FIRST OFF, A POLITICAL CORRECTION – STILL TIME TO REGISTER TO VOTE!
NEXT, THE STATE OF THE SCENE
Temecula, CA – I have to apologize for stating that October 6th was the last day to register to vote. You can still register online till 10/20/08 from home and be able to vote in both the national election and the local race for control of the city and the ‘golden goose’ aka the Redevelopment Agency funds of some $23M in taxpayer dollars. A review of my articles on the challengers and Bill’s on the incumbents should give you all the views you need and links to answer any questions about the five people seeking election victory. As far as the nationals go, anyone who has read my past posts know how I feel about stopping the bleeding of red and green by halting the $2.5 Billion a week drain to Iraq, regardless of who’s pocketing all the money over there. As far as Sarah Palin goes, there’s no denying that she has become fodder for Tina Fey and SNL, and that in itself, is a tribute to the American sense of humor, something that we have long celebrated in this country as one of our freedoms. However, as some of my ‘fan mail’ has wondered, I’d have to say that any MILF hunting done around my neck of the woods, I leave to Paul (and not the bass player Paul who has, at least as of this writing, a new friend ‘hanging out’ and Brother, she’s no MILF). But I digress, you can go here to register to vote, www.rockthevote.com/ .
Looking around at the number of bands playing shows all through the valley now, and even beyond these hills, I glance back to the days of Spaceman Jack, Unknown Super Heroes, the original California Pizza on Los Alamos music shows, Studio 415, Local Punks’ Jeff Aragon, Full Value Entertainment, and of course, Bill Gould, now Bill & Jeney Gould. When it all sifted out, it was Bill & Jeney and the FVE crew who were still standing when the smoke cleared and new music shows were being done on a regular basis at a coffee shop named Madlins.
All the shows there were great and some were legendary. A number of imitators came and went, including some of the biggest area Christian churches (mosques, temples, and synagogues excluded since they never did any shows to my knowledge). But FVE rode tall in the saddle until a ‘complaint’ came in that was never substantiated and the code enforcement officers moved in to reduce the room capacity to an unprofitable level by counting the room as if were a restaurant with tables in place during shows. Though they knew this wasn’t the case during shows, no fights ever occurred, it was a non-alcoholic venue, and scores of parents, schoolmates, and bands fresh from the garage loved the place, neither the city nor the code folks would acknowledge or budge until a $4500 Special Use permit was paid. For a coffee shop that barely made any profit, it was the nail in the coffin.
But FVE took their show on the road, and moved to Murrieta. Java Joz was born and the music shows continued unabated until new owners who didn’t quite ‘get the scene’ bought the place, putting a stake through its musical heart by cheapening the food quality and rubbing the talent and FVE’s fur the wrong way. When this move gave birth to Ivan Promotions who then took over the newest teen venue, The Vault, FVE went on to become a legitimate city sponsored venture for the youth and the new music arena. With the closing first of The Vault through duplicity by the sitting T-Town city council and the later ‘campaign promise’ to the music scene of a ‘Youth Master Plan’ to correct the dire lack of non-alcoholic venues after the council doors were blown off by teen protesters all wearing ‘We Want The Vault’ mandanas, and then the political harassment by Murrieta’s (under indictment) city fathers that shut down Cuppy’s aka Java Joz, which is now being replaced by a Little Caesar’s Pizza (yuck! but cheap), the new music seemed destined to flourish only in faraway places like San Diego and LA. The city granted FVE new music shows at The Merc but at $15 a pop. As the city advertises all the shows, plays, and non-profit events in all the slick, glossy avenues available to them, it seemed only right that they extend the same privilege to FVE’s shows using the same channels.
At times when the city has had a chance to extend a hand of friendship in my direction, they have always turned the other cheek or chosen not to show up when the event, which I covered for my readership, was controversial, as in the case of the Vagina Monologues. But something happened that neither the city(s) nor I foresaw. The bands that I wrote about for years all by my lonesome started to be covered in the MSM print newspapers and magazines. Suddenly the ‘underground scene’ was cool to other people besides me and the musicians that I supported by buying their band T-shirts. The more the city(s) tightened their grip by issuing their expensive Special Use permits, to which they themselves are exempt, the more star systems slipped through their fingers and music shows, free ones that were also exempt to Special Use permits, started to flourish everywhere, at coffee shops, schools, bowling alleys, and finally, at bars, replacing bands that sleepwalk through covers (Master Splinter & The Shredders’ company excluded).
Perhaps I have a deep-seated love of the ‘outlaw’, the Robin Hoods, Zorros, and TMNT of society. Perhaps I also wanted to branch out and not be known as a one-trick pony that only covered the allowed music scene. Perhaps I just fell in love with the raw variety and abundance of the multitude of all the musical talent that abounds in this valley, and all the fans who follow their favorite band friends so that I would rather follow the music than follow the status quo of the city cliques who use you up like toilet paper and give you the same respect. Perhaps I’m just a wild old rebel who still enjoys pushing the envelop, and other people’s buttons. Personally, I think it’s ‘all of the above’. – PT Rothschild