The B-Stars, Mighty Slim Pickins and others who attended the annual Easter weekend rockabilly bash Viva Las Vegas report that the event made a smooth transition from the Gold Coast Hotel to the Orleans. This year’s lineup didn’t seem particularly strong, but that’s a minor issue since live music is only part of the VLV experience. 2009 is also the second year for VLV’s sister show, the Rockabilly Rave which is itself a sister show of the annual Rockabilly Rave in England. A lot more European bands are booked for this one which has fewer side attractions than VLV but a stronger lineup.
San Francisco, like any complex organization, is going to get some things wrong and some things right. Providing health care on a musician’s budget is something The City does right. (more…)
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have merged, thus completing the stinkiest music deal of the new century. Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wis), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition and Consumer Rights, doesn’t like it and several Republican Senators agree. They’ve vowed to huff and puff, but Congress has been notably impotent when it comes to blowing down mega-merger monopolies. Emily Osborne’s op-ed piece in Wisconsin’s Badger Herald lays it on the line calling the deal,” a ridiculously blatant attempt to screw over customers.” Yet live music remains the best entertainment value as long as consumers avoid Ticketmaster. Most shows listed on the HWS Calendar range between free and $10.
The last HWS issue’s story about pointless divisiveness in the Bay Area’s zydeco and roots music communities drew some interesting responses. The better news is that zydeco’s battling bookers have decided against going head-to-head on Fridays in Alameda. They’ve still gone their separate ways, but have decided to run their own shows every other week, without each others company, at the Eagle’s Hall in Alameda. The good news is that this compromise will keep the audience intact and save pitting bands against one another. The bad news is that the bitterness, which was accumulating long before the split, remains. Could this compromise be a step toward reconciliation? (more…)
