I love concerts, all kinds - big rock shows, small club shows, feedback filled electric light shows, and intimate acoustic sets. We actually get a decent amount of good shows here in Iowa, not as many as when Sophia John worked in Des Moines (as CT pointed out to me yesterday), but still a good amount of concerts.
What we don't get here is really any kind of promotion of these shows, there are literally HUNDREDS of shows that I would have gone to had I known about them beforehand. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult at Vaudeville Mews? That was a few weeks ago...was it advertised anywhere besides VM's website? Not that I ever heard of. It's not a new phenomenon. I remember it happening all the time in college too. The local music bar seemed to get great shows once all the time...you would think they would have thrown up a flyer or two in the student union or something. I would randomly stop in and but it would always be the same crap local band...so I'd stop for a few days and then hear about all these great bands that were there. WTF?
I always thought the whole point of concerts was to get people to come. I always thought that at least they promoted the big concerts, the small ones just got overlooked. So why hadn't I heard of this before Saturday? 50+ bands at a 4 day festival, 2 hours away.
Twisted Sister, Junkyard, Kix, Dangerous Toys, Skid Row, Eve 6, Saigon Kick, Candlebox, Sevendust, Puddle of Mudd, Saliva, Jackyl, Warrant, Lita Ford, Powerman 5000, Dokken, Great White, LA Guns...
No promotion for the biggest city in Iowa, less than 2 hours away from the event? Nice job. Luckily my bro heard a casual mention on House of Hair (a nationally syndicated radio show) and I did some research. Do you know how pissed I would be if Junkyard played Iowa and I was not there to see them? I've been wanting to see them since 1989, they are probably in my top ten favorite bands.
Please concert promoters, you can do a better job. I can only come to your shows if I know about them. Oh and by the way, Promote is in your job title, so why aren't you doing it?
End Hate
1 comment:
I think it is b/c we have crap stations in DM. Lazer plays like 4 songs all day & never mentions any concert outside of WFA or Val Aire except Lazerfest.
Sophia John and "The Dot" were the best thing to happen to rock radio in DM ever. When "The Dot" when pop and turned into KISS, we lost something manificent. Where else could you hear Nirvana one minute and the Beastie Boys the next? Followed by Metallica! They brought Lollapalooza here how many times? I can remember so many great concerts being talked about on air that I couldn't make it to. Now I could make a few and never hear about them until the day before via word of mouth.
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