I'm even back to putting shows on around town, but these days it's really tough to get people off the computer/tv to come out and see some live bands. But the ones that do come out usually have a really great time...some even come up to thank me for bringing these bands to town!
I pretty much stopped booking shows after I booked and organized a festival here in St. Louis called the Show-Me Blowout (yes, named after Deke Dickerson's old fanzine about Missouri rock'n'roll) that sorta flopped. It featured the best garage-style bands from St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, Springfield & Joplin. The headliners I wanted to get couldn't play (or
wouldn't play for any reasonable price...
the Untamed Youth and
the Royal Nonesuch). So I booked a couple local favorites to headline who had gained some fans and exposure outside of St. Louis (and who each hadn't played in several years),
the Honkeys (surf) and
the Cripplers (garage-punk). The Honkeys canceled because the guitarist was in another band and they got offered some sweet deal to play a show elsewhere so he had to do that instead. So to replace the Honkeys I put
the Geargrinders on to headline the first night. They were just a local garage band (similar to the Stooges in sound) who were pretty popular in STL in the late '90s. I guess the Cripplers and the Geargrinders (not to mention the other bands on the bills, including Thee Fine Lines, the Rich Boys, Monte Carlos, Modern Primitives, the Nevermores & Pink Socks), weren't well known enough to have good pull, and we barely had 100 people show up each night. That was in October 2007 and I put a lot of time and money into it and ended up LOSING a lot of money. Less than a third of the T-shirts I made for the event sold, and with the lousy turnout I had to pay the bands miserably. Those who did come, of course, loved it. But I was pretty much done at that point.
I also have a record label here (
TIRC Records), and still release stuff once in a while whenever a band wants or needs my assistance. I haven't given that up. The last show I booked with that was a record-release show for
the Nevermores that was also billed as a TIRC Records Showcase, since the other two bands on the bill also released stuff on my label (the 75s &
Left Arm). That was over a year ago and I haven't booked anything since, and again, I rarely even go out to see bands unless it's something I just can't miss.
But I'm committed to keeping this site up and alive, and trying to promote it and bring in more new members. I hope to get back to podcasting at some point. The office where I used to record my show is in shambles, and I'm in the middle of cleaning and reorganizing everything down there before I can even begin to think about putting together another show. But when I do, it'll be good, and I'll post it here on the Hideout like the others. New name, probably, and more straight forward, and probably more varied musically, but it'll be good, I promise.
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