CRUCIAL CHANGES

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Dog days of summer - Summer Scene Report + more...

We are in full swing summer mode now, and to a lot of us, summer is nearly over with school coming and and such. This summer for me has seemed to not to have a lot of shows happen compared to recent years. The main reasons for this was two of our local show spaces have closed from various causes, making it harder to book shows. The folks previously at the manor have found a new house and have been throwing shows now, and I must say that the new spot is pretty nice, with a fairly large basement. As posted yesterday, Mad Ave has closed for good, but the punks in Lincoln have some alternatives going on to keep shows from happening.

In local scene news, Omaha emo rockers Places We Slept, just released their debut 7" a couple days ago and are now out on the road playing Midwest dates. Expect to read a written review on the new 7" in a few weeks. In other news, Lincoln HARDcore boys, Bent Life have recently hit the road on a summer tour, and I can assume will have a new demo out soon being that they played some new songs last time I saw them. More info on that once I find out for sure. Also, Lincoln blasters; Wasteoid and Nasty Asshole, and Vickers are gearing up for Grind Your Mother Fucking Dick Off Fest V up in Minneapolis this coming weekend. Any readers from the Twin City area should definitely check that event out.

It has been quite the busy summer here at the CCHQ. The MIX CD-R VOL.1 is now sold out. Thank you to whoever bought a copy. My 3rd zine Interview(s) is currently available, and as of today first printing is a little more than half gone. There will be a short, limited second pressing, but don't sleep too long. Today I started work on my second CD-R comp., and submissions are officially CLOSED.
The band listings for VOL.2 is as followed:

Belyth

Dirty Diamonds

Feral Hands

Flies

Grabass

Grimer

Sleeve design has started today, and should be finished and ready to print within a week. All mp3 conversion, liner booklet, and cd duplication should be finished the week after next. Expect an official street date to be Sat., August 20th. with a possibility of being ready for the Thrones show Aug 17th in Lincoln. All progress updates will be posted on this blog as they happen.

That is it for now, expect to see a mid-summer photo update soon. I hope to see you all at the next show. Peace.

-Keith

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Mad Ave closes.

On Sunday night, the following statement was posted online from the folks at Mad Ave concerning the status of new all-ages DIY venue in Lincoln:

"As many of you are aware, last Friday we received the final notice on Mad Avenue, letting us know that we were done for good.
The decision was made by our property manager to cancel our lease after a long, hard fought battle between ourselves, local business owner Amanda Bragg (owner of P.J. Babycakes), and Lincoln police Captain Doug Srb.
After taking great measures to ensure that we had followed all city codes and ordinances, the two above were hell-bent on stopping us from opening. After many meetings and attempted discussions to find a comprising middle ground, it was obvious that they were going to do everything in their powers to keep our doors closed, including slandering us with false accusations of underage drinking on our property, bullying us with the Lincoln dance-permit, that we did not need, and threatening us with potential lawsuits. Captain Srb went on record to say that he “just didn’t want us to open.”
These people do not support Lincoln. They do not support small businesses. They do not support the growth of the community. Their selfish actions have cost us countless dollars and hours, just because they couldn’t wrap their minds around an “all-ages, drug and alcohol free music venue”.
Ultimately our property manager decided that these threats were too great, and although we displayed a valiant effort, doing everything in our power we simply ran out of options. It is with a heavy heart that we close the doors on something that was never really given a chance to show what kind of good it could do.
There are a lot of people that we would like to thank for all of their support through these trying times. Thanks to Lindy Kurtzer for helping us financially when we needed it in a big way. All of our families for their advice, tips, and support. Matt Westenberg of the S.B. Property group for sticking with us all the way to the end and helping us in every way that he could. Raws, Shane, Will C, Duff, Andrew Norman, and everyone else that booked a show at Mad Ave (or tried to!). Our dude Ray Diamond. David Germer, Jeff Kalasky, and everyone else that donated money to us, no matter how much or little. Matt and Andy for helping with the construction work. Jeremiah at the Bourbon for giving us equipment and advice. The Biodome, the Diamond Palace, the Brad, Cam, Benji house, and anyone else that helped us move a show. All the bands that got to play, and last but not least everyone that came to a show at Mad Ave. We owe you all so much for helping with this. At the very least this was a learning experience for us.
Several of us plan to do something like this again in the future, after we recoup our losses, perhaps in early 2012. Although, with the obvious resistance of people in the city of Lincoln, moving our efforts to Omaha has been heavily discussed. It is painfully apparent to us why Lincoln remains a stagnant city while others grow all around them.
Thanks,
Matt Vicars, Cody Hurd, Brock Stephens, Lindsay Thompson
7/31/11"
-via Mad Ave's Facebook

Pissed? Please email Lincoln Police Dept. and voice your concerns about Mad Ave closing HERE and HERE.

Respect to everyone involved in Mad Ave, especially for handling the situation on a mature level. My opinion on this issue is that of embarrassment on behalf of those who wouldn't allow Mad Ave to flourish. Shame on you. It is sad that something new and progressive isn't allowed to happen in our community, even when done legally.

What is you opinion on this matter? Has something similar to this happen with your scene or community? Let me know.