Ahead of last year’s Power Trip festival in Indio, California, a giant AC/DC mural was painted on the exterior wall of the Club 5 Bar. According to the Desert Sun, it was the only permanent decoration created for a pop-up event celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary and first performance in seven years.
Last week, however, the mural suffered major damage due to a pop-up event for Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila. 818 apparently installed various decorations including a giant decal which they stuck to the mural. When they took off the decal, they ripped off a bunch of the mural with it causing extensive damage. 818 says the bar’s owner agreed to the decal. The bar’s owner said he told them to put a protective layer over the mural, but 818 says that wasn’t the case. “After acknowledging Club 5 was left in good condition, no one at 818 or Revolution Marketing heard from anyone at Club 5 indicating otherwise until this public media statement,” 818 Tequila told the Desert Sun.
The artist of the mural, Miles Toland, is understandably upset. “The situation is a bummer,” he said. “It’s not as easy as going to the paint store and reordering the specific color. It’s a tough wall to fix with hundreds of intricate areas to repair,” Toland said.
“(818 Tequila) may be covered legally, but it’s still unethical to destroy public works of art for a pop-up promotional event,” he continued. “They left the place worse than how they found it. I see their actions as short sided, destructive, and disrespectful.”
Toland previously posted a video of himself painting the mural via Instagram which can be viewed below.
