Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wow Sean Hannity and Michael W. Smith to “Rock” Nashville
Posted by D Patrick Rodgers on Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Everybody’s favorite right-wing windbag Sean Hannity has been announced as the keynote speaker at a fundraiser luncheon on behalf of Rocketown. Also performing at the event will be Rocketown founder and Christian-pop sensation Michael W. Smith. Rally for Rocketown is being held at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena on Oct. 7 prior to the presidential debate at Belmont.
“Rocketown is grateful that Sean Hannity has generously agreed to share his political insight during this unique election season,” said Audra Davis, director of development at Rocketown. “An election year offers us all the opportunity to remember our freedoms as Americans, a value that Rocketown emphasizes in our mission to create a safe, supportive environment where youth feel valued and can express themselves freely and creatively.”
Yes. We must all remember our freedoms. Freedoms to do things like Hannidate. Tickets are $100, but you can become a sponsor for as little as $2,000.
Props to contributor Adam Gold for providing us with the scoop.
Comments (37)
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I really feel sorry for a lot of younger kids whose few options for shows in town are places like this. I'm glad that seems to be changing with the Youth Culture and Arts Center and other house venues in the Boro, as well as Little Hamilton, the Muse, and a few houses in Nashville.
I've never been to Rockettown and I never intend to, because of bullshit like this. Kids shouldn't have to be subjected to dogma under the guise of entertainment to create and be a part of their own culture around here. Fuck Hannity but more importantly, fuck Michael W. Smith. With a splintered cross.
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hate to admit it but I saw MWS in concert with my church youth group when I was a youngster. now everyone knows my darkest secret.
actually. i've played rcktwn a number of times and there's actually really nothing preachy or especially political about the place aside from the fact that the people behind the scenes are christian. but to walk in and hang out for a night, you'd honestly never know.
every performing artists signs a contract stating their start and times, money guarantee, and clauses that prohibit performers from using foul language, and (why i thought this was a tad ironic) engaging in any overtly political speech between songs. so not only is the venue not handing out dogma, the bands aren't allowed to either.
i mean, if you don't drink, don't smoke, don't mind bands with dramatic-sounding sentences for names, and like to kick it with 15 year olds. it's kind of a cool place.
i've had my problems with rocket town since the beginning but the times i've been there, i really have felt like it is more about "safe place for kids to hang out" than "place to indoctrinate kids" which is fine because every young person goes through the experience of realizing something that was cool when they were 12 is not all that cool when they are more world wise. this being the case, i think it's ethically wrong for dubya smith to so willingly embrace a guest such as hannity who has done more to divide, mislead, incite, and just generally distract our country than most "entertainers" on the boob tube. ethical reasons aside, it's just plain bad taste.
I appreciate the majority of coverage that you do, Nashville Cream, but this is a case where I wish you'd just write about something else today...
I mean, this thing is obviously not for the kids, right? They're just raising some money so he'll be preaching to the choir, you know? not brainwashing kids into young republicans who might (gasp) grow up and work for a corporation.
"clauses that prohibit performers from using foul language, and (why i thought this was a tad ironic) engaging in any overtly political speech between songs. so not only is the venue not handing out dogma, the bands aren't allowed to either."
That's the thing though, is the heavy handed approach that they have of restricting content is completely at odds with creating a "supportive environment where youth feel valued and can express themselves freely and creatively" as their representative said above. They're petrified of freedom unless they control it and it's tied in with their agenda.
And although it may not be shoved in your face when you walk in the door (I should have been more specific about my dogma comment), the fact that they don't ALLOW kids to say what they want and confront those views through open discussion is what's so offensive to me.
Putting a gag order on people isn't the way to promote your beliefs or foster creativity and freedom. Neither is treating kids like sheep by assuming they SHOULDN'T be exposed to language and opinions that some might find offensive.
I see your point, Larry, and agree with you... but I'm still of the opinion that Hannity's shit will stink up that place, despite how big it is, for a long time to come. Of course, what do I know? Perhaps one luncheon of many donors will draw more cash than a lifetime of Nashvillians who maintain a favorable view of said establishment. Also... Highonlife is right about the contradictions in their mission statement or whatever you want to call it.
You hit the nail on the head with that last sentance, HOL. Rocketown masquerades in the trappings of 'edgy youth culture' but the whole thing comes across as a teen day care where The Powers That Fancy Themselves Relevant can carefully moniter what the kids are exposed to. The fact that they do this under the guise of some psuedo-skaterpunk fascade does nothing to hide the fact that its a cheap and pathetic attempt to shape unassuming young peoples' worldview.
i see what you're saying, but i just don't know if i see it that way.
what the contract actually says - and i had to go dig this up out of a 3 year old email - is "We also have a no preaching policy; RCKTWN is not an appropriate place for you to rant about your political, religious, or social views. We expect that you are writing songs which express your beliefs and views on the world which is fully encouraged. "
young kids are what keep that place open. it's there as a safe place for them to go hang out and yeah, express themselves freely and junk. and i don't see anything there stopping them. i agree that the youth are the most important people to reach with progressive ideals, but filling their heads with whatever rhetoric and propaganda that night's random touring band has to offer could be bad for business, especially when they go home spewing it to their parents.
and whose to say this has anything to do with restricting free speech or protecting the kids. honestly, if i owned a venue, even if it were strictly for adults, i think i'd have the same policy. less talk, more rock. if i wanted a sermon, i'd go to church.
"RCKTWN is not an appropriate place for you to rant about your political, religious, or social views."
So what they mean is RCKTWN is not a place to exercise your 1st Amendment Rights. Yeah, great policy, real classy.
yeah. it's a place for little kids to play air hockey and listen to bad music. let 12 year olds be 12 year olds.
nobody's stopping anyone from discussing whatever they want among themselves, and nobody's stopping the bands from singing songs about satan, krishna, or shitting in the mouths of underage girls. just seems like a shut-up-and-play policy to me
i have no vested interest in the place. it just seems all the people talking shit are the ones who've never stepped foot inside.
and where the hell are you hanging out that makes politically charged monologues so integral to a rock show?
Who said anything about politically charged monolouges being integral to anything, much less a fucking rock show? It wasn't me. I just don't like the idea that somebody would make you sign away your right to free speech, especially when their funding comes from Hannity speaking engagements. You put those two things in the same sentance and people are gonna notice. But by all means keep hanging out and playing air hockey with the 12 year olds.
It's not just about politics to me. What if you're 16, you've got a friend who's had to face the reality of abortion, and you want to impart the gravity of that situation to an audience of people your age who may go through the same thing. Maybe even give them a message of hope or tell them somewhere to go for help. Rockettown is saying that they don't want your opinion on the subject on their stage.
THAT is why I think it's bullshit, and THAT's why I'm never going there. It's not a "no preaching" issue as they try to frame it. They are differentiating between the type of content that they will allow, and that's where it becomes a slippery slope. I don't want to pay to see a band of underage kids cussing for no reason and launching into anti-Bush or even anti-God rants in between songs, but should they have the right to do that if they want? Abso-fucking-lutely.
i think you're completely omitting the part where they openly encourage those who are playing to write songs about these things and play them. that's far from banning anyone from discussing these things. in fact, i feel it's much more constructive and conducive to force a kid (or more likely, an adult being paid to play there) to use their art to say what apparently needs to be said so badly. seriously, if you're not talented enough to do that, why should they let you on stage?
for a place that offers afternoon classes blogging, zine-making, digital photography, YouTube film editing, guitar lessons, urban arts such as graffiti, even an urban rhyme lab for aspiring rappers" (taken from Tracy's very in depth feature on the place), they really do a good job at hiding their scorn for the 1st ammendment.
i think you're also completely missing proof that the kids who go here are receiving some kind of political influence otherwise.
my original point - though poorly made - was that i felt it ironic that this was their fundraiser, considering that they're otherwise so much against it happening on site.
HighonLife, when was the last time you were around a young teenager? They're not adult people, dude. I'm not religious in any way, but as a parent, I would much rather drop off my kids at a place where they'd be less likely to be inundated with the kind of digusting shit you led this thread off with.
And like you said, you've never been there. I just don't get the hatred.
bottom line is its a private place. they can do what the hell they want and make any rule they want, and guess what...you don't have to let your kids go there if you don't like it. it's all good.
Actually "open-minded dude", I know a lot of kids around the 16-18 year range that are setting up shows around town by themselves because venues like Rockettown probably wouldn't book them. Whether that's due to the musical style, their draw, or their politics is not my position to decide. I also know a few kids who go to shows there, but think it's a joke. I understand that my comment about the splintered cross is a little brash, but I'm not PC and I prefer the music and art I'm a part of not to be that way either. I can understand if you want to keep your kid away from something like that.
Re: the political influence - that's why I was saying I should have been clearer about that. I'm not trying to assert that this place is churning out mini-Republicans. All I'm saying is that any place that is trying to curb what you are allowed to say obviously has some kind of agenda, whether it's political or otherwise.
Larry is right, it's a private place and they can do what they want. I'd rather just stay away from it and be allowed to SAY what I want.
Something tells me that the folks shelling out $100 for tickets to this thing are breeding mini-republicans anyway. The future of golf is in good hands.
can someone explain to me the Cream/Scene's obsessive/excessive use of the word "douche"
as a descriptive term?
You guys even used it in the the NBN insert.
What do you mean by it, as i've seen it used in so many different ways on this blog. Is this a 20-something phenom?? have you run out of other words to say the same thing? Is a negative or a positive?
Frankly, i feel unclean just reading it...
hmmm... by answering this, i feel like i'm walking straight into another zinger, but...
"douche" is always bad.
Unless you are female and using the clinical term, in which case I can only assume its good for what ails ya. Whatever that may be and lets not ponder it.
When I was 16 we would have laughed our asses off at that no-preaching mission statement, and then ripped the place a new one. But I didn't grow up here in paddy-cake land and I agree, Larry's right about private institutions, however douchey their supporters may be.
The thing about Rocketown is that when they say safe they don't just mean safe in a physical sense or safe from drugs etc... They also mean safe from "bad influences". Safe from any real culture. Safe from profanity. Safe from sex. Not to sound cliche, but isn't that whole approach completely antithetical to what rock and roll is supposed to be all about? Danger, rebellion, the questioning of authority. Who the hell are you questioning if your being represented by Sean Hannity? What the fuck kind of rock club bans profanity? The PMRC didn't even try to do that, at least not in music venues. And what kind of teenagers just settle for it? All these kids should have to be forced to watch Footlose, and see Kevin Bacon and Chris Penn fight for their right to dance. Fuck Sean Hannity and fuck Rocketown. And watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkA6zugNMQ
It seems like there are lots of options besides Rocket Town (I'm not about to type that ridiculous faux acronym) for kids to hang, and it seems like no one is making anyone on this blog go there, so who cares? It's so crazy when guys like High on Life feel compelled to scream "fuck you" to people they shouldn't give two shits about in the first place. I stopped hanging out with "douches" like that in like Sophmore year. High on Life, are you a college Freshman?
You're right, Gold, because culture is defined by profanity. Dudes: RCKTWN IS NOT A ROCK CLUB! The rules of rock and roll do not apply there beacuse it's just a fucking coffee shop for kids to go! Get over yourselves!
Also, profanity is 'banned' at a lot of places intended for kids, even if it's not a church-in-club's-clothing. Little league, skateparks, etc. There's always that 'no profanity' rule hanging around. It makes profanity that much more fun.
also, if you think kids aren't cussing like sailors and smoking cigs outside that place, you're wrong. if you think there isn't the same graffiti in the bathrooms you wouldn't find at the end, you're wrong again. if you think the same kids drinking in the parking lot of the Muse aren't doing the same at RCKTWN... you get the point.
Jon Decious puked onstage during a Pink Spiders show. Tim Armstrong gave the middle finger about 10 times during Rancid's set. I didn't see Social Distortion or AFI, but I'm sure those guy's weren't making any effort to watch their language either. it's just policy. They've made an effort to sanitize the place as best they can - because there are fucking 9-year-olds hanging out in that piece. but it's not the fucking Gestapo. like was pointed out above, you're going to be hard pressed to find a hang out spot for kids that doesn't have these same rules. there's a shitload of liability that comes with watching people's kids. you can't hold it up to the standards of your average rock venue because their objectives are polar opposite. venues are there to sell beer. rcktwn is there to sell tickets.
again, the people with the worst things to say about this place have admittedly never been, and know very little about what they're talking about. I've played there at least a dozen times, at least once on all three stages, and never once did i feel censored, hindered, or artistically stifled. i've seen the same art on the walls i've seen at cafe coco, the red rose, fido, and the nashville public library. i've seen the same bands i've seen at The End. the biggest difference is i had to settle for a latte instead of a PBR, and all the girls are way too young for me. and yeah, i got shook down at the door. but Columbine was to all ages venues what 9/11 was to airports. a sign of the times.
"...but Columbine was to all ages venues what 9/11 was to airports. a sign of the times."
I don't disagree with that, and I suppose the kiddos still have the Muse for pure unadultarated unadulthood. I still say fuck Hannity, but you made some good points, Casio. Have a good weekend everybody.
Remember, this rule works both ways. It also means no one is getting up at a Christian-backed teen club and testifying about the Christian faith or preaching about abstinence, abortion or anything else.
I have two kids who have been going to RKTWN for a couple of years. To them, it's a cool club where they can hear bands they like, discover new ones, and dance, mosh, whatever. They were 14 and 15 the first time they went, and they weren't going to a club show with that kind of sound and proximity to the stage anywhere else. And I felt OK about them being there. Hannity is the opposite of where I stand politically, but I'm glad the club exists.
no one who works int that place is a crazy christian, some of different religions, but me and my friends have been using that place for shows since middle school. it is just a place for kids to hang out, and is paid for by "Sean Hannity". So fuck Sean Hannity from the stage he paid for.
Ah Nashville. You haven't changed much since I left 2 years ago. You're full of people who would rather bitch about a group folks willing to work insane hours cleaning up after your kids' messes, taking them home when their parents are too drunk or passed out or detached to pick them up from the skate park, who make court appearances on behalf of kids, buy them food when they are homeless and out of money, pick them up on the curbside when their parents have kicked them out, deal with their attitudes, their sarcasm, their body odor and their hatred toward the world. No, you'd rather use your Comcast high speed internet access from your cubicle or your house in Brentioch to use politics and Michael W. Smith as an excuse to bitch and complain about the world instead of getting up off your ass to actually do something for these kids. Can't you see past Michael W and Hannity? Don't you think that the staff there sure as hell does? I imagine they do. At the very least they'll ignore the hype and the controversy about some luncheon that has very little to do with them or the kids or the actual work they do and will most likely go back to doing the same thankless job tomorrow, and the next night, and the next. And many, many faceless kids in your town will be all the better for it. Consider helping out. And if you can't stomach that, consider shutting up.
Liberal or conservative. Republican or Democrat. Regardless of your political stripes, Sean Hannity is a "Grade A" piece of sh!t. And if you are a fan? Then you are also a piece of sh^t. This is not a left VS right issue. It is a piece-o-sh!t vs non-piece-o-sh!t issue. Classical republicanism is fine by me but pure, unadultered fascism? Not so much...
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