Re: The Hub Sucks
Posted by Bac Frontson on 2010-10-29 9:42:39pm

Frankly, I see no point in bashing The Hub or any other labor of love venue - especially when such criticisms are merely a symptom of the prevalent disease known as "Butt Hurt." However, some of the claims folks have made in these responses are patently false, and I felt compelled to set the record straight.

For one thing, Sacramento is far from a musical mecca. Anybody who's taken a gander at The List, or repeatedly driven to SF to catch quality acts that bypass our city can attest to this. Moreover, there is some truth to the "gatekeepers" comment as I've tried to book three separate shows in Sacramento with several respected metal bands-offering to cover a guarantee no less-but still couldn't get a bite. (Note: The Hub wasn't hosting bands at that time.)

And while the Hoobatoobium has shows damn near every night of the week, 99% of them are garage punk bands. Such a myopic approach to booking is a big ol' middle finger to us music nerds who are not so big on said genre (though I tip my hat to The Retainers, Matt K. Shrugg, and the Rip Offs). It seems, however, that Teh Hub is finally expanding its musical outlook and booking bands outside of its comfort zone. To that, ladies and gents, I extend my gratitude...and future genre considerations: Post-Rock, Post-Metal, Sludge, Doom, Stoner Rock, Old School Death Metal, Black Metal, and any Avant Garde that doesn't sound like a carbon copy of Naked City.

- Bac Frontson

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:The people who know some of the details you are hinting is limited to only the people I know. So who among you is the backstabbing little bitch?
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:Lemme tell you something that'll blow your mind. I gave these legendary ladies the choice of playing at the immediately confirmable Hub (the date was wide open, fortunately) or waiting a few days to hear back from the much, much larger Sol Collective which swallowed up about 300 bodies easily for Wavves, who were represented by the same booking agent. The band asked me to describe each place, and when they knew that The Hub had the intimacy more typical of a house-show, that was their choice.
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:So, do you wanna shit on the band now that they chose this one opportunity to play in an environment unlike any other that they've enjoyed since the mid-90s? You can take a look at the rest of the venues Wild Flag are playing on this tour, and you can see instantly our Hub show figures to be the funnest and most special....all the other venues are places where there's a required minimum 15-foot distance between band and audience.
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:Is Sacto really a "pariah for touring acts", or are you just not paying any attention to what is going on here? Do you look at the schedule and see all the bands coming here every week? Haven't you noticed more bands also giving us weekend nights? Wonder why? We're earning bands back the 2nd time on weekends. They're circling this city on a map as a destination that often outpays and outfuns the cities you usually figure to be meccas of live music.
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:I did the best I could to spread the word about the Wild Flag show to the fans who might wanna see it. I'm sorry if you don't play close enough attention and missed the opportunity. I didn't figure that they'd sell out in a mere ~30 hours either, but maybe I misjudged the demand based on a trend of disappointing turnouts at shows. Yeah...believe it or not, but I hear a number of complaints from people that there are "too many shows" happening here all the time. And yours is the first inkling I've heard about this area being a live music desert.
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:So, you either have your head completely up your ass, or you are just venting 'cos you're bitter about being left out for Wild Flag tickets.
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:BTW...you still have a chance to win the last free ticket on Saturday night when Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat Dan Singa plays your favorite local DIY space. Should be an outstanding show. Step up to sharpened cultural sensibility. Raw, jagged, ecstatic postpunk with Indonesian texture and lyrics? Ur-groove psych partyband? Astral navigations via handmade sitar? Nothing hum-drum there.
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::Really?! Selling tickets in advance? Why don't you send the show to a real venue instead of the hub? This area is already a fucking pariah for touring acts and then you derail a show that could've had like 200 bodies... i'm not telling where to hold the show but shows of this nature, usually, folks in the position to do so set it up in a legit spot... why make the hub legit? there is no logical point, it's a piss pour venue that only works in the capacity it is in. Way to go logistical heads of a faulty scene. If there was a real push to legitamize anyhthing then people would do a better job at locating real estate, getting permits, fire code shit, etc... instead a makeshift spot becomes an offical venue and in a matter of time it will be capital garage or luigis, a waste of energy and youth. you folks really let a lot of us down, and it's your job, not anyone elses because you're THE GATEKEEPERS... of all the available acts that could cruise through here,but it's visible peripheral stuff that does get acknowledged and it is so bland and boring... there is no creativity in sacramento and it shows in the lack of bands, venues, and shared collective mentality... before anyone says "stop bitching and do it yourself" and the like comment, just listen instead of being defensive. seriously, you know it, you've succumbed to hum-drum desensitized cultural frivolity.
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