Whose scene is it anyway?

Recently, there has been much bemoaning over the state of our dear KC/LAW/MAN music scene. Harsh words have been said, names have been called, and fingers have been pointed. The appropriate (or inappropriate) people have stood up and yammered on about "low attendance", "a lack of interest", "fiscal responsibility", and "shameless and unethical self-promotion".  We've all thrown our two cents into the well and to be quite honest, considering the current rate of exchange, it doesn't add up to enough pesos to buy a pack of Chiclets from a beggar in Guadalajara.

Well, I say enough already.  Quit your bitching.  The scene is not dead. Nor is it dying. Sleeping, maybe. Or possibly passed out in a tequila-induced coma.  But it's certainly not dead.  If you can find one of the few folks out there that don't view the past with some very selective rose-colored glasses, they'll tell you that this dirge for the scene has been going non-stop since about two days after Charlie Parker left town. 

For those of you that have been living in a Limp Bizkit/Harvey Danger insulated cave, let me sum up the situation: Currently, bar attendance for original music is quite low overall. While that is not to say that there are no acts doing well, the most popular events seem to be DJ's, cover bands, and theme-related bands such as "Let's relive the passion and thrill of a newly revived war-time economy while the rest of the world suffers unnamable horrors", and "Let's celebrate the hedonism and delight of our STD ridden past".  We're also seeing a rise in the "We mocked this music 5 years ago, but now we can admit that we owned these albums" genre.  But sadly, this audience enthusiasm is not carried over into the exciting and flammable world of original live music.

Is this bad? Not really. People like DJ's, cover bands and the like because they play music that we're all familiar with. We can sing along, reminisce, and get loud and stupid with full knowledge that everyone else on the dance floor is doing the same. If nothing else, it's a good way for large groups of people to come together as a group and have a good time. No harm in that, and my wishes for continued success go out to those that propagate such activities.  Consider it the remedy for VCR induced seclusion.

However, it's not helping out those of us that make our bread and butter playing original music.  It *is* alarming to watch how the crowds have dwindled these last few months, and I know for a fact that it's contributed to a lot of bad feelings and in-fighting. And again, everyone has shared their theory on why this is, as well as given opinions on how to change this. But no one takes into account that this might be a completely natural ebb in the tide of the scene.  I for one, don't think that we're in any bad shape. Granted, some people have pointed out that maybe it's time to tell Gilligan that he can't drive the boat anymore, but when the boat's on automatic pilot where's the harm?

Because this is my column and I can blather on until the end of time with no interference, let me give my particular take on what's going on with our little commune of musical love:

1) Attendance is low due to an very pervasive and national fad with nostalgia. We're coming up on the big 00, and any historian can tell you that people generally look backwards when faced with the inescapable (and potentially scary) future. Original music is a pretty scary place for someone who's not already into it.  This also explains America's newly rekindled love affair with Mint Juleps and child labor.

2) Dancing at shows is still considered "uncool".

3) After getting more than a couple "made ya look!" from near-stars like The Rainmakers, Paw, and others, audiences are more than a little disheartened by the lack of hometown heroes writ large.  After all, look at attendance in towns like Boston, Seattle, Chicago, etc. They're still going strong and that's probably in no small part to the plethora of national acts that have spawned there.

4) Parallel to #3, there is a discernable lack of local music on our airwaves. While the Lazer still continues to champion the sounds of the scene, you still very rarely hear enough demand for a local act to warrant more than one single per unsigned act .  I'm not completely clear on why this is, but I can give you a couple good reasons on why it should change. So start requesting! Other than 105.9, the only local music you'll hear on the other stations is usually relegated to a Sunday night local show. Great! What braniac thought to put every single local music show up against each other?  It didn't use to be this way, and maybe someone will change it back. (note: Jeff Peterson was nice enough to write me and let me know that most stations only do this type of thing on Sundays because of a lower listener rate, thereby giving stations more freedom in programming those times. I understand, but I still wish it wasn't so. He was also kind enough to point out that there wasn't a policy per se against playing more than one single per act, but rather it was a result of a lack of demand. My thanks for the correction and my apologies to the fine staff at the Lazer for the error.)

There are a couple more reasons I could bang out here, but I'm not caffinated enough to pursue them. However, I will be nice enough to force my thinking on what's going to change all this.  While things don't look bright now, I'm relatively certain that we'll see a resurgence in interest in the next few months. Why? One, because I command it. Secondly, because we're going to have three fairly popular acts put out their much anticipated follow up albums in early '99.   Both Frogpond and Outhouse will be releasing their follow ups on Columbia and Mercury, respectively.  Frogpond hit many a snag with their first album concerning promotion and touring, and combined with a 50% lineup change in the next year, this delayed their second album considerably.  However, Columbia is going all out on this next album, and with higher production values, guest musicians and the like, I think we're going to hear alot about our hometown girls (and guy) very soon. Hopefully, Mercury's recent buy-out troubles will right themselves in time for Outhouse to get the same treatment.

Whether you like the music or not, well-publicized albums from these bands well do nothing but good for the scene as a whole. Not only will it bring a spotlight back to the bars and venues that supported them, it will also be a reminder to now jaded audiences that there are good acts worth seeing here. And the people that have never been to a local show will be the same ones bopping along to Frogpond at the upcoming Goo Goo Dolls show, and hopefully singing along on the radio. (I suppose it's not out of the question, but I just can't imagine a Frogpond video). And these people will be shown that there are good bands in Kansas City worth supporting, and that might be enough to get them out to the bars.

This was all a lot more well reasoned in the shower this morning, but you get the point.  It's not dead, it's not dying, and it's not going to implode into a minuscule little dot.  We're just coasting right now.  So pop some mini-thins, roll down the windows and try to hold out for a few more miles, and maybe, just maybe, we'll all get back home.

Godot has been fighting to save the universe in The Secret Wars for the last 2 months. Rest assured, the Beyonder has been defeated, and life will now resume as normal. Carry on.