Secrets of the City

Sad to see Amy Henson lose her job — she was a good egg in a rotten basket.

With CC’s diminished presence in town, it could mean some of the bands that would play here may skip. Few of the CC-affiliated bands are the types I’m interested in (they’re heavy on emo/pop punk groups and more “commercial” alternative) but it’s stuff the kids like and it’s great to see kids getting into the habit of seeing live shows, even if they’re crap live shows.

I have mixed feelings about seeing either the Fine Line or Quest close. The Fine Line books some horrible local bands, but the room is perfect for touring acts too big for the Entry but not quite ready for First Avenue. With some smarter booking, that place could really take off.

The Ascot Room is OK, but the mainroom at the Quest is a nightmare. Bad sight lines, rude staff (almost 400 Bar rude). But it serves its purpose and I’d hate to have to drive to Maplewood(!) instead.

Whatever happens, it seems to be good news for First Avenue. They continue to be really busy and the continuing renovations inside are making the place more and more friendly for fans.

Wasn’t the Myth-monster using Clear Channel exclusively for booking?

Not sure closing the local office is really gonna affect the talent they seem to book.

CC booked a few of the Myth shows. Two or three, I think.

I’m curious to hear from Kyle and/or DDY on this topic.

I know in terms of DJs/Electronica that they have a in-house booking person, who basically inked a deal with AM Only, which is has a powerhouse roster of the biggest names – including Tiesto, Kaskade, Deep Dish. AM only is kinda one stop shop for booking acts.

I dont think clear channel is involed in any way — which is wonderful in my opinion.

Amy Henson landed at the Fine Line. She’s the new media person there.

is she responsible for that god awful huge ad screen in the window?

Some more links here:

http://blogs.citypages.com/ctg/2005/11/clear_channel_b.asp

Great people work throughout both Clear Channel Entertainment and Clear Channel Communications–some of them pretty selfless supporters of local music in the Twin Cities. I feel for anyone losing her job, and worry about the Quest, which has put on some fantastic shows over the years, with and without CC. But I can’t help thinking that the separation of one big CC branch from the other is a good thing in the long run, a reaction to increased monitoring of CC’s pointless hugeness and increased prosecution of payola.

I don’t want to damn with faint praise: The Quest has been singular in its support for dancehall shows (by indie promoters), R&B (ditto), and all those CCE all-ages Acot Room shows by up-and-coming pop-punk and emo bands–one thing CCE could never be accused of was only booking bands on the radio. Many of the groups aren’t my bag, but there’s definitely an audience for them…

Just got home from another small Ascot Room show (World Leader Pretend). This one had about 10 paying people there. A few weeks ago there were two paying people for The Sun, a band with huge cred and an MTV video. Seems to me Quest/Ascot Room is dying. The bartender told me they aren’t scared of Myth or losing CC bookings, but man, it’s booking small-drawing shows week after week.