High-larious e-mail of the day, in response to a question about the onstage times for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Black Dice / Liars show at the Hammerstein Ballroom:

From: "Jeff W."
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 1:36 PM
Subject: The Walmart philosophy of "indie rock"

I've really no idea when the show will go on, but I'm appalled by being mauled by Clearchannel and I'm curious of how people see gigs like this. The ticketprice of this showcase of LOCAL BANDS WHO ARE NOT ON TOUR is $30 (!) + a $7.65 "convenience charge" for those of us who buy on-line.

$30 for 4 LOCAL acts!! What the fuck! Do the bands care at all about their fans, the local "scene," etc??? One of the themes repeatedly raised during the "Profiles of the Downtown Music Scene" symposium was the lack of a sense of community among bands, fans, promoters, etc. This seems to be just another episode of folks supporting Walmart at our expense (literally and figuratively).

Yeah, crazy, right? It's like it's a business or industry and people are trying to support themselves or something! Which I'm certainly doing by playing "fan-friendly" $5 club shows all the time. I definitely don't want to pay a large place for lots of people and get paid well for it! And Wal-Mart sucks ass!

Oh wait, that's not true. Boy, I'm confused. This is an example of people literally supporting Wal-Mart by going to a concert in NYC, where there are no Wal-Marts, promoted by a company that isn't owned by Wal-Mart? (Oh wait...Wal-Mart and ClearChannel co-promoted a show in Wichita in 2002! Wheels within wheels!) And it's literally at our expense? How about those of us who aren't going to the show?

Wasn't I saying something about confusing morality with taste lately? Yes, having to pay this much for a concert by bands you like sucks. Does it represent a moral lapse on anyone's part? Not particularly.

UPDATE: Dan makes a pretty rational response (he's so good at that):

Yeah, it's a lot of money, but generally I'd give the people involved props for having a great sense of community in regards to "scene" and local bands. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs especially have been great at giving their friends exposure to much larger audiences, whether it be Flux and Golem, the Liars back when, or Prosaics and the Tallboys. Similarly, the Rapture choosing Casiotone for the Painfully Alone or White Magic to play Bowery...

posted by Mike B. at 2:10 PM 0 comments