Monday, December 11, 2006

A few more things about Hootenanny

My Sunday was spent blogging, watching the Chargers clinch the AFC West title and LT going down in the history books, and later grubbing on boiled Cajun Crawfish, red potatoes and corn on the cob, with a bit of lobster at Kevin's birthday party, all the while watching the Saints game and playing a couple rounds of ping pong. (I lost every game so maybe I need to start spending some time at Triple Crown.)

Since that is not particularly that exciting when it comes to reading material, I wanted to talk a little more about details that I missed in regard to the show on Saturday. I thought since I made such a bold statement about the Hootenanny being the best radio promoted show I've ever been to that I should mention that I have been to many station promoted festivals. I have been to variations of 93.3's "Your Show", to Star's Jingle Ball, to 91X's Sunfests and X-Fests and Acoustic X-mases over the years. I even had the opportunity to go with Goldfinger to some Christmas show in San Bernadino where I was onstage hanging out and taking pictures during the performances of The Eels, The Lemonheads, Save Ferris, Goldfinger and a bunch of other bands. To me, this beat all those.

The main reason I think this show was so successful was that it wasn't over ambitious. I would rather see a bill of 4 bands where they all get :30, :45, or :60 sets instead of bands playing one or two "hits" and then waiting 20 minutes for the next performers to be ready, as was my experience at Jingle Ball when only one artist on the bill was someone I cared to see. I also think the 4 band max kept the ticket prices reasonable. I would easily pay $8 to see each band individually, so $32.50 was really nothing to spend for a show like this.

Also, no offense to the kids, but it was nice to be allowed to be an adult and have a 21+ only area. This creates a safer environment for kids as they are separated from alcohol, and I don't have to be a bitch to some 15 year old who is trying to bum a cigarette.

The general admission seating was great because it made buying a ticket during the "Insiders only" pre-sale unnecessary (Screw you, ticketbastard!) and you could get a ticket at the box office for the actual cost of the ticket, not with upwards of $10 in added service charges. Being that you were free to roam, you could opt to sit through all the sets, or try and make your way closer to the stage for the musicians you really want to see and hang back for the ones you care less about. There is nothing worse than having shitty seats to a band you love and seeing hundreds of empty seats ahead of you because nobody else gives a shit about an opening band. Had I not had the awesome seats I had for Mike Doughty last week, I would've been irritated that 75% of the floor seats were open during his set.

I don't really need to mention the extra bonus was that I have friends who hooked me up with perks, not because it wasn't completely appreciated, but I just thought I should clarify that even if I'd known nobody at the show, I am still confident that I would have had a great time. The extra stuff just brought it to the next level.

So, to everyone at 94/9, good job. I truly hope the Hootenanny becomes a tradition.

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