This Weeked: Ride the waves and fight the death penalty
New York’s “instrumental surf/punk/sci-fi band” the Coffin Daggers play at Phyllis’ Musical Inn, 1800 W. Division St., on Saturday, and the cool, creepy sounds posted on the band’s MySpace page and its proper Web site mark it as one of the finest combos mining this always fertile revivalist turf since the Raybeats. Since Phyllis’ steadfastly refuses to yield to such modern clubland frivolities as a Web page or a cover charge, you’re just going to have to go to everyone’s favorite Wicker Park dive early, start drinking—and, of course, tip the band and your bartender. (You could also resort to calling the club at 773-486-9862, but what fun is that?) Full disclosure: I gave family friend and drummer Pete Martinez his first ride cymbal when I was moving out of my old and his current stomping grounds of Hoboken, N.J. waaaay back in 1992 -- kids, they grow up so darn fast! -- but his mom, my first and still one of my favoritest editors ever, knows I'd say junior's band sucks if it did. (Hi Pat!) They don't (suck, that is; quite the opposite) and the only conceivable thing you'd have to do that might be more worthwhile is....
The Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty benefit organized by the always-active and activist Jon Lanford, whose Pine Valley Cosmonauts return to the stage on Saturday to headline the show after a nearly three-year absence. Originally slated for the still-not-open new Bottom Lounge, the benefit has moved to the Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace. Also on the bill: the Sadies, Rosie Flores, Sally Timms, Puerto Muerto, Robbie Fulks, Janet Bean and the always promising “special guests,” who presumably do not include emcee Tim Tuten. Tickets are $20; for more information, call (773) 478-4408.
Flight of the Conchords may only be "New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy duo," as their press kit self-deprecatingly notes.
But at their sold-out show at the Chicago Theatre Wednesday night, musician/comedian Bret McKenzie and comedian/musician Jemaine Clement not only confirmed that they're the most wicked and spot-on rock 'n' roll parody since Spinal Tap, but the best made-for-TV rock band since the Banana Splits, or maybe even the Monkees before them.
As fan club president -- and, until recently, the entire membership -- Mel would be happy to tell you, McKenzie and Clement arrived in American concert venues and on the roster of Seattle's eternally hip Sub Pop Records by way of college in Wellington, where they came together in 2002. A six-part BBC Radio 2 series in 2005 led to a spot on HBO's "One Night Stand" comedy showcase, and ultimately to the Holy Grail of their very own series, just like Tony Soprano.
In addition to their TV favorites, the duo also road-tested a few new songs, offering a preview of their second season for HBO, starting in January. The most memorable of these was a tune in which Clement
ran down a long list of his exes -- "There must be 50 women who left me," he sang from the other side of the Paul Simon song -- while McKenzie served as the chorus of his former lovers enumerating his shortcomings.
To be sure, the popularity of the TV show is what filled one of Chicago's most prestigious venues, and the crowd howled with recognition at familiar jokes, both from the dialog ("I'm tuning the guitar -- that's technical band stuff, and you're not expected to know that") and the lyrics ("The humans are dead/The humans are dead/We used poisonous gasses/And we poisoned their asses," sung robot-like through the vocoder, of course).
But as the strength of the album and the weakness of some of the more verbose between-song stage banter proved, it's the songs that really make the Flight of the Conchords soar. And these were every bit as effective onstage as they are in the context of the show, even though the duo rendered them with the most minimal tools: McKenzie's homely baritone and one-fingered Casio playing and Clement's acoustic guitar, impressive falsetto and occasional keytar (the best use of that much-maligned instrument since Herbie Hancock's "Rockit").
Yes, the lyrics were funny. And sure, the musical in-jokes were incredibly sophisticated. Witness the complex melange of Public Television children's show ditty and classic progressive-rock epic by way of Peter, Paul & Mary in "Albi the Racist Dragon." Or the goof on half a dozen hip-hop subgenres in "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros." Or the James Taylor meets Mott the Hoople for a non-sappy Gen Y John Mayer-type genius of "Sellotape (Pencils in the Wind)."
But even if all of that passed you by, there was the inescapable fact that the group's set list boasted more hooks than a lakeside bait and tackle shop. Legion are the indie-rock bands that would kill for melodies this strong. And the Conchords deserve and are welcome to all their success -- just as long as they don't start pulling an Amy Winehouse on us.
Fall Out Boy speaks out: Pete Wentz on the promoter's ordinance
Formed in suburban Wilmette in 2001, Fall Out Boy rose from playing exactly the sort of shows that the Chicago City Council would like to outlaw to headlining arenas and selling more than six million albums in the U.S. to date.
An avid reader of this and many other local blogs — even as he prepares for a Hollywood wedding — bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz contacted me this morning and said he felt compelled to speak out about the promoter’s ordinance. We connected a few hours later after the law was tabled (for the time being). But the perspective of a mutli-million-dollar career that would not exist without small shows organized by independent promoters is invaluable.
Our conversation follows the jump.
Q. Pete, I appreciate the email and the call. I gather you want to say something about this issue because the kinds of shows that would be affected by this law are exactly the sort of shows that you played for the first two years of your career.
A. This is the truth: Fall Out Boy… we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now, because I wouldn’t even have gotten into playing the kind of music I play without those kinds of shows, like the Fireside Bowl. At the first show we were ever supposed to play at the Fireside Bowl, they forgot to bring speaker cables, so we bowled instead of doing the show! The band in general, we played all of our shows under the radar.
Often times, these things can get a little bit of attention, and then they go away—like C.B.G.B. in New York. Or it gets out of control, and people don’t really understand what’s going on. I don’t even really understand all the intricate details of this ordinance or what needs to happen, but I do understand that there are people who practice illegitimate business or dangerous business, and there has to be a way to regulate those people. But at the same time, you can’t penalize people who are creating a great counterculture and a great art culture and leave it so that they have nowhere else to go.
The best thing about tabling this issue is that there can be an honest dialog between club owners—the Metro, the Riv and these places—and the city and the CMC. It’s great to have a dialog created.
Q. I have a feeling, Pete, that the law will eventually back off of requiring promoter’s licenses for people working with PPA-licensed venues. But what about the real indie promoters doing shows in storefronts and VFW halls? City officials think that’s scary, but hey, I know your mom: You played in VFW halls, and she’d never have let you do that if she thought you were gonna die in a fire or get shot! The City Council is scared of it because they just don’t understand it.
A. I’ll tell you, we had this guy who used to book shows for us at this place called Back to the Office—I don’t know where it was, like Arlington Heights or wherever—and he was 17 at the time. He would book shows and they would just close the bar so it could be an all-ages show. The best way to show that narrative is to bring people into the dialog who currently do that in a successful way, to be able to have city officials meet these promoters, meet the bands, meet the kids, meet the parents and hear their stories and try to find a way to establish legislation that allows those kids to still do it. Because this is the thing: Kids are kids, and music is music—especially with punk rock or whatever—and they’re going to find a way to meet up with each other regardless of anything. That’s just gonna happen, because I went to shows in basements for five years of my life, and I know there were no permits on the basements!
Q. Chicagoans sometimes get beaten down by the politics here: “You can’t fight City Hall,” “It’s all who you know,” all of that.
A. At the end of the day, I love Chicago. For all of its flaws, there’s something about it: There’s something about the skyline, there’s something about the clubs, there’s something about the way summer is in Chicago on the lake that’s amazing, and it’s worth working around this other stuff for. The thing that’s amazing to me is that a couple of blogs—a blog from you and the CMC and savechicagoculture.org—have really expressed a voice and made it so that there can be a dialog that goes on, and I think that’s the most important thing. It’s not young vs. old, it’s not suburbs vs. Chicago, it’s about finding a compromise and having a conversation. Any time when there are two sides of anything, a conflict, the best thing to do is to get in a room and talk about it, and you meet the other person and you’re like, “Well, that guy’s not such a jerk.” Every once in a while, you leave and say, “Well, that guy was a jerk,” but it’s good to have the dialog anyway.
As with so many decisions in Chicago government, the City Council's abrupt but welcome tabling of a vote on the event promoter's ordinance seems to have been decreed from the top.
Sun-Times City Hall reporter Fran Spielman writes:
Daley said he's willing to soften his crackdown on event promoters amid warnings that the added cost could damage Chicago's thriving live music industry. "You don't want to have a burden on the event promoters. But, at the same time, they have a responsibility to protect the people," he said.
Following a nearly unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community and a meeting with activists and some of the top concert promoters and venue owners in Chicago, Ald. Eugene Schulter, chairman of the City Council License Committee, decided on Tuesday that he will not present the so-called "event promoter's ordinance" to the full council for a vote on Wednesday -- and that the committee will go back to work on fine-tuning the law.
Schulter, several other aldermen and representatives of the city Department of Business Affairs & Licensing met with members of the Chicago Music Commission, Metro owner Joe Shanahan, Jam Productions talent booker Nick Miller, Martyr's owner Ray Quinn and Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney Tuesday morning, a day before the law was expected to be passed by the City Council.
Made aware of concerns in many corners of Chicago's arts communities, Schulter asked DBA for more facts and figures about the alleged "problem venues" and "underground promoters" that the ordinance was designed to curtail. Some of those who attended the meeting said DBA had to admit that it had no hard information and that it has not formally studied the extent of the alleged problem that the law was crafted to address; they had only the anecdotal evidence of the single tragic incident at the E2 Nightclub five years ago.
The law will return to committee for more work and public input before a council vote is considered again. Schulter told the meeting he expects that process will take at least a month.
"We are not sure when it will come out of committee for a vote, but we hope that Chairman Schulter will wait
until he and the city have engaged the music community publicly and meaningfully so their concerns can be heard and hopefully incorporated into the eventual law," said Chicago Music Commission board member Bruce Iglauer.
"We are pleased that Chairman Schulter has responded to community concerns here, and we look forward to working with him, members of the Committee, DBA staff and other music community stakeholders to come up with a workable version of the ordinance."
"I feel that the cultural aspects of the city sent a message that something was in trouble in the music world over the weekend, and I feel the city listened today," Shanahan said. "People are starting to take the music community seriously. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and come up with some reasonable rules, because this isn't over."
"Chicago Tonight" looks at the promoter's ordinance; meetings taking place today in the final hours before a vote
WTTW-Ch. 11's "Chicago Tonight" has scheduled a panel discussion about the promoter's ordinance tonight. The show airs at 7 p.m., and given that timing, it may wind up being the last public discussion about the law before it is approved by the City Council tomorrow.
Meanwhile, music community activists are meeting with aldermen and city officials today in the hopes of convincing them to table the vote until further work can be done on the ordinance and more feedback can be heard from Chicagoans.
New acts added to a Lollapalooza... and this year has a "theme"
Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents have announced the addition of Iron & Wine, Toadies, Saul Williams, DeVotchKa, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and Wild Sweet Orange to this year's concert in Grant Park, Aug. 1-3. And, in using the same press blast to hawk a "design a festival T-shirt contest," they've announced that the concert has a theme:
"Something large and wonderful."
This, of course, is opposed to something puny and pathetic. Or big and bad. Or maybe massive and miserable?
Also announced today: The Rock the Bells tour featuring A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, the Pharcyde, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man & Redman and, among others, Chicago up-and-comers Kid Sister and the Cool Kids, but the latter two acts will not be performing when the rest of the tour pulls into the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park on July 19. Since they're playing at Lollapalooza, the radius clause prohibits them from doing another gig in the area for most of the summer.
Update: Musical advocates gear up to fight the promoter's ordinance at Wednesday's City Council meeting
As irony would have it, at the same meeting Wednesday when the City Council will consider a resolution opposing war on Iran (as if that august body has anything to do with national policy), it is expected to approve a law that will pretty much drop a bomb on Chicago's independent music community, if not nuke it entirely.
Following the jump is the Sun-Times' latest story outlining the controversy, followed by a letter that one of many clubs endangered by the law sent to music lovers throughout the city on Monday.
The City Council meets in the Council Chamber located on the Second Floor of City Hall, 121 North La Salle St., starting at 10 a.m. on May 14.
In a poorly designed attempt to reign in underground party promoters in response to the E2 tragedy in 2003, the City Council is rushing to pass legislation that will make it more difficult and sometimes impossible for responsible concert organizers to present music at many legitimate licensed venues in Chicago.
In comments that have been echoed in hundreds of posts throughout the blogosphere and dozens of angry phone calls to aldermen since the so-called “promoter’s ordinance” was approved by the Committee on License and Consumer Protection last week, musical activists the Chicago Music Commission lashed out at the law and said they plan to protest it before the City Council vote on Wednesday.
“The language of the ordinance as drafted unnecessarily and perhaps prohibitively increases the cost of doing business for any promoter seeking to work with PPA- [public place of amusement] licensed music venues, including, among many others, Schuba’s, Buddy Guy’s Legends, the Vic Theater, the Riviera Theater, the Metro, the Hideout, Uncommon Ground and Martyr’s,” said Alligator Records founder and CMC board member Bruce Iglauer.
“The ordinance will reduce the amount of music in Chicago, make events more expensive for consumers, dampen the large and growing economic engine that is Chicago music and create a much less supportive business climate for Chicago’s small music business community.”
The ordinance as it stands requires independent promoters to apply for a license at a cost between $500 and $2,000 every two years; submit to fingerprinting and a criminal background check; secure as much as $300,000 in liability insurance and be at least 21 years old.
These requirements add an additional layer of bureaucracy and expense on promoters who are working at venues that have already met Chicago’s insurance and licensing requirements, which are some of the most stringent in the U.S. promoters say this law is not unlike requiring someone to become a licensed auto mechanic before taking their car to a reputable, well-established garage for repairs.
The law makes exceptions for events sponsored by media organizations and not-for-profit groups, among others, but the language is unclear about exactly who qualifies. Independent promoters say it also ignores the fact that in the wake of the notorious and tragic incidents at E2 and the Rhode Island concert by Great White, major liability companies have become increasingly reluctant to insure concerts and dance nights at all.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had incidents in the city where people have been murdered, people have been accosted [and] there have been fights,” said Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th), chairman of the licensing committee. “Our goal is not to hurt anybody, but to really help the promoter as well as the person in charge of the venue, because right now, the only person that really is responsible is the person that runs the venue.”
Schulter said the long delay in moving the legislation to a vote was the result of efforts to seek input on the law from the music community. The CMC first became aware of the law last July when, along with local promoters, it succeeded in convincing the committee to delay approval so that problems in the law could be addressed.
The ordinance was rewritten to reflect several changes urged by musical advocates, but they say many more are still needed, and they only had four days to examine the rewritten law before it was rushed through committee last week. They are urging the City Council to hold off on a vote until more comments can be heard.
The problem as advocates see it is that city officials have a tin ear for Chicago’s diverse and thriving music community when it comes to distinguishing between a well-run dance night or concert series at a respected, trouble-free club and a hastily organized event sponsored by a fly-by-night promoter at a venue that may already be failing to comply with the city’s many existing laws and safety regulations.
“With any ordinance, there’s going to be things that cannot accommodate every single person in a particular industry because the range is so large,” said Efrat Dallal Stein, spokeswoman for the Department of Business Affairs & Licensing. “It’s a growing industry and it is in need of some sort of regulation, just like any other growing industry. I mean, you need a license to sell a T-shirt in the city of Chicago.”
Reacting to the outpouring of anger from the music community, Schulter planned to meet with advocates before the vote. But music lovers were not optimistic.
“For a city that claims to embrace the arts, this is a disgrace,” said Brenda Bouschard, a musician who left Chicago to work in Las Vegas. “Live entertainment in the city of Chicago has been beaten down enough, and this is just another nail in the coffin.”
Added Christian Picciolini, founder of the local Sinister Music punk-rock record label: “Passing an ordinance like this will virtually destroy the diversity and importance of an independent music scene.”
THE SORT OF EVENTS THAT MIGHT BE AFFECTED
Here are some examples of the kinds of musical events that might be affected under the proposed “promoter’s ordinance.”
• The Nocturna dark alternative dance nights at Metro.
• Chicago Acoustic Underground shows at various venues around the city.
• The Chicago Independent Radio Project’s annual Record Fair.
• The International Pop Overthrow Festival at the Abbey Pub, the Elbo Room, Double Door and other local clubs.
• The Tomorrow Never Knows Festival at Schuba’s.
And here is a letter sent out by Metro/Smart Bar this morning:
Metro/Smart Bar asks you to oppose the Promoters Ordinance, which would require independent promoters to get licenses to promote events. Under the proposed law, independent promoters would have to acquire a promoter's license at a cost of up to $2000 every two years, obtain liability insurance for every event thrown, even if the presenting venue already has liability insurance, be fingerprinted and background checked, and maintain extensive records of each event.
Metro / Smart Bar believes that this ordinance is unnecessary, as current regulation of PPA licenses and safety and security guidelines are sufficient. The ordinance also unfairly singles out small venues and venues without seating, with no justification for during so. The goal for any additional regulation should be enforcement of current laws and punishment of those who do not obey them, not increased burdens on existing businesses. Additionally, the Promoters Ordinance would negatively affect the Chicago music community. First, it would affect the bottom line of small businesses like Metro and Smart Bar, who make a significant portion of revenue from partnerships with reputable, incident-free independent promoters. Second, losing independent promoters means Chicago music fans would lose out on many small niche events important to minority groups. Third, restricting independent promoters would drastically cut into the ability to do charitable and political benefit concerts at Metro, as it would no longer be financially feasible for non-profit organizations to organize these events.
TAKE ACTION TODAY - Please email or call your alderman or alderwoman and voice your opposition to the Ordinance today! Email or Call your alderman and ask him or her to oppose the Promoter Ordinance. Be polite. Tell him or her you support live music in Chicago, and feel this ordinance would kill many great events. Say you want venues to be safe, but this ordinance goes too far. Place a call to your alderman's office today. This page will help you find your alderman and give you his or her email address and phone number — quick and easy and only takes a couple of minutes.
Alderman Schulter’s turn: The committee chair responds to music community worries about the promoter’s ordinance
Here are the comments of Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th), the chairman of the city licensing committee, about the concerns of many in the Chicago music community pending the City Council vote on Wednesday on the new promoter’s ordinance.
Q. Alderman, the Chicago Music Commission voiced its concerns pretty eloquently in a statement released the other day: They’ve said the city was listening to its input on the law, but something seems to have broken down. They wrote, “CMC is extremely disappointed in the city’s public comment process for this significant change to Chicago’s music landscape, especially given the city’s commendable past efforts to work with the music community on this important effort.” What happened? Why is the public comment process being cut short and this thing being rushed to a vote next week?
A. We’ve been meeting since July. More time and energy has been put into this than any other ordinance... First of all, I am not the author of this, or the sponsor. That would be a good question for the mayor’s press secretary, Jacqueline Heard. What I did, as soon as it got into my arena, I held it up. In fact, your colleague at the Sun-Times, Fran Spielman, was saying, “Why did it take so long? It’s been five years since the E2 situation.” Well, since last July, we’ve been having a lot of meetings on this, along with Department of Business Affairs & Licensing, and a lot of the aldermen brought a whole host of other people that might not have even been part of any process in the past to get their input. And they came up with some really great changes. So if you look at the original ordinance…
Q. I have, and the CMC did a comparison of the two. They were very happy about some of the changes…
A. A lot of them were their recommendations, actually. I respect all the people involved in that organization; they’ve been very eloquent in talking about their issues. But I think that what they don’t want is a promoter’s license. Cutting right to the chase, I don’t think they want to see a promoter’s license.
Q. I think that many people in the music community don’t understand why a promoter’s license is necessary if you’re dealing with a venue that is already PPA-licensed.
A. The problem, Jim, is that you don’t know who is handling that part of the business. Unfortunately, we’ve had incidents in the city where people have been murdered, people have been accosted, there have been fights, and what we’re trying to do, our goal is not to hurt anybody, but to really help the promoter as well as the person in charge of the venue. Because right now, the only person that really is responsible is the person that runs the venue. I think that this gives a different status to the promoters, and I think that is a good and healthy thing. The community that these events are held in should know who’s hosting these events. If it’s not the person who owns the venue—since they are licensed, you’re right, they don’t need to have another license, so they were excluded; at one time, they were going to have to get the additional license, but I’m all for less is better with me—but in this particular arena, if you go and talk to the community organizations throughout the city, and the complaints that I get across the board, and that the police department gets, you’ve got some promoters, a few, who make the good people look bad.
Q. I understand that, alderman. But it seems like there’s a cultural gap, and we saw this with the anti-rave ordinance in 2000, as well. There is a world of difference between a fly-by-night dance promoter who does an event in an unlicensed venue, and, say, a group supporting community radio that wants to hold a benefit at a club like Schuba’s. This ordinance doesn’t seem to recognize that. Nocturna is a dance night promoted by a world-renowned gothic DJ at Metro; now, she’s going to have to get a promoter’s license, even though Metro is very exacting in making sure everything is done by the books at that venue. This ordinance has the potential to hurt events like these and not necessarily target the underground promoter who’s going to stay underground. And there are already a hundred laws on the books to go after that underground promoter. If you look at E2, there were many complaints already filed against that club, the city could have shut it down for a number of reasons that would have prevented the tragedy there, and you would not have needed this promoter’s ordinance to do that.
A. But how do you make the distinction, Jim?
Q. You could rule out any venue that already has a PPA license.
A. That’s the crux of the problem. How do you then know who these promoters are? How do you then make sure that the person is marketing the event, they market it to such a large audience that 1,000 people show up where there’s only room for 500, and the rest of the people are outside.
Q. I live up the block from Wrigley Field, and that happens with the pennant race! The promoter advertises but can’t control how many people show up; the good venues have the security in place, and it’s their responsibility to handle the crowd and say, “I’m sorry, we’re at capacity.”
A. So the venue is obviously still responsible, but don’t you think that we need to know who is doing all this in the neighborhoods of Chicago?
Q. Let’s look at a club that has music six nights a week, 52 weeks a year. The city doesn’t need to know every one of the three bands that plays every night 300 nights a year, does it? Then, if 50 of those nights are sponsored by independent promoters—one night’s a ska night, and one night’s a psychedelic rock night—why do you need to know that? Say I have a psychedelic-rock fanzine, and twice a year at a club like Schuba’s, I host my psychedelic rock night.
A. Unfortunately, you’re citing an upstanding venue.
Q. But that’s the problem. The CMC has written: “The language of the ordinance as drafted unnecessarily and perhaps prohibitively increases the cost of doing business for any promoter seeking to work with PPA-licensed music venues under 500 seats and those without ‘fixed seating,’ including, among many others, Schuba’s, Buddy Guy’s Legends, the Vic Theater, the Riviera Theater, the Metro, the Hideout, Uncommon Ground and Martyrs’.” These are clubs that have gone through a lot of trouble and expense since E2 to make sure they conform to safety requirements—and we’re all glad, because we want to be safe—but now the city is adding an unnecessary burden to these clubs.
A. You brought up Martyr’s: Ray Quinn doesn’t have any outside promoters, as far as I understand.
Q. Sure he does. In fact, the city Department of Cultural Affairs has done shows there—there’s an outside promoter.
A. Obviously, you bring up some very interesting issues, but how do we distinguish the good promoters from the bad promoters?
Q. Doesn’t the city already distinguish between the good venues and the bad venues? The venues that have one complaint too many about underage drinking or fighting are quickly out of business—especially in the wake of E2. “Promoter” is a nebulous word; under this ordinance, it could apply to anyone who holds a benefit. The guy in my band broke his leg; he doesn’t have health insurance; we’re gonna hold a benefit to pay his medical bills. Suddenly, I'm a promoter. If I really have my act together and want to get certified as being a non-profit group so I'm exempt under this ordinance, that takes a long time and a lot of trouble.
A. Not really; what you’re talking about is a 501C-3. You can go on the Secretary of State’s Web page and get not-for-profit status pretty quickly. In any event, Jim, I am having another meeting on Tuesday, and we have ex
