the restaurant knew what kind of event would be held before renting the space, saying in a statement that “while we do have banquet space available at some restaurants, we do not allow events that can disrupt the dining experience of our guests. The manager was unaware a concert was planned, and the event organizers have been asked to pay for damages.”
Why hold a DIY punk music concert at a Denny’s?
Apparently this isn’t the first time it’s happened: Mashable reports that “Denny’s became a meme in the DIY scene when a video of a 2013 show resurfaced in 2018, in which the lead singer belted, ‘What the f---’s up, Denny’s?’ in an effort to rile up the crowd. It worked, and the audience began raging.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Teen billed for California Denny’s mosh pit damage speaks out: ‘My mom was so proud’."
