Oct
2008?
Although We REALLY WANT to host a 2008 (maybe a 2009) DAMF
show, it's not possible at the moment.
The main reasons are as follows:
-
THE SCENE / THE BANDS
The NY Goth/Industrial scene is in a horrible state
right now, and lack of sales and support make it
harder and harder for promoters such as ourselves
to put on a quality production without losing MASSIVE
amounts of money. The bands in this industry know
that NY is a dying market, and for whatever reason,
refuse to work with promoters to give us a break
on pricing. Which I do understand, to a point. But
as long as these artists demand high performance/guarantee
fees, ridiculious hospitality requests, and other
expenses, which we feel shouldn't be covered in
a contract, has forced us to pass on MANY shows.
It also seems as if some bands just don't want to
deal with local promoters anymore, instead opting
for contracts with Live Nation or similar. What
they don't realize, is that Live Nation is like
the Walmart of concert venues. They don't care about
the quality of the shows. All they care about is
pre-ticket sales, and what the payout / splits amounts
are going to be at the end of each show. Which is
fine, as they do have a business to protect and
operate. But where does this leave the local promoters,
who'll go out of their way to make sure the fans
get to experience a one-of-a-kind local event. Something
that will be remembered years from now.
-
THE FANS
You, THE FANS. What's going on? The promoters of
this great town try to book the biggest and the
best Goth/Industrial bands around, and barely anyone
shows up! What's going on? Why won't you support
your scene anymore? Are you tired, are you getting
old, are you broke, are the shows too expensive
(look @ #1), do the venues suck, has everything
gotten stale? Let us know what is GOING
ON, and HELP US FIX IT!
-
THE VENUES
It's getting next to impossible to find a decent
venue here in NYC. Once in a while, we'll come across
one that is willing to work with this scene, but
they usually want high rental fees, or offer us
crappy door & bar deals, which we feel are not
worth our efforts. So, finding a home for the shows
is another factor which has affected the NY scene.
That is why we decided to host the 2006 CHAMBER
Festival in some empty loft warehouse in Brooklyn,
and just make it a good ole' fashion Gothic outlaw.
Unfortunately, the City Of New York sees it differently,
and 'outlaw' events are harder and harder to produce
anywhere now within the tri-state area. We lucked
out that night, took care of the 'right' people,
and secure just enough permits so that they would
leave us alone. And alone they left us for that
1 night, and it was truly wonderful.
In conclusion... it's a acumultaion of all these
things that affect our scene. We've lost TONS of money
on cancelled shows due to one the reasons above. We
lost a ton of money on the Front Line Assembly fiasco
in 2006, as well as Avalon shutting down and having
to cancel the KMFDM show also in 2006, which was part
of the DAMF 2006 3 day festival. We are not a big
company. Heck, it's only 2 guys and a bunch of people
who volunteer to help when they can. We don't even
get paid. Instead, we use the money from each show
to finance the next show. We're not in this for the
money, but we can't lose money either. These last
shows really put a damper on things financially, as
the losses have to come out of our personal expenditures.
Sure, we could be like everyone else and just say
fuck off, and not pay anyone, or refund tickets, or
just claim bankruptcy, but that's not what we are
about. It's about the music, and the fans... Ask anyone
that knows us... it's always been about the music.
I am working on something BIG. Something that all
of the indie scenes need. But I need help. Are you
interested in helping out? You must be OPEN to music.
Don't be one of these stuck in a time warp kind of
people, or one of these I ONLY LISTEN TO ______ types
either. Be open. Support indiependent music... because
united we can do anything.
REMEMBER.... IT'S YOUR SCENE. Support It!
- Justin
(aka Victor
Vortexx,
aka TERMiNAL
OPTiC
aka Justin
Kaos)
&
TOM
(aka Thunder
Tom
aka DJ Easeback)
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