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When I was a sophomore in high school, back in 91 & 92, there
was a thriving local music scene in Ventura County. On any
given weekend night there was four or five groovy things going
on downtown. The Mayfair was in full effect, with cool shows
on Friday and Saturday night for around $5. A short walk
would put you at Moggs, which like the Mayfair, had a strong
punk line-up every weekend. If punk was not your thing, one
could walk a little farther to Cafe Voltaire and there was
usually a free show of good folk or sometimes rock or blues.
There was also a good open mic on Sunday nights. The Daily
Grind was in full swing and had not yet earned the image of a
dirty hang out. Further down the street was Two West, a more
eclectic gathering of poets, rock musicians and folkies. Out
beyond downtown Ventura were punk shows at the Armory, Club De
Ja Vous, and at a little Mexican restaurant on Oxnard Blvd.
The Nard-Core scene of the Eighties was cooling off but a show
with Ill Repute or Strung Out would still draw hundreds of
punk fans for miles around. And it was not just punk either.
I remember an acoustic show at Two West bringing in a packed
house, and bands like Thought Festival filling the Mayfair
with their brand of (then new) ska alternative, or Southern
Cross packing Voltaire. Ventura was alive. On any given
night, one could walk the streets of downtown and with less
than $10 see a few bands and buy a soda.
My ride to down town
pooped out on me at the beginning of my junior year and I
could not get back to Ventura until I got my license when I
was a senior. When I returned for fantastic Friday night, I
drove into Ventura to find it drastically changed. In one
year, the Mayfair had shut down, Mogz had become Nicholbys, a
+21 bar, and Cafe Voltaire had started booking country acts
and was no longer free. Two West had burnt down and there was
no more people on the streets past 11pm. I searched high and
low for something to do and the best thing that presented
itself was going to Lazerstar, for straightedge night. Of
course I was the oldest person there, so I searched again for
something to do. I found the Teltron in college and that held
me over for a while but soon that pooped out. I offered to
host a small open mic at the Garden Village cafe and started a
band of my own, but still found that there were no places to
play.
After the coffee scene, there is really no place to play in
Ventura, except maybe bars and the Ventura Theatre, which are
really not conducive to new and developing bands. I had the
good fortune of being included in a roundtable discussion with
Eddie from Numbskull Productions, Loanne from the Ventura
Theatre, DJ PJ from Nicholby's, and Domicka Pilic from
Bombay's about the local music scene and it was published in
the Ventura County Reporter 4/30/00. Lots of people have
since walked up to me and shared their local music experience
with me and voiced a need for a local scene and venues that
are "new band" and "young fan" friendly. What I started to
realize was that the reason the local scene does not exist is
due to several factors:
1. The City is not responsive to it. Many of the all-ages
venues went down due to trouble from the city and not from the
scenesters themselves. Police, health codes and entertainment
licenses all play considerable role in the shut down of all
ages events. This is closely related the the next point.
2. The fans themselves disrespect the places and businesses
that they frequent. The reason Todd from Voltaire stopped
booking cool music and started charging cover was because the
kids who showed up every night trashed the place and were rude
to the staff. The neighbors around the Mayfair had to deal
with screaming crowds every weekend. They called the police
in turn. The police got tired of showing up and the city
started looking for a reason to shut it down. They got lucky
one night when someone forgot to take out the trash. They
were busted for a health code violation, and shut down. Each
place has its own story of abuse.
3. Bands do not work together. Each thinks that the other is
competition. They do not go to each others shows, and never
try to reach out and say, "good show." Every time one band
sees another, they critique the performance instead of trying
to set up future shows together. People in bands are the kind
of people who know a lot of people. I believe that if all the
band members in Ventura County were assembled in one room and
started writing a list of everyone that they knew, that list
would have the name of every individual in Ventura County.
Every single person in Ventura County could probably be linked
together by one or two other people through band members, that
is 738,200 people. If other bands worked together to tell
everybody they knew about each other's shows, and only one
half of one percent (one in 200) showed up, there would be
almost 400 people at each show. Bands working together is the
key to reuniting the fan base.
4. People hate cover charges. Listen folks, covers are just
a fact of life. It is entertainment and any type of
entertainment is expensive to produce. Even the sorriest
garage band in the county has spent at least $1500 on basic
music equipment if they have a drum set, a guitar, a bass and
a rented PA, and to open a club or cafe for one night with a
few employees, lights, and sound costs hundreds of dollars.
Instead of buying your $4 mocha expialidocious caramel latte
butter foam spooge tonight, get a coke and spend the rest on a
$3 cover or stick it in the tip jar.
5. No one is willing to go out anymore for something new.
Everyone wants to see the same bands every weekend. That is
why Nicholby's can book the Young Dubliners, Dr M, The Atomic
Dogs, and Dave Wakeling over and over again. People must be
willing to open themselves up to new things. They must want
to go out and see something new, and not be so uptight when
they don't like a band.
6. And the list goes on and on...
I
propose that Ventura County develop a music community again.
The fans here must want to have a music scene or else it will
not exist. The businesses must be willing to open their doors
again to all-ages rock. The Police must not get so uptight
when they drive past a concert. The City Council must not try
so hard to shut down music venues due to poor image. The
bands must all become friends and realize that we are all
creating art and not competing against each other. In short,
we have some work to do. I am willing to start it out, but
all must want to accomplish the goal.
Have you ever watched a group of blackbirds flock around the
power lines at sunset? They all move with the same motion.
They all turn at the same time. They all swoop, dive and flap
with the same breath. There might be one leader that is
directing the movement or they might all be communicating
together as a whole. Either way, when they all fly together
it is beautiful; I can sit for hours and watch it. It has
occurred to me that others feel the same way I do about the
local music scene and want to improve it, but are working on
it individually. I think we should work together, like
blackbirds, to create something extraordinary.
Music Scene as
Social Scene
During one particularly restless
and uncomfortable summer night, I had an epiphany. Not the
kind of realization about who the dark stranger is in your
dreams, or even figuring out that your parents are into S&M,
but a huge, life-altering, painful epiphany that totally
knocks you on your ass and forces you to view things a
completely different way. The next day I wandered the streets
of Ventura seeing things with my new eyes, and everything made
a little more sense. What I realized, oh unbelievers, is that
the local music scene isn’t about music at all. Of course now
you reel back in horror, but please listen to me and see my
theory through and see the truth for yourself. The music
scene is not about music. Well good music anyways. What we
kindly refer to as the music scene is actually a social
scene. Of course, it is created by music, and spawns music
but the core of a great music scene is not actually good music
but rather good friends. I know very few people who go out to
see local bands, regardless of where, when and how much. I
do, and perhaps a few others out there like me, but on the
whole, one cannot pack a local rock venue with only music
lovers. Enough do not exist to pack even the smallest of
cafes. Knowing that only a rare few ever go out to actually
see a band, how does one band pack a venue? To answer that
question, we must define a music scene. I define it as a
loose but familiar network of people who gather at local music
venues for shows. The shows have to be local, and most of
the people have to be at lease somewhat regular. If one guy
brings his whole family to a one-time gig he plays at a bar
that doesn’t regularly feature music, that isn’t part of the
music scene. If the Beatles reunite and do a show at the
Ventura Theatre, and it is packed, that is also not part of
the local music scene. The scene has to be made up of
regulars who make it a habit to regularly attend shows by
local bands. But if, as I said before, only a handful of
people that do it for the music, who are the rest of these
regulars? Friends, bar flies, socialites, groupies, street
gangs, transients, loiterers, SWF’s, SWM’s, slackers, loadies,
and any other type of patron that a band can attract by
promising that the others will be there as well. Since few
people go to a show because they “love this band,” a band has
to attract people because people know that this person will be
there, or that person will be there. People go to shows in
masses because they know what type of crowd to expect when
they get there. Thus in order to get fans, one must have
fans. Need money to make money, that’s the way it is. For
some reason, people can’t be themselves; they must see that it
is okay for them to like a band. They won’t start dancing
unless a few brave souls are already doing it. If someone
walks though a café and sees some guy playing by himself, that
person isn’t likely to sit and see the performance unless
there are some people are already there watching. Crowds
gather where it is okay to be a crowd. Some proof of this is
that I have seen tons and tons of kids pack into Lazerstar, in
Oxnard, to listen to crappy bands all night long, whereas a
really spectacular band can play place after place and never
pick up a following because they have no core supporters of
friends or family. Popular kids make popular bands. Dorks
don’t do as well. The basis for a huge scene is not tons of
bands that are really good, but rather bands that know each
other, whose fan bases are united and support each other every
show. In cases like that, it doesn’t matter who plays, people
will come out in masses because they know they will see people
they know and be, “where everybody knows your name.” Bands
can do a few things to encourage this 1) Play with and support
other bands as much as possible- Fans meeting and intermixing
with other band’s fans have a greater chance of getting to
know each other and showing up at both bands’ shows in the
future. It is impossible to lose fans to another band, but
only to share them with each other. 2) Don’t be a dick- in
the local scene there is no such thing as #1. If a band
starts to get arrogant, word will spread quickly that a band
is antisocial and the people who know what’s up won’t support
them anymore. Social situations can’t exist between bands
when one band isn’t cool. 3) Introduce yourself to other
bands- musicians are natural centers of attention and most
often leaders by nature. Nothing jumpstarts social
interaction faster than the ones we all look up to taking the
first step. 4) Hand out flyers to girls- if girls are at your
show, guys will come too. For some reason, it doesn’t work
the other way around. Think of every flyer you hand to a girl
as two flyers because girls will attract guys. If your shows
become known as sausage parties, no one will come. 5) Think
of your gigs as social events instead of shows- interact with
the crowd, show then that you know them and perhaps come up
with a way to use the crowd in your show. If your band is
planning to get trashed after the show, invite the whole damn
place along. Nothing promotes the social scene more than a
party. In fact, fan parties are a great way for a band to
interact with their fans and for fans to get to know each
other, thus providing for a stronger scene. This came all as
a disappointment to me because I believed that a good band
should attract a good crowd. But the reality is that bands
must instead provide for a good social scene first. Of course
if a band straight up blows, the people will bail after a few
shows, but usually if a band is halfway good, they can keep a
crowd solely by having a good social crowd. All bands must
remember that until we hit the big time, a strong fan base
speaks louder that a great demo for getting booked into great
gigs that pay money. We all must understand that people come
out to meet, get laid and have a good time, and maybe listen
to music. If we understand how this works, we can use it our
advantage.
Scenesters “Just Do It” Too
This is in response to the leader
of a local band, who shall remain unidentified here, who was
quoted in the LA Times, 2/2/01, Ventura County Section, as
saying, “Its kind of amusing today to see these people try to
make some sort of organized scene, which I think is kind of
unnatural.” This band member also goes on to say that their
band’s philosophy is to “Just Do It,” and not think much about
it, meaning to make their own waves and play music live for
the thrill of it and not worry about becoming famous. The
assumption is made later that the scenesters around here are
trying to elevate the scene and put Ventura on the map, as if
we’re trying to be the next Seattle. I wish to address some
of these points by trying, as I do, to define more clearly the
intentions of those who actively support the local scene.
First, I define a scene as a loosely connected social group
that gathers regularly at live music shows. If one ponders
the nature of this group of people for a while, it can be
concluded that the scene actually has little to do with the
bands themselves. Social groups form around bad bands, good
band and various locations around town. Whenever one sees a
flyer or learns of a gig through an email or listing, what it
really means is that besides the event of a band playing, also
a certain gathering of people, which you might know, will all
be at one place at one time.
Scenes are fickle. They are slow
to build and quick to die. For example, when the Teltron Café
in Ventura closed, the fifty or so people who made that scene
(the regulars) seemed to scatter and never again assemble in
quite the same way again. When the Garden Village Café
started hosting an open mic and live music, only two months
later and four miles away, it took nearly two years for the
scene to pick up there, with an almost entirely different
group of scenesters. Those who claim to help the scene
(myself included) can do nothing more than establish a form of
communication between scenesters so continuity (which I feel
is the most important thing a scene can have) is not lost.
Really, the only other thing we as active scene-supporters do
is provide regular, legal and hopefully inexpensive
opportunities for bands and fans to come together. Please
don’t confuse those who try to run so called “scene-supported”
low-rent booking services, with those who are trying to
legitimately help the scene.
I am the rare exception to the
rule, in that I actively support the scene as well as being a
member of local band. Most of the scenesters who promote
shows, publish independent fan magazines, host local music
websites and organize street teams and flyer raids are not
musicians but rather fans of music who do what they can to be
a part of the music they love. The worst that any band can do
is to knock any of the few dozen scenesters around here who
give of their free time, energy and sometimes money to get
more people out to shows and get more people to listen to
local music. Unless a band can fill the venues with friends
and family every time, bands need these people. I assure you
that scenesters are not doing what they do to get bands on MTV
or to attract media attention. In fact, most hardcore local
fans regret it when a local band gets big, loses their touch
or even worse, sells out to corporate formula pop.
Another
important thing to consider is that the local music scene, in
this case almost always refers to all ages music shows. A
band that plays mostly bars and clubs, i.e. the band I am
responding to, doesn’t realize what kind of shambles the all
ages music world is in. It is getting harder and harder to do
shows in public. Businesses are less and less willing to host
shows. Halls are getting more and more expensive to rent.
The “L” Word runs rampant at city hall.* While a bar band can
get away with and get much support by playing recognizable
county and hard rock tunes, i.e. the band I am responding to,
to a crowd of people who are more interested in getting drunk
and getting laid than listening to the band; that same band
only needs to play lots of shows with some original music or
to kids who are stone cold sober and listening to every word
and chord to realize how hard it is to get by in a scene that
isn’t supportive.
No one
hosts or promotes all ages shows for profit. Promoters and
venues that do so do it out of dedication to the music.
Anyone who tries to make a profit on all ages shows has to do
so on sheer volume of cover charges alone. Kids don’t drop
$20-$50 every time they go to a café, like a bar patron
might. All ages venues need the scene much more than a bar
does because only a small percentage of kids who show up to
all ages shows actually buy things to help the businesses stay
afloat.
Regarding
putting Ventura on the map, it is a ridiculous notion that
scenesters will elevate Ventura to some Seattle-like status.
The shit hit the fan in Seattle when every A&R man in the
world poured into Seattle looking for the next Nirvana or
Pearl Jam. Band, not fans, messed up the scene by going into
a fit trying to play out as much as possible and hype
themselves up to be noticed. There was fierce competition for
gigs as every band for a thousand miles flocked to Seattle
trying to get a deal. There was mass flyering, self-promotion
and cutthroat tactics between bands. What I feel is a better
model, and possibly a goal for Ventura is Washington D.C. in
the early 80’s. It was the perfect isolated, completely
independent scene. The locals rejected pop radio and disco as
a whole and dove wholeheartedly into their own sound. Local
bands sold thousands of their own independent 7” vinyl EPs to
locals only. Every fan owned every local album. Every local
show was packed and the fans loved their own who were making
their own kind of local music. The only band that ever made
it out of that scene was the hugely influential punk band
Minor Threat, which later spawned Fugazi. (Yes, Henry Rollins
was from D.C. but Black Flag made it big in California) No
mass media attention; no major record deals, only locals
making and loving local music. To this day, Fugazi is still
successful with the ideals that the scene was built on: DIY
promotion, independent records, all ages shows, scene
support and inexpensive cover charges.
So to the
band that says their motto is “Just Do It:” the scene asks
nothing more of you. In fact, we, the scenesters, ask nothing
of any band than to just do it. Go out and make things happen
for yourself. We will interfere none. Please promote your
shows, stuff high school lockers with flyers, rent halls for
your own shows, and release your own CD’s. We wish all bands
had that kind of dedication to their own craft. However you
must not mistake the organization, communication and
commitment that exists between the scenesters, the fans, as a
way for bands to attract attention without having to work
hard, but rather, a labor of love by the fans and supporters
of the bands who make local music possible.
*The “L” Word: Liability
A Letter to Some Kid
Here's the deal. We put a lot
of work into what we do, we do a lot of advertising, we run a
pro sound system, and handle all of the details, the staff and
security, we always provide water for the bands, we have a
system of running the shows and booking the bands that has
proven to be very successful for us. To put on the kind of
show that we do requires a lot of resources, energy and money.
When we run a show our deal is simple, we figure we put in
just as much work into the show as one of the bands so we take
an equal cut that a band would get. So if we book three bands,
the money split four ways is 25% each. If we book four bands
the money split five ways is 20% each. Of course profit is
after our expenses are taken care of.
money that comes in after that gets divided to the bands and
us. Depending on how big a band is, they might get a bigger
share of the profit, say the RX Bandits get 70% of the profit,
and the openers get 5% a piece, and we take our share.
Now when your talking about a small show, usually nobody makes
any money, with the expenses, we need more than 70 people
through the door to make a profit on a $5 show. Most bands in
the county don't bring that many. When we don't make rent, I
lose money, I still have to pay rent, The bands already drank
all the water, I still have to pay my security, I still have
thousands of $$ of credit card debt from purchasing our PA
system. Basically, when at least 70-80 people don't show up,
it sucks. And if just a few more show up, what am I supposed
to do, say, "here, your cut of the door is exactly $9.57,
thanks for playing?" No, the real answer is that I need at
least 100 people through the door before the bands can expect
to see any real money.
The other option is to rent the theatre yourself. You pick up
the cost of rent and provide your own sound, find your own
security, run the show yourself. Can you do it for cheaper?
sure. Do you HAVE to buy the bands water? of course not, can
you get your friends to run the door and some buddies to do
security? Depending on the show, hell yes. Once, twice maybe.
Its tons of fun. When you shoulder the responsibility of the
show, you can do what ever you want with the profit, give it
to the bands, keep it for yourself, you don't have to split it
with us, its your night. But also your ass. If people don't
come, you lose that money. If a fight breaks out, and
something gets broken, you lose the deposit. So just be
aware.
All in all, I think we run a pretty good deal. Its fair and it
makes it nice for the bands to not have to worry about
anything. Like anything, you cant get something for nothing.
The time and energy and risk we put into the shows, we need to
be able to be compensated for that. And even if a show is a
stinker, the bands still get to play and make new fans, sell
stuff and get the stage time. We on the other hand are poorer
than when we started. The only thing we have it that we have
been rolling with this for a while so one or two bad shows
wont stop us. (two in a row might do it, I might not be able
to eat that month) luckily I'm fat so I might be able to make
it. Anyways, that's the deal.
P.S. The reason it is so
involved is because I don't make the bands pay to play or sell
tickets to my shows. If I did that, this would be easy. We
make good shows because we pick good bands to play. I'm not
the Ventura Theatre who will book a local show by taking the
first five local bands that are willing to sell tickets. I
believe in booking good shows that make money on its own.
Sometimes that means not booking certain bands either because
they suck or its not what I'm looking for.
An Open Letter to
the Ventura Music Scene
Dear Fellow Scenesters,
As is common every few years, everybody starts talking shit
about the way Blackbird Music run shows. Below my message is
a copy of a protest letter recently found on MySpace. Also
at the same time I have heard rumors around town about our
involvement with the America Legion Hall and the
Underground. Since very few of you have the balls to come
and ask me these questions directly I figured I’d come out
and state our side of the story, not because I think it will
change one opinion for those who have some sort of vendetta
against us, but to set things right for the common person
who doesn’t give a crap about all this and just wants to see
good shows regardless of where they are at or who is
promoting them.
THE COST
Putting on legit shows costs money. Countless fly by night
venues in basements, warehouses and church rec rooms have
popped up over the years and they all have one thing in
common: they aren’t here anymore. For a venue to exist and
have regular shows that don’t get shut down by the cops and
be half way decent, they have to have a legitimate lease
which usually includes thousands of dollars in city permits
and a real sound system AND an insurance policy. We carry a
one million dollar liability insurance policy so if any of
you get hurt at our shows, we can pay your medical bills;
any venue that is operating without such a policy is putting
every single person in the room in danger. Venues that are
run as non profits don’t have the type of bills that a
regular venue has and so they can do shows cheaper. Of
course huge national bands that draw hundreds of people can
have affordable shows because they have three hundred people
paying, but on an average show at the Livery, we have less
than 100 people in attendance. $400 bucks every show comes
straight out of our pockets in rent, insurance, sound and
staff every time we do a show. That’s $400 bucks that we
have to make back before we start even paying bands. You
show me a band that is willing to play for free all the
time, forever and I’ll show you a band that isn’t really
dedicated to pursuing music as their life goal. We know why
they play and we are trying to allow them to play and do it
in a way that is responsible and legitimate.
To the person who wrote the letter below: Go see your movie.
If you think that commercial Hollywood crap is more engaging
than seeing live local music, then you are a freakin’ poser
anyways. Just know that on a big show, half your money is
going straight to the band because they deserve it. Part of
that money is going to the promoter who set up the date, is
running the sound, buying water for the bands, paying the
security and basically making that show possible because
they deserve it, and part of the money is going to rent so
your ass can see that show because the venue deserves it.
And if you don’t want to pay, then you don’t deserve to see
that show.
If you knew how little money there is in promoting local
shows, you’d realize how funny your letter is down there. If
you think everyone should play for free and no one should
care about earning money off of their efforts then you are
basically saying that all the local musicians that work this
town are worthless. I’m sorry that this society has
determined that money is how we choose to express our value
of work and products, but that is not our fault, we are
simply endeavoring to go about it in a legit and legal way.
THE AMERICAN LEGION HALL
Two weeks ago Blackbird made the decision to no longer do
shows at the American Legion Hall. This arose out of a basic
incompatibility in the way the place is booked and what we
require as a business to operate there. The way we run our
business and the way the Legion Hall run theirs does not
work together, simple as that. We have not launched any sort
of smear campaign, we have no vendetta, we aren’t trying to
get it shut down and we have nothing against other promoters
doing shows there AND in fact worked under other promoters
to provide sound for the place five times over the last two
weeks. Personally, I think the Legion is a great venue and I
regret that we can no longer do business there, but that is
our issue and no one else’s. I defy anyone in this town to
find a single promoter whom I have approached to try to get
them to boycott the place. I don’t support that kind of talk
because I recognize what an opportunity the place is and how
wonderful it has worked out for other promoters and bands. I
have not even asked bands who are on the Blackbird’s own
record label to not play there. As far as I am concerned
anyone who can play that place and have it work for them is
welcome to it. If the place were run differently, I would
have no problem returning, however it is our prerogative to
decide not to participate. We consider our reasons for
leaving our own personal business and I have not shared them
with anyone outside of those whom I consider close friends
as a matter of personal conversation.
THE UNDERGROUND
I think in the rumor mill, the Underground and the American
Legion Hall got mixed up because today for the first time I
heard that supposedly we are trying to get that place shut
down too. Let me state for the record that I think the
Underground is the most amazing, legitimate all ages venue
this town has seen since the Mayfair Theatre. I recognize
that when that place gets up and running and develops a
steady booking policy that works for multiple promoters,
uses and music genres, when they figure out how to run the
place and get all types of music in there, when they run it
as a venue and not simply as a coffee house with a stage,
they will realize the dream that so many Ventura people have
been waiting for, for over ten years. It’s a real, honest to
goodness, legitimate music venue, run as a business, not a
nonprofit, which has the capacity and the location to
basically wipe all other pretender music venues off the map,
the Livery included. Let me also state for the record that I
think that is fucking spectacular. The people that are
involved in that are very nice people and I have met with
them a few times to ask if I can help. They have told me
that basically they are going to allow things to progress
naturally there. I have faith that as the nature of running
that place becomes evident and the economics of the
situation becomes apparent they will discover the best way
possible to run that place. Idealistic dreams aside, when
the reality of the huge monthly mortgage payment hits home,
that place will naturally become a model of a great music
venue comparable to Chain Reaction, the Troubadour, Gilman
Street and so forth. And I think it has to potential to
become an awesome music venue. I fully support the
Underground, appreciate the people who had the dream to make
that place happen and I respect that they put their own
asses on the line to see it completion, and have told them
that anything they need from Blackbird as far as advice,
contacts, services or otherwise is theirs for the asking.
THE SCENE AND BLACKBIRD IDEALISM
To the fresh crop of youngsters who make up the bulk of the
Ventura music scene today I’d like to give you a bit of
perspective. Five years ago when we started Blackbird to put
on local shows and you all were in elementary school, NOBODY
was doing all local shows on a regular basis. The Theatre
was charging $10 for local nights and forcing bands to sell
tickets. Uncle Eddie was expanding his empire up and down
the California coast and would only land headliner shows in
Ventura. I was in a band that had been putting on our own
shows and decided that since no one was doing local shows,
we’d do them. We started doing it in a virtual vacuum and
everyone came because no one else did shows like that on a
regular basis: in such a great venue, with great sound. We
did. We were happy to do it because honestly, we wanted to
see good shows and if we had to organize and promote them
ourselves, so be it. Other venues popped up and fell away
and with the exception of the Loft, nobody else has had
staying power. We realized this town is too small for inside
bickering between promoters and so our policy has always
been to cooperate. We’ve never been a big fan working
directly with other promoters because frankly, we had a
model of operation that was efficient and worked well for us
and we have seen too many fiascos at other promoter’s shows
to let go of the responsibility of doing it ourselves but we
have always tried to maintain a sense of collegial
understanding and mutual concern for the well being of the
scene. Those legitimate promoters who have approached us for
cooperation have always been received well, and to those
that have been turned off by us or found working with us
hard, honestly we don’t feel that you guys were working with
the same set of ideals as we were. Here are the Blackbird
ideals in case there have been any misunderstandings:
1) In order for us to lay down our own money, a band has to
be worth their salt meaning either they draw well and we
know our investment is safe OR we personally think they kick
ass so basically we are risking our own money to see a band
we love. Often times those bands are one in the same. But if
both, you don’t draw well, AND we don’t like the music, then
why in the hell would we book you? Some people have a real
problem with that. Honestly, those people should book those
bands themselves.
2) We don’t believe what we do is a charity and we don’t
believe we should take advantage of a situation. We work
hard to put on shows. We are there two hours before a show
and usually two hours afterwards cleaning up not to mention
all the work we do through out the week promoting it. We
don’t do this for our health. If I have to work this hard to
put on a show, I need to be able to refill my gas talk at
the end of the night. It’s usually empty because my fat ass
is driving all over town putting up fliers anyways. Also, we
pay bands their fair share based on the net profit and draw.
If we make it, we settle out with bands at the end of the
night and are always upfront about how the money gets split.
We keep records for every show about how much the show cost
us, how much we made and how much we pay the bands. After
every show I always offer to show the bands how the evening
played out. If we don’t make the money we spent to put on
the show, the bands don’t go home poorer than when we
started, we do.
3) We put “Blackbird Music Presents” on the flyer because we
feel we are entitled to. We are paying the bills, putting
our own cash at risk and providing all the logistics. We
feel that over the years, people in this town know if it’s a
Blackbird show, its run well, sounds good, and the bands are
decent. Besides that, we stay out of the way of the bands.
You aren’t going to get saved at a Blackbird show, You
aren’t going to get sermonized to unless it’s the bands. We
remain neutral politically and don’t get involved in a lot
of benefits for this and that because that’s not we are here
for. We are here to put on good shows and to let the bands
do the talking. We recognize that non-profits and concerned
citizens do a much better job of running benefits, as they
should, and we are happy that that niche is filled.
4) We book bands that remain interested in booking with us.
If a band calls me once a month, then they have a better
chance of getting booked than the band that sent us a
package a year ago and then walks up to me on the street
with out having bugged me about it for a year and calls me
an asshole because we haven’t booked them yet. Truth of the
matter is we book bands who get in our face or people we see
all the time. We’ve never minded that. we don’t mind
explaining our booking policy to people because we believe
it’s legitimate, fair and I have nothing to hide.
Lastly we love this scene, we want the bands who work hard
here to do well and we just want to see good shows
ourselves. To anyone who is willing to put on a good show,
I’ll go see it. Everyone in Blackbird feels the same way. If
there is a good show at the Loft, we’ll go see it. At the
Underground or the Legion, we’ll go see it. If the sound is
good and the line up rocks and we feel comfortable in a
place, we’ll go see a show regardless if it says “Blackbird”
on the flyer or not. If someone, hopefully the Underground,
manages to provide Ventura with all the great shows it
needs, in a well run, safe environment, with good sound and
a fair booking policy, we at Blackbird have no reason to run
shows because can just come see them at your place! AND we
don’t have to clean up afterwards, ROCK! Besides does anyone
notice we have a fucking record label to run? Will someone
PLEASE take over doing good shows?
On behalf of all the guys at Blackbird Music,
Rock on,
Brian Parra
P.S. I believe in being upfront…if any of you have beef with
me or my business, call me, I’d be glad to talk to you about
it. 805-794-4714. I’d like to see the writer of the e-mail
below to have the same integrity.
The Letter:
hey friends. the other night i went to a show at the livery
and it was seven bucks. seven i didnt have, and even if i
did, i wouldn't have given it to those greedy fuckers. i
could go see a three hour movie for the same price. why
would i pay seven dollars to see local bands? here's why:
because some guy needs to make rent and the people running
the venues dont care about music, they care about money. why
is it that local music cant compete with the cinema which is
a multi-billion dollar industry? answer: greedy venues. why
do you think bands have such a hard time getting exposure?
because nobody wants to pay ridiculous prices. why do you
think a band like The Evens(Ian Mckaye of Fugazi, Minor
Threat) charge no more than five dollars? because they're
not greedy. they understand that exposure and turnout are
more important than making a few bucks off of people. the
people running the venues see local music as something to be
exploited. they see you, the listener, as a turnover profit.
fuck that. c'mon people, get with it, we control the prices
of the shows. if we dont pay, they'll be forced to lower the
prices. if they dont lower the prices, we'll find somewhere
else to play.
THIS BULLETIN IS A PETITION AND A SYMBOL OF PROTEST AGAINST
VENUES ASKING FOR MORE THAN FOUR DOLLARS A SHOW.
THIS PETITION IS FOR BANDS NOT INTEREST IN TAKING MONEY FROM
THEIR FRIENDS.
THIS PETITION IS FOR BANDS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN CREATING A
COOL MUSIC SCENE, NOT TURNING OVER A PROFIT.
THIS PETITION IS FOR BANDS WHO UNDERSTAND THAT EXPOSURE,
TURNOUT, AND CREATING A REAL FAN BASE ARE MORE IMPORTANT
THAN MAKING MONEY FOR JOE VENUE.
AGAIN, THIS PETITION SYMBOLIZES YOUR REFUSAL TO PAY FOR
SHOWS OVER FOUR DOLLARS.
Brian Parra
a.k.a. Saturday Night Bob
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