When your local market has already beaten back the big boys once while coexisting with the biggest of the big, there's a good chance that it will do so again.

I live walking distance from the new venue but I'm probably never going to see a show there because they're never going to get acts that interest me.

By the way, I liked this article better when I read it in Washington City Paper. (pops)

It's real to me, dammit.

Well it is a company born of clear channel mwhahahahahahahahaha

It really pisses me off when a venue or ticket broker makes more off of a ticket than the performer does.

0x1a4: It really pisses me off when a venue or ticket broker makes more off of a ticket than the performer does.

Which is oddly one of the things that Live Nation was trying to fix.

Zapp.com is doing the same thing to artists trying to apply to festivals and juried shows. Used to be you sent in your resume with pictures of artwork to each festival. Now there's one site, Zapp, that has taken it all over, throughout the entire US. You can't apply except through them, it's faceless. One small group of people decided what art is going to what festival. I hope they DIAF along with LIveNation.

I tried to buy tickets to a QOTSA concert, 3 minutes after they went on sale, it was completely sold out. And this was going through TicketMaster who was promoting the show in Boston. I checked stub hub and the rest of the scalping sites, bam. All of the tickets are on sale there for at least 2x the price.

darkhorse23: Zapp.com is doing the same thing to artists trying to apply to festivals and juried shows. Used to be you sent in your resume with pictures of artwork to each festival. Now there's one site, Zapp, that has taken it all over, throughout the entire US. You can't apply except through them, it's faceless. One small group of people decided what art is going to what festival. I hope they DIAF along with LIveNation.

That's not quite true. The festival I work with uses Zapp, but only as a means to collect applications. Applications and artwork are sent electronically through Zapp to a committe here who then decides who and what is shown. Zapp does not perform the approval process.

Now, Zapp may do approvals for other larger festivals, I don't know, but they don't here.

moistD: I tried to buy tickets to a QOTSA concert, 3 minutes after they went on sale, it was completely sold out. And this was going through TicketMaster who was promoting the show in Boston. I checked stub hub and the rest of the scalping sites, bam. All of the tickets are on sale there for at least 2x the price.

Isn't stubhub owned by ticketmaster?

And Rupert Murdoch owns how much?

buying in bulk at discount and driving prices down to kill small shops? i don't get it.

this venue will pay artists more to play there. the artists can choose to play any venue they prefer. i don't see the problem. why is this evil again?

boo for exploiting the fillmore name, but other'n that happy competing.

Magorn: 9:30 is a legendary DC venue (especially the old one) I saw Mojo Nixon, the Ramones and Johnny Cash there back in the day. Every other club from my clubbing days is gone and forgotten, but it just keeps chugging along. I just don't see a Mont Co venue ever seriously competing with it. People don't go to the burbs to see music

Yeah the stank at the old 9:30 used to get in your clothes and stay there

zez: moistD: I tried to buy tickets to a QOTSA concert, 3 minutes after they went on sale, it was completely sold out. And this was going through TicketMaster who was promoting the show in Boston. I checked stub hub and the rest of the scalping sites, bam. All of the tickets are on sale there for at least 2x the price.

Isn't stubhub owned by ticketmaster?

No. Ticketbastard owns TicketsNow which is the same thing only different.

evilmousse: buying in bulk at discount and driving prices down to kill small shops? i don't get it.

this venue will pay artists more to play there. the artists can choose to play any venue they prefer. i don't see the problem. why is this evil again?

boo for exploiting the fillmore name, but other'n that happy competing.

Problem is, they won't be paying more for long. They're doing it to drive out all competition. So when, inevitably, the only venues available are ones owned by LiveNation, they'll get paid peanuts, and won't have any alternatives. It's the way big business operates, eliminate the competition, then fark everyone over. The fans are already being screwed over, soon it'll be the artists' turn.

The 9:30 is the best club in the country today. Period.

This has been going on for years in one form or another. Back in the mid-90s a friend of mine and I came within a stone's throw of buying the Trocadero in Philly. We had a loan in place and were working through the legal stuff when Electric Factory Concerts swooped in and farked us.

/still bitter about that

Yes, they are. The Tabernacle, in Atlanta, used to general admission only. Now, it's general admission for the floor, but the balcony seats (the best place in the entire city to watch a show from imo) are now $150, at least, for any show that's worth seeing.

FishyFred: When your local market has already beaten back the big boys once while coexisting with the biggest of the big, there's a good chance that it will do so again.

I live walking distance from the new venue but I'm probably never going to see a show there because they're never going to get acts that interest me.

By the way, I liked this article better when I read it in Washington City Paper. (pops)

That post oozes w/hipsterism.

The new venue is w/in easy biking distance for me. My bike has MULTIPLE GEARS, too!!!

moistD: I tried to buy tickets to a QOTSA concert, 3 minutes after they went on sale, it was completely sold out. And this was going through TicketMaster who was promoting the show in Boston. I checked stub hub and the rest of the scalping sites, bam. All of the tickets are on sale there for at least 2x the price.

I was the ONLY person at a TicketMaster for tickets when Phish @ Merriweather Post Pavilion went on sale. I got HORRIBLE seats. A year later, Phish played the same venue, and Merriweather had changed ticket providers. I got tix 45 mins after they went on sale, and they were at a better location than the ones I got via TM a year earlier. TM is clearly in bed w/the ticket agencies/big scalpers.

evilmousse: buying in bulk at discount and driving prices down to kill small shops? i don't get it.

this venue will pay artists more to play there. the artists can choose to play any venue they prefer. i don't see the problem. why is this evil again?

boo for exploiting the fillmore name, but other'n that happy competing.

Wisconsin, eh? Lemme guess: you voted for Gov. Douchebag?

You could always boycott Ticketmaster/Clear Channel/Live Nation.

evilmousse: buying in bulk at discount and driving prices down to kill small shops? i don't get it.

this venue will pay artists more to play there. the artists can choose to play any venue they prefer. i don't see the problem. why is this evil again?

boo for exploiting the fillmore name, but other'n that happy competing.

Not if Live Nation owns the tour. Which, they could require if the band wants to play any of their venues.

Its like a Tyler Perry movie. "Live Nation presents _____ at Live Nation's ____. Tickets via Live Nation (aka TicketMaster)"

Much as I love Merriweather being in my back yard, and have fond memories of the 9:30 Club and the shows I've seen there, I will say this to Seth Hurwitz:

Karma is a biatch. You did everything you could to screw the owners of Rams Head Live and others in Baltimore out of getting decent acts for years by the same methods Live Nation has used. You know, non-compete clauses based on geographical differences between your club the Baltimore metro clubs and Merriweather simply because you didn't want the competition.

Piss off, Seth. Now that the evil Clear Channel folks are here doing the same to you, you're getting a major dose of the karma money shot you spewed all over the Rams Head people's face as the 800 lb gorilla in the area.

/bitter i can't get drunk off corona in Howard County anymore at a Buffett show.

The Fillmore? There's only one Fillmore. Live Nation tried this crap in NY and we still called it Irving Plaza. Ultimately, they changed it back. Bowery Presents has gotten a bit too big for some tastes, and while I wish there were more shows at Town Hall than Terminal 5 (agh), the truth is I'm spoiled for choice.
/Ooh, look, Guns N' Ringers is touring...

Already Disturbed: The Fillmore? There's only one Fillmore. Live Nation tried this crap in NY and we still called it Irving Plaza. Ultimately, they changed it back. Bowery Presents has gotten a bit too big for some tastes, and while I wish there were more shows at Town Hall than Terminal 5 (agh), the truth is I'm spoiled for choice.
/Ooh, look, Guns N' Ringers is touring...

Actually, there were two Fillmores: East and West.

ComicBookGuy: Wisconsin, eh? Lemme guess: you voted for Gov. Douchebag?

no, & russ feingold's someone i really regret seeing go, so your personal attack there is flat out wrong, not that it'd anything but trollish were it right.

i'm just unconcerned: i can never see anyone owning the music venue market. it's too easy to re-enter the market even if it's successfully destroyed for a period. music, like fashion, is so fickle and ever-changing i have faith it'll always rebirth a sustainable anti-establishment market.

stilted
Not if Live Nation owns the tour. Which, they could require if the band wants to play any of their venues.

Ok, so what if a band lets the house of blues "own their tour" and force them to only play their venues in different cities? I see an ok deal for a c-list band, not the sky falling.

ComicBookGuy: Already Disturbed: The Fillmore? There's only one Fillmore. Live Nation tried this crap in NY and we still called it Irving Plaza. Ultimately, they changed it back. Bowery Presents has gotten a bit too big for some tastes, and while I wish there were more shows at Town Hall than Terminal 5 (agh), the truth is I'm spoiled for choice.
/Ooh, look, Guns N' Ringers is touring...

Actually, there were two Fillmores: East and West.

Quite true, but no longer, hence my use of the present tense.
/venue dweeb
//next up, Rams Head Live