Friday, September 10, 2010
Cream Informal Poll: What Should Replace Dancin' in the District, Uptown Mix, Etc.?
Posted by Steve Haruch on Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 9:34 AM
- Photo: smithereen11 on Flickr
Our mayor seems to think we can never have too much music in Music City, even though we've already got CMA Fest/Fan Fair, Next Big Nashville, Americana Fest, IBMA Fest, Live on the Green, Musicians Corner, the National Folk Festival (for three years, at least, starting in 2011) and, by extension, Bonnaroo. So my question for the lovers, the Creamers and me: If we were going to have something like Dancin' in the District again, where would it be, and what would it be like?
One thing I've always wanted to do is close Elliston Place and turn it into a Rock Block worthy of the name for a weekend. Put a main stage at one end and a smaller stage at the other, put a bunch of beer tents out there, get the local restaurants and other vendors to serve food and such on the sidewalk. Book good bands. Have Exit/In and The End set up as weather contingency locations/cooling stations/relaxation zones during the day, afterparty corrals by night, with DJs, dancing, what-have-you. I'm thinking something like the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle, which grew from a neighborhood party with a handful of local bands in the early 2000s into an event headlined by MGMT this year.
Or what about a concert series on the Shelby St. Pedestrian Bridge? The Jefferson Street Blues Festival had a satellite party up there — the Bridging the Gap Mixer — this past June. I'd probably call it the Verse Chorus Bridge Fest, but that's just me. Whatever it was called, it could be cool. You could even rent a bike from the city and ride it there. The Cream's own Lance Conzett once suggested building some kind of stage or outdoor amphitheatre on the old Thermal Plant grounds, which, I mean, "Thermal Fest" just sounds cool, doesn't it?
Or maybe the most obvious option is to re-work the old model and have whatever it is downtown again, or at Riverfront Park, with awesome bands and a less corny name.
Thoughts?
Comments (15)
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I like the Rock Block idea. I wonder if that area is large enough to handle the crowd for that.
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Alright you East Side fiends and you MTSU trollops, I'm gonna say something that might be pretty unpopular here. We should try to concentrate on getting Vanderbilt and Belmont undergrads interested in what's happening locally.
Those Vandy & Belmont kids just aren't coming out to shows for exploration. If there is something that they've heard of, they will come to party and party hard (a la Beach House at Mercy Lounge earlier this year. It was full of underage college kids shamelessly rocking that black X).
I think we need to find a way to erect a temporary outdoor venue somewhere in Hillsboro Village or close to it. I say the Belcourt parking lot. Those kids hoof it to Cabana, Sportsman's Grille, The Villager, Jackson's, Fido, Bosco's, Sunset every weekend and most week nights. It stands to reason that if we rock it, they will come.
Consistently good lineups with national touring acts headling and local hotness providing support should be easy to pull off and would work.
I grew up here, I am in my mid-20's now. I had a lot of friends who went to college here. It's like pulling teeth to get them to a show. Why? They don't want to pay $5 for a bunch of bands they know nothing about. They also don't want to be tied down to one option. Mercy Lounge and The Basement are fine venues to be sure, but they are also limiting when you're trying to plan a night out.
They're going to go get drunk in the Village anyway, might as well get them drunk watching a lot of cool music. Over and out.
Mike, good point on the Vanderbilt bubble. It's come up a few times in stories we've done about how club draws determine the kind of bands that come through here. People have often said they'd trade MTSU for Vandy any day when it comes to supporting the club scene. Take your pick: Research groups working on top-funded programs curing cancer, or 20-year-olds with decent taste in indie rock? That said, I think Vandy's Rites of Spring has cornered the market on a decent outdoor show at this point.
I remember the concerts in Jackson's parking lot were a pretty big hit. Saw plenty of Voonderschlotts rocking out to Derek Trucks one time, which was kind of weird. Why not do something regularly in Belcourt's parking lot. They could rope it off and seel adult beverages. You've got that whole avenue which has sprung up and is full of potential sponsers who'd benefit from the traffic. The booking would have to come from outside VU/BU though, unless you want crap like OAR and Mutemath every week.
RoS is cool and all, but it's not free, and while it is open to the public, it's for Vandy students first. I'd venture to guess that a good number of folks (fiends and trollops, as it were) don't want to enter the Vandy bubble at all, even for a good lineup.
For what it's worth, the Belcourt parking lot (for a Scene music festival, no less) and Dragon Park have hosted concerts, just nothing on the scale of D in the D.
@burrito: Was that called Village Vibes or some such? The names of these things, sheesh.
Village Vibes sounds familiar. I recall Llama playing a show in the lot with a full out Mexican costumes one Halloween. Personally, I'd stay away from 21st / Hillsboro area becuase it has plenty of business anyhow. Adding concerts would only create a bigger parking headache in that area.
The Riverfront was a good place, but from what I recall, the rent on the land skyrocketed and put DnD out of business. I don't know if that happened with Riverstages or not, although a plethora of crappy bands sure didn't help their case in the last couple years.
Having said that, I support the folks putting on the Live On The Green shows. I hope the weather holds up for them. It's a good thing for the city. I've been seeing a lot more press on it this year, which is always a good thing.
I can't imagine anything less enticing than trying to park in Hillsboro Village for a music festival. It's damn near impossible to park down there on a normal evening or weekend as-is.
The giant empty field which was supposed to become the Sounds stadium (between the Music City Star station and the Gateway Bridge) also has potential.
It's starting to look like those old Thermal Plant talks are coming back around again. If y'all don't remember, Former Mayor Purcell pushed for it as he was reaching the end of his term but it never got through Metro Council (it's amazing that anything does to be honest). I suspect many of the council members were holding out for a Sounds deal, but those have all fallen through.
Anyways, peep this: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100913…
On another note, Mike is totally spot on about the lack of investment that Belmont/Vandy students have in the local music scene. I can only speak for Belmont since that's where I spent 4 years of my life, but for a school full of musicians it seemed like none of them were interested in seeing any bands that their friends weren't in. Which can apply to Nashville's music community in general, but it's problematic in the case of Belmont bands because most Belmont bands don't really play outside of campus. And if they do, they play insular shows at The Rutledge or 12th & Porter's lounge area. There are exceptions, of course--Diarrhea Planet and Delta Saints are reasonable examples--but that's what I've observed.
I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's an uncomfortable shock to go from Belmont famous to playing first at The End to 4 people. Maybe being around music all day long makes you leery of going to shows at night. Maybe being a transient makes you less willing to claw your way to the top. I don't know. Maybe the fact that the NBN conference is happening at Belmont will spur things along. If Belmont students have to buy badges for the conference, maybe they'll go to the shows too.
Back in the day they DID close Elliston and have bands. And artists' tents, food, etc. 'Twas great. The Elliston Street Fair....back in the '80s.
Sevier Park has been hosting the 12th South Concert Series. It certainly has potential.
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