City Stages is dead… and this is the @#$%^ that killed it!

oh yeah, especially music. music sucks!

and for the record, i hate culture.

i hate when people don't put their full names on these posts. anonymity is great sometimes, so i won't say that as a general rule people should always post their names. the initial thing , though, especially one initial drives me freaking crazy. "m." see, there are people who know me and know i post here. and they might think "oh that's matt myrick because he's always pissing someone off in one of his posts." but i'm not "m." did i just fix solve my own problem? will other commenters feel confident that i always share my identity, and that if someone disguises himself as "m." or even "mm," that person is not me.

Wade, I did not call anyone names, I merely cited the counterproductive actions of "slinging mud" and actively putting one's head in one's ass. There's a bit of a difference. Yes, in citing those actions I am expending a little energy that, as I said, could be put to better use, but sometimes one must invoke semi-passionate/semi-aggressive words to make a point. Furthermore, your comment is yet another illustration of the people essentially "keeping each other down." There is healthy discourse (that can stir people and promote change in attitudes and actions) and there is unproductive banter that focuses too much on trying to find faults in reasoning in an attempt to discredit one's argument/point. Perhaps NOW I am falling into that cycle by even responding to you. I like to call it "clarification." :)

How do I plan to help Birmingham culturally? I am a local photographer and writer. I am married to a locally-based musician. I am an avid supporter of the arts. My spouse and I are both proud to say that we are from Birmingham in any forum within and outside of this city. I admit that I, too, can fall into the cycle of citing faults more than promoting solutions--a personal fault that I actively try to change. It's that change in attitude that constitiutes the first step in helping. I think I could be an even better patron of the arts and use any artistic platform that I or my spouse has to promote culture in this town.

I think your question-"How will you help Birmingham culturally?"--is a great springboard for change. Let us not forget our mistakes, but may we be able to move forward with greater expectations and better attitudes.

I hope you have a great day, sincerely.

Thanks.

I plan to support events I like by buying tickets and telling friends. I also cover events that are of interest to my site readers. I volunteer when possible, and vote for officials that spend to promote the arts, but not subsidize them foolishly.

Let's all have a great day. We need more of them.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I never identified with City Stages simply because of that very precise fact: they were VERY VERY detached with "the times" and any sort of affinity for local talent.

The longevity of a festival, or any other non-profit/event/organization/venture, is correlated to the ability and willingness to adapt and change with "the times." Yeah, City Stages was great through the nineties when the only other major festivals were among the likes of Lollapalooza and Warped and Ozzfest and...

Part of City Stages' problem was its inability or unwillingness to meet the desires of "The People" who would essentially make or break the festival. Change your model. Find bands that your audience wants. Give more credit to Birminghamians' nuanced and varied taste than 80's hair bands and washed up 70's rockers.

Watching the news coverage of this topic, it's frankly ridiculous to hear it described as a "terrible blow to the music scene." In the past six years, City Stages has done next to nothing to support or encourage truly local music. Local music and City Stages divorced years ago. Local music can only thrive with the demise of a festival that became a joke to the entire Southeast years ago. Local vendor, Bottletree, who I understand got royally f-ed by Georgie boy and his crew, has done more for the Birmingham music scene in its two years of business than City Stages did in 21 years. (As a side note, it's a abhorrent to see such an integral part of Birmingham's cultural evolution to take a crippling blow from trying to form some alliance between the corporate bullshit taste of City Stages and the truly locally-situated, thriving cultural scene.)

Inevitably, someone else will come along and start another festival that speaks to the musical/cultural/social/technological tastes of not only Birmingham, but also the surrounding states. Don't aim to merely "get by." Aim for something incredible.

And for all of the petty bickering and name-calling, prompted by 140 Tweeted characters, wouldn't it be far more productive to look at this as a springboard to something better? THIS is Birmingham's problem: you people are too consumed with slinging mud at your peers than trying to make something that transcends the itty-bitty "Birmingham scene." You want something good for Birmingham? That generates revenue? That gets attention and sponsorship and acts that truly draw a crowd from further than Pinson?

Get your heads out of your asses and put your energy to better use.

It's funny because you chastise people for name calling, then call people names.

Credibility falling ...

How will you help Birmingham culturally?

This is also a problem: when people don't respond to the meat of someone's post and instead find fault with petty dicta.

it's a problem because the reply doesn't address the original post--not really. it's as if we're in competition, and people think they 'win' the posting contest by calling attention to grammar mistakes or something. or more accurately: "dude, you got mad at me for calling everyone in birnmingham 'assholes' and then you called me an asshole." that's not a rebuttal. first dude was still in the wrong.

Wadeon (or may i call you WAD?), it's not really funny that this person chastised people for name calling and then called people names. really, it's not funny at all. maybe it's not the most mature thing in the world, but it's certainly not funny. and it doesn't invalidate any points made by the mysterious "m.". in other words, no credibility is really falling. maybe our evaluation of m.'s skills as a writer take a plunge, or maybe we think m. is a bit of a hypocritical jerk, but the points s/he made are still valid (unless you choose to engage those points directly rather than throwing shit at the speaker--maybe they're not valid, but you have not shown us that at this point in the dialogue).

It's funny that people think the witch is dead. George McMillan pockets his money, doesn't have to pay back $1 million plus in debts, and continues what he's been doing, producing events and festivals as head of McMillan and Associates.

So who had the last laugh??

I'm still of the opinion he reaped everything he could from being a nonprofit and in the end, treated Birmingham how he really thought of it all along.

Damn, he is getting off soooo easy.

Done right, City Stages could have BEEN a critical city resource. I think that was the consensus view circa '89-'93 or so.

'Twas beauty that killed the beast.

PS as a MGMian I kinda thought something was up when I kept getting offered free TX... reminiscent of the late Blue-Gray football game...

This is faulty reasoning. She's kinda cute, and we all know cute people can't possibly be evil or deserving of punishment. Seriously, I kinda wonder when she's going to play Typhoid Mary to our own Jubilee Cityfest down here in MGM. But hey, they "only" lost $27K *this* year. I'll hang up and wait for your response.

The writing on the wall? Thanks, Duquette, for the cliche. Every tombstone needs one. So does every music scene.

BHAM.FM needs to assist in any possible benefit shows for the staff at bottletree, who got screwed after doing incredible hard job.

book it. i'll pay it.

its fantastic that the evil witch is dead.

hahaha "GET HER!!!!"

I want a job where I have dual monitors to mess with twitter all day.

*audible whistles and catcalls* at my friend from work.

Hater? Nah. Just disappointed that the festival drained critical city resources (and our elected leaders let them).

Kudos on that call. Too much city money was involved, and it was hard not to get disillusioned for local charities and vendors getting stiffed.

That can be said for COUNTLESS local dramas.

At least one was stifled before it took any more taxpayer money.

How you doin?