515 Crew

I hate to bring this up but I've been asked. It would be a little off the beaten path. All ages a majority of the time with Booze. Basically as it was pitched to me, The venue is not interested in taking any of the door, just their cost covered and would want to work with local and regional promoters and local bands. However would be backing any shows.

My biggest question is does anyone think we need another venue or do you think it's all being covered by The Mews, HOB and HB?

hob has never really been on my radar, so yeah...another booze-serving venue would be nice.

who would be doing the booking?

HOB and The Mews both suck, and The Haunted Basement is on it's way down the toilet. DO IT!

NO BOOZE. there are plenty of other delicious beverages out there folks that people would buy--how 'bout a root beer only bar? i'd go to that!

i call bullshit on one more pathetic venue that attempts to derive it's primary revenue from alcohol sales. we need a place that has all ages shows with no curfew. otherwise, why not utilize what we have? it doesn't get any better than the mews as far as that goes.

my 2 cents.

how far off the beaten path would this place be?

@nonymous wrote: my 2 cents.

And once again, you're two cents isn't even worth that.

They're not going to take any door money, and they're going to back guarantees for the bands, so how should they make money? I'm not sure what kind of fantasy world you live in, but if a venue doesn't make any money, it doesn't stay open. This sounds like a great idea.

As long as house of bricks keeps their ban-mosh policy I don't think any good shows are going to be going on there hardcore / metal wise when alot of those bands draw kids here....peoples court is HUGE so a smaller place would be better. If you opened a place that sells booze it would be just like Vaudeville.

a bigger version of the Mews would be nice. that place sucks if the band playing there has any sort of popularity (AS IF! okay, I kid)

sooooo basically, a place with the musical variety of the Mews with a larger stage, more capacity, and larger bar.

...good luck with that.

@nonymous wrote:NO BOOZE.

NO WAY

Sounds like a good idea to me. There's always room for another live music venue in this town. What would be cool is good little neighborhood place like the Hull, but with 515 Crew bands instead of Des Moines Music bands.

Joey Chaos wrote:HOB and The Mews both suck, and The Haunted Basement is on it's way down the toilet. DO IT!

The Haunted Basement just had a huge show with a ton of new, younger kids showing up I've never seen before.

It's pretty far away from the toilet.

-Joe.

Joey Chaos wrote:

@nonymous wrote: my 2 cents.

And once again, you're two cents isn't even worth that.

That was perfect.



How does the HOB enforce a "no moshing" rule? Just yell at people from the bar?


Oh, and don't forget Peoples now too

@nonymous wrote:i call bullshit on one more pathetic venue that attempts to derive it's primary revenue from alcohol sales.

root beer doesn't pay the bills.

Joey Chaos wrote:

@nonymous wrote: my 2 cents.

And once again, you're two cents isn't even worth that.

They're not going to take any door money, and they're going to back guarantees for the bands, so how should they make money? I'm not sure what kind of fantasy world you live in, but if a venue doesn't make any money, it doesn't stay open. This sounds like a great idea.

Yeah, what he said, 'comrade'.


I'll go where the good music is at, so yeah, I'd potentially support a new venue.

I would be interested in seeing how this works out. It isn't like the venues that are here right now are making a killing. And what does it mean

the venue is not interested in taking any of the door, just their cost covered

Does that mean they are going to take money for the sound guy and door person?

While I agree that a new venue can't hurt the scene. I would be hesistant to start one based off the current economic standpoint. I mean, why in the world would anyone want to open a business that is just going to barely get by?

I could be entirely wrong though, it could be awesome. I think location is going to play a key part though, as it is not getting any cheaper to travel around the city.

Big Fat Retard wrote:There's always room for another live music venue in this town.

i agree.

weird.

aeon grey wrote:While I agree that a new venue can't hurt the scene.

if you take an already small market and start splitting it in half i could see this being a very bad thing. the only way this can be good is if it brings in things the other venues cant/wont and i dont really see that happening.

storkus wrote:Why is everyone beating around the most important fact, which is that there is a 0% chance of davo actually doing this?

crow wrote:

aeon grey wrote:While I agree that a new venue can't hurt the scene.

if you take an already small market and start splitting it in half i could see this being a very bad thing. the only way this can be good is if it brings in things the other venues cant/wont and i dont really see that happening.

i think scene and market are different. a market would be who you cater to. a scene isnt really a market they go anywhere.?
also i think what davo is talking about is a bar that has someone else set up a band/show to be entertainment.

storkus wrote:Why is everyone beating around the most important fact, which is that there is a 0% chance of davo actually doing this?

I like the idea of a business whose model is to not make money, though. Makes sense, right?

you are my favorite poster. you (almost) always win.

if it was a place that had all styles playing at it, it might work, if it's just people dressed in black with huge piercings, no.

root beer doesn't pay the bills.

if you had kegs of iron horse it would.

it's not the alcohol that bothers me, it's the fact that there isn't a place for younger people to see shows(except the haunted basement) unless they start at 6pm.

21+ shows are fine sometimes, but it seems that it's unwise--even from an economic viewpoint--in this town, given the amount of young people involved in the music scene.

Varg:"How does the HOB enforce a "no moshing" rule? Just yell at people from the bar?"
I was at a show once where a dude wasn't really moshing but just dancing around and maybe bumping into a few people and the door guy, don't know his name but he had long hair and a goatee, ran up behind this dude put him in a chokehold, threw him out, and told him he was banned for the night! As I sat and watched, his girlfriend came up to the door guy and started throwin fists, she was immediately escorted out. I went up to the door guy and asked "so what did that guy do wrong?" He then rudely told me "hey you see those fuckin signs by the bar that say NO MOSHING!?" "Uh,not really, kinda hidden. I think you could've handled that in a better way." "Well shit then you wanna run the fuckin door?" Then I just told him to go fuck himself and left! I have a few friends that have bands that play there so I try to support em, but FUCK THE HOB!!! As far as a new venue, DO IT!!!

@nonymous wrote:NO BOOZE. there are plenty of other delicious beverages out there folks that people would buy--how 'bout a root beer only bar? i'd go to that!

i call bullshit on one more pathetic venue that attempts to derive it's primary revenue from alcohol sales. we need a place that has all ages shows with no curfew. otherwise, why not utilize what we have? it doesn't get any better than the mews as far as that goes.

my 2 cents.

I don't think that is realistic. It is also not realistic to think that you can make enough off of door to support a venue that isn't DIY and just barely under the radar of the city officials.

Here's the situation, first off there would be food with a full menu, maybe even a vegan dish or two. Which maybe able to allow a variance so that those under 21 in after 9pm. There would also be a smaller room that is not part of the main room with a full bar. Much like 1st Ave, it would be possible to make the main room Booze free and allow those that wish to drink in the other bar area.

kenny rock wrote:how far off the beaten path would this place be?

Northside almost to the suburbs.

robdigi wrote:a bigger version of the Mews would be nice. that place sucks if the band playing there has any sort of popularity (AS IF! okay, I kid)

sooooo basically, a place with the musical variety of the Mews with a larger stage, more capacity, and larger bar.

...good luck with that.

I'm not sure if it would be that much bigger then Mews maybe 50 to 100 people more. Bar runs almost the length of the east side of the room with the stage on southside. The set up is better, bigger stage, larger bar and no lame balcony. The size would fit between Mews/HOB and Peeples.

I think the variety is a key but with a few standards to gain a regular crowd.

aeon grey wrote:I would be interested in seeing how this works out. It isn't like the venues that are here right now are making a killing. And what does it mean

the venue is not interested in taking any of the door, just their cost covered

Does that mean they are going to take money for the sound guy and door person?

While I agree that a new venue can't hurt the scene. I would be hesistant to start one based off the current economic standpoint. I mean, why in the world would anyone want to open a business that is just going to barely get by?

I could be entirely wrong though, it could be awesome. I think location is going to play a key part though, as it is not getting any cheaper to travel around the city.

Yes cost would cover door and sound unless the promoter supplied both. This would create a situation where promoters and bands could do their own shows with no ones hands in their pocket. The venue would only be interested in profit from booze and food. I'm sure at some point the venue will have to partner from time to time though. The only concern that I would have is make sure that the promoters pay the bands what they are owed. Not sure how that would be done.

As I see it, a venue hosting live music is marketing. The better you treat your promoters the better the marketing and the larger the draw. At this point, most of the larger regional promoters are dealing with venues that are taking a 10 to 20% cut of the tickets for simply opening the doors. Like the promoters aren't in fact giving them free advertising.

KY Jelly Belly wrote:Varg:"How does the HOB enforce a "no moshing" rule? Just yell at people from the bar?"
I was at a show once where a dude wasn't really moshing but just dancing around and maybe bumping into a few people and the door guy, don't know his name but he had long hair and a goatee, ran up behind this dude put him in a chokehold, threw him out, and told him he was banned for the night! As I sat and watched, his girlfriend came up to the door guy and started throwin fists, she was immediately escorted out. I went up to the door guy and asked "so what did that guy do wrong?" He then rudely told me "hey you see those fuckin signs by the bar that say NO MOSHING!?" "Uh,not really, kinda hidden. I think you could've handled that in a better way." "Well shit then you wanna run the fuckin door?" Then I just told him to go fuck himself and left! I have a few friends that have bands that play there so I try to support em, but FUCK THE HOB!!! As far as a new venue, DO IT!!!

That happened to us once... almost exactly the same situation. That guy threw out the guitar player from Last Hope because he was bouncing up and down with his arm around someone. He even tried to keep us from taking the guy his coat. He was let in the back door about 2 minutes later. He was running his mouth for about 30 minutes about those tiny signs. He even told us we'd be sorry cause we'd never be allowed to play there again... Needless to say he didn't have much to say the next time he ran door at one of our shows.

That is a lame rule, but a few people at HOB, especially Matt, are cool about it... That Mosh-Nazi guy is a hoot though.


Anyway... How soon would this be up and running if it happens?

davo- i like the idea. good luck.

crow wrote:

aeon grey wrote:While I agree that a new venue can't hurt the scene.

if you take an already small market and start splitting it in half i could see this being a very bad thing. the only way this can be good is if it brings in things the other venues cant/wont and i dont really see that happening.

That's the thought that I'm kicking around most of anything. I'm not really sure that there is a market. I know I can get the promoters on line at the beginning but if there isn't the turn out then they are not going to stick it out. Des Moines is one of the hardest cities in the country to gage what demand will be. Plus let's face something, there are very few shows that offer anything off the mainstream beaten path. It seems like there is so many more shows then there was 5 years ago but most of them, well suck. Most are so bland or sub-genre driven that they really don't interest anyone except those that are fans of the genre. Also it seems that the same bands route through time and time again with not much new.

Don't get me wrong it is great that there is such an active music scene here but I just don't feel like it's firing on all 8 cylinders. As far as the venues, I think I've seen shows in over 100 different venues over the years and each has or had it's own problems but for the size the two that we have are not that great. There is a huge amount of possible acts that seem to slip through the fingers of these venues becasue they seem really happy with what they have and don't want to work for a new crowd. This isn't their fault, they are making money which is the goal of being in business. The problem is it can't go on forever. Music fans get bored easily and at some point they are going to move on. Leaving you with a click of regulars dead set on making every new person that walks through the door uncomfortable. It's no secret I don't care for the Mews or HOB. It is also not a secret that I'm not going to hang out at the HB cause I'm almost 40 and don't dig metal crossover hardcore.

So I don't have the answer. Is Des Moines able to support a venue that covers everything from punk and hardcore to metal to indy and alt country to hip hop and god knows what? You know in the past I was told that there was no way Des Moines could support shows that needed more then 100 people to break even. Most of those bands are now playing 1000+ rooms when they come here now. You are only limited by your own vision and the vision of those around you and the money you have to play with.

storkus wrote:Why is everyone beating around the most important fact, which is that there is a 0% chance of davo actually doing this?

I like the idea of a business whose model is to not make money, though. Makes sense, right?

Here's the bottom line. Live music = advertising. Free or at least cheap advertising at that. Bar without live music 50 or 60 customers with a live band you can double or tripple that. If you take this into account in a business plan and not rely on ticket sales to support the business it makes huge sense. Live entertainment is one of the oldest, cheapest and most sucessful forms of advertise. It's been selling booze since the invention of currency.