Britt Daniel Can Bite Me
As I mentioned previously, Spoon recently announced that they would be playing 2 shows at the 9:30 Club here in DC - specifically, Monday, Oct. 22 and Tuesday, Oct. 23. I bought a ticket for the second night, on the theory that Monday night shows suck.
I also mentioned that The Shins were playing Merriweather Post Pavilion outside of Baltimore on Monday, Oct. 22, and that I would not be attending.
Well, someone decided in their infinite wisdom that these three shows needed to be combined into one. For proof, check out this email that I just got from Tickets.com:
Spoon has agreed to play on The Shins bill at Merriweather Post Pavilion on October 22, so the 9:30 Club shows have been cancelled.
Because you showed your allegiance by buying your tickets so early, they want to treat you right - you have some choices here:
1 - trade in your ticket for a GA Pit or Reserved pavilion ticket (a
$45 value), for only ten more dollars. You can do it in advance thru the 9:30 Club or Merriweather box office.
2 - present your ticket to Merriweather on October 22 for a lawn seat (a $30) value) - no exchange or extra effort necessary.
3 - Ask for a refund.
Think about what you'd like to do, and well get back to you Monday with more details about how to proceed. Just know that we've got seats and pit spots held for you!
So let me get this straight, Britt... you're canceling BOTH nights just so you can play with The Shins on ONE night? And you're not even going to reschedule a SINGLE DC show?
The Shins are terrible live and I am not spending extra money (and travel time) so I can see Spoon play a 40 minute set and then suffer through a Shins live set. And NO WAY am I seeing that show from the lawn.
Seriously, guys, I call bullshit. I respect the fact that you're getting bigger, and that this is a great opportunity to get more people to hear you. But as a band that has depended on its hardcore fans for more than a decade now, this is a really, really shitty way to treat those fans. Or should the term now be "ex-fan"?
See you on your way back down, fellas.
posted by Steve @ 5:52 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
You're absolutley right. No way I'm going.
I'm hopeful they'll reconsider doing the Tuesday show. keep blogging it.
you might want to try posting your article/complaint on the Spoon yahoo group site & they'll be more likely to see it
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/spoon/
being a long time spoon fan myself, i must say i have to agree with you. I think Britt's an asshole and you can tell by the revolving door of band members! I'm sorry they canceled the DC show :( Don't bother going to the show with the Shins, they're terrible.
try not to get too bitter, people. it is, after all, only a rock show.
as for the person that thinks Britt is an asshole, do you know him? if not, perhaps you should reserve judgment. or maybe it's you that's the asshole and you're just now realizing it. bummer.
It wasn't Spoon that made the decision to back out of the 9:30 Club shows, but actually the guy who does the bookings for 9:30 and Merriweather Pavilion. The guy said so on the 9:30 Club's message boards, so be pissed at him, not the band. I'm upset that I won't get to see them at the smaller venue, but life goes on.
I don't buy it. If a band with a following like Spoon wants to play a show in a town, they can. There's no way they're letting the booking agent for the venue make their career decisions for them.
While I understand that the promoter probably wants to get people to the Merriweather show, and was afraid that keeping the Tuesday show at 9:30 Club might keep some people from attending the Merriweather show, that doesn't excuse the fact that the band isn't scheduling a makeup date for DC.
Any disappointment could easily have been dealt with by a statement from the band saying, "hey, this was a great opportunity to play with friends of ours. We'll be back for a couple shows in December," and this would be a non-issue. Instead, they handled this extremely poorly and essentially sent a message to their fan that they just don't care about them. That's not the type of PR that's going to keep fans.
After considering your response, you're right, this was handled badly, by both the band and the 9:30 Club. From the club's perspective, they probably figured people wouldn't see Spoon at both Merriweather and a club show on Tuesday and they also didn't want to split the audience for The Shins and Spoon, which are drawing largely from the same pool. The booking guy said on the message board that he thought he was doing people a favor by setting up a strong bill for less than what you'd pay to see the bands individually. What he failed to realize is that die-hard Spoon fans have been waiting for a proper headlining club show in an intimate setting rather than the giant festivals that they've been here for already. And you're right that Spoon could have smoothed things over with a simple statement and a promise to come back later on the tour for a club show. I guess I've been holding out hope for that, but the chances of it happening are quickly disappearing. For what it's worth, the 9:30 says that Spoon is still playing a full set at the Merriweather show. I guess I'll have to settle for that, but this was all poorly handled.
Hi guys
I first heard about this situation last week while we were traveling
in Europe. There was some misunderstanding on my part from the
beginning...I was told that the promoter of our show was promoting a
Shins show as well and that all parties involved did not want for
Spoon to be going up against the Shins on the same Monday night. Spoon
was asked would we be ok with getting on the bill with the Shins
instead but not as a typical opener slot, we'd have a full set time.
We're fans of the Shins, and since this was coming from the promoter
of our own show I figured this would be best. What I hadn't understood
at the time was that by combining the Monday night show of both bands
into such a big venue, Spoon would also be giving up its Tuesday night
show. This is my fault. If I had thought about it a little more
carefully I would have realized this would be the case because it's
standard. In order to get as many tickets sold for the bigger show as
possible, they have to eliminate the option of what was to be our
second DC show. Usually without exception, an opening band cannot put
its own smaller show on sale in the same city until the bigger show
sells out. The promoter / band may have been hoping to do the second
show all along but they need to see that the first one's going to sell
through before they can do it.
So, for all of this I apologize. Once I did realize there was no
Tuesday night 930 club show I was like, "fuck!"
We've tried to make sure that there are decent options for those
who had already bought tickets -- as I understand it you can transfer
your ticket from the 930 to the new venue for free (granted, it's on
the lawn), or you can use a 930 ticket to get a seated ticket for
less than it normally would have cost, or you can just get a full
rebate. But I do understand some people just prefer smaller-venue
shows to bigger ones -- this is why we played so many small-room shows
this year (like the Mohawk in Austin, Doug Fir in Portland, Schubas in
Chicago, the Bowery in New York, Cafe Du Norde and Popscene in SF, the
MFA in Boston to name a few of em) when we could have gone for much
more money in much bigger rooms. Since I realized both 9:30 shows were
out of the picture , I've been trying to find out if there are any
options for some kind of smaller show in the area and if something is
possible up we'll of course announce that.
thanks
Britt
First of all, I commend Britt for his comments. The band could have easily chosen to ignore people’s frustrations.
For those of us who are passionate about our bands and their music, it is sometimes difficult to stomach that it is still a business. I do not expect anything better from 930/Merriweather/IMP. They are not providing us with any “value” or deal in moving this band from 2 dates in a club in the city to one weekday October evening in an outdoor venue all the way out in Columbia, Maryland.
Britt, you shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up by even mentioning a “smaller show in the area.” Of course, if that were to occur, fans would be ecstatic. But as it stands, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of those fans currently with tickets to the 930 Club shows will just ask for refunds; I am currently one of them.
Hi again. We did finally figure out a way to do a smaller show in DC:
Spoon and the Ponys will be playing the 9:30 club on Tuesday Oct 23rd,
the day after the Shins / Merriweather show. For those who bought
tickets to either of the original 9:30 shows, admittance is guaranteed
and is free. After that, admittance is free on a first-come basis to
anyone who has a Merriweather ticket. The details get a bit thick, so
I'll just fw what I've been told. Thanks, Britt
>>
>> Spoon will perform a special show at the 9:30 Club for those
>> who bought tickets to either the original Spoon shows at 9:30
>> or to the Shins/Spoon show at Merriweather.
>>
>> Tuesday, October 23
>> 6:00 doors
>> 7:00-7:30 The Ponys
>> 7:45 - 9:00 Spoon (9:00 Curfew))
>>
>> For those who bought Tickets.com tickets to the original 9:30 show:
>>
>> Bring your ticket to the box office at the 9:30 Club or at
>> Merriweather to exchange/upgrade your ticket, at which time
>> you will receive a voucher. This voucher, when presented
>> with the 10/22 Merriweather ticket stub, will guarantee the
>> ticket holder entry to the special show if presented by 6:45
>> PM on the 23rd. You can still get in after 6:45, space
>> permitting of course. Yes that means you get to go to both
>> the Merriweather & 9:30 shows!
>>
>> OR
>>
>> Bring your unused ticket to the show on the 23rd - it will
>> guarantee entry if presented before 6:45, and can still be
>> used for entry after that time, space permitting.
>>
>>
>>
>> For those who purchased Ticketmaster tickets to the Merriweather show:
>>
>> Bring your ticket stub to the 9:30 Club for access to the show.
>> Admittance is limited by capacity and not guaranteed.
>>
>> Operational details:
>>
>> There will be two lines for entry - one (left side) for those
>> with the special 9:30 vouchers combined with the Merriweather
>> tickets, and the other (right side) for those with
>> Merriweather tickets only. We will allow entry through both
>> lines from 6:00 - 6:45, maintaining the balance to
>> accommodate the number of vouchers given out.
>>
Artist: The Shins, Spoon, Vetiver
Venue: Merriweather Post Pavilion
City/State: Columbia, Md.
Event Dates: Oct. 22, 2007
Gross Sales: $112,825
Attendance: 2,889
Capacity: 10,000
Shows: 1
Sellouts: 0
Prices: $45, $30
Promoters: I.M.P.
actually, i do know him. and he is an ass hole
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