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Chicago promoter bill shelved, for now

Contributed by niveK82. Posted by aubin on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

The Chicago promoter law that would have made DIY shows very difficult has been shelved. The bill, discussed last week was designed to rid the city of shady promoters but the strict rules would have had the side effect of making costs prohibitively high for legitimate independent promoters as well.

According to this SunTimes report, a "unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community and a meeting with activists and some of the top concert promoters and venue owners in Chicago" led the City Council to not present the bill for a vote. The committee will go back to work on fine-tuning the law.

Politics (32 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Seriously.

WorryRock (May 14, 2008)

How punk rock.

WorryRock (May 14, 2008)

add: going to see flight of the conchords tonight in chicago, should be awesome

3+ Replies

olmec (May 14, 2008)

See you there!

niveK82 (May 14, 2008)

I hate both of you

jacknife737 (May 14, 2008)

i am incredibly envious.

Dante3000 (rich) (May 14, 2008)

According to this SunTimes report, a "unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community and a meeting with activists and some of the top concert promoters and venue owners in Chicago.
It's even rumored the bill was so upsetting it led to 3 continuous days for sobriety for one Mr. Tobias Jeg.
-Dante

1+ Reply

MattRamone (May 14, 2008)

Don't dash my dreams.

MattRamone (May 14, 2008)

"Well gosh, it seems people would be upset if the only live music they could go see were 50 Cent and Rascal Flatts."

2+ Replies

sammy_sam_saminson (May 14, 2008)

if they were on the same bill, i'd pay to see that trainwreck.

MattRamone (May 14, 2008)

I would pay just to see the inevitable drunken audience riot.

Banal242 (May 14, 2008)

"The bill was tabled to see how much a of kickback the independent promoters can scrap together." Clean your shit up, Chicago. Corrupt city government isn't cute anymore.

Rastid (May 14, 2008)

i love it when people come together and stop legislative stupidity.

telegraphrocks (May 14, 2008)

My girlfriend works for an arts center in Chicago, and they started having this youth-group kind of thing, and blah blah blah it was decided that punk shows would be a good / cool thing to have there, so I was actually gonna start to get involved to book and promote smaller bands there.

That bill would've totally killed that shit.

Toby, I want to book The Copyrights.

4+ Replies

Banal242 (May 14, 2008)

I think the payment for The Copyrights will be one small child.

telegraphrocks (May 14, 2008)

That's cool, I got an annoying niece.

TheOneTrueBill (May 14, 2008)

Where?

signaldistress (May 14, 2008)

are you talking about the south union arts center (sp?)

we're playing there on our upcoming tour.

Dudley_Shale (May 14, 2008)

You gotta fight for you right....to book diy/independent shows...

24HourPriapism (May 14, 2008)

they tried something like this a couple years ago in boston...except it was a 10 or 11pm curfew for everyone under 21 in all venues that serve alcohol. so basically, no more 18+ shows or all ages shows at bars, even with the wristband/x-hand rules in effect. it would've killed business, but the bill died before it was put into effect as law. ridiculous shit like that never works.

2+ Replies

scientistrock (May 14, 2008)

Not that Boston's all ages policy is stellar now.

Knifetrader (May 14, 2008)

I book shows here in Germany, and in my town most venues have a general curfew for concerts at 11pm due to noise complaints, except for the weekend. It works actually quite well, everybody knows that shows start at 8.30pm and people show up accordingly.
I have no idea what the scene is like in Boston, but from my experience curfews really aren't that terrible. It actually helps us with the 14-17 year old crowd, who have to go to school the next day.

scientistrock (May 14, 2008)

It seems like Chicago's DIY music scene isn't out of the woods yet.

MattRamone (May 14, 2008)

Can't believe no one said this yet...

"The bill was tabled? Was Tom there?"

2+ Replies

scientistrock (May 14, 2008)

Chicago muncipal guys: This is over!
DIY concert bookers: Oh, I don't think so.

Or whatever it was.

veganboyjosh (May 14, 2008)

they were all too busy logging in and out of fake misspelled accounts to make the joke in time.

that, and they're all dumb as rocks.

red_eye_inc (May 14, 2008)

They're cleaning it up so it hits the intended original target: black clubs on the southside. This was a delayed reaction to that stomping/trampling at a nightclub where there was a "party" being promoted, not a musical act performing.

RunninRiot86 (May 14, 2008)

Let's hope the shelf they put the bill on is very tall, very dusty and very out of the way.

88-fingers-tony (May 14, 2008)

john ugolini is stoked.

long live the house cafe.

1+ Reply

szechwan_platypus (May 14, 2008)

viva Kickstand!

sfbarker (May 14, 2008)

This bill is lame. Nothing is more punk rock than sitting with other bands talking about getting completely cheated by some 16-year-old who booked some show and promised a reasonable payout, but then did no promotion and made nothing...only to disappear and go to a different show leaving his girlfriend with a locked cash box. Those are the best of times.

1+ Reply

red_eye_inc (May 14, 2008)

Even though it's lame, that's not really what this bill was about. It was to increase requirements and fees for independent promoters in small venues, not protect bands from getting ripped off. The government could give a fuck about that. Keep your government out of my contract, you commie.

acris (May 14, 2008)

Man, I'm relieved.

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