Benefit for Delilah at Delilah's.

Head on over to Delilah's tonight to help out a good cause. If you've ever been there and met Delilah the rottweiler and her savior Cookie then you know all the details.

Delilah's is located at 2771 N Lincoln Ave in Chicago. They're open from 4pm till 2am tonight. That gives you more than enough time to stop by and enjoy the night. Cookie will be djing and giving away just about anything you could imagine. Almost anything...

Stop in, have a pint or two and help out the most lovable Rot you've ever met.

No need.

I was slightly worried about attending the Event Promoters hearing tomorrow. It's at 10am and at 11am Mortal Decay is scheduled to arrive at my house. So it would have been a big scheduling crash.

Yes, they are arriving at my house. They're coming in from New Jersey and crashing at my house before and after the show. I wouldn't do this for just any band but I do for friends.

Remember to come out to Cobra Lounge tomorrow night. There's been some changes to the show again and it looks as of now that it's a 2 band show.

Gaius Acilius had to cancel due to their own scheduling conflicts.

After tomorrow's show, I have another in my head for August but that's still in the works. I believe the DJ nights at the Dirt Room are more than likely done for the summer. I'll probably start them back up once fall hits again and people want to be trapped indoors.

I'll keep you posted.

-Rev

Jim DeRogatis - Ordinance tabled (for now)

UPDATE: Promoter's ordinance tabled (for now)

Following a nearly unprecedented outpouring of concern from the Chicago music community and a meeting with activists and some of the top concert promoters and venue owners in Chicago, Ald. Eugene Schulter, chairman of the City Council License Committee, decided on Tuesday that he will not present the so-called "event promoter's ordinance" to the full council for a vote on Wednesday -- and that the committee will go back to work on fine-tuning the law.

Schulter and representatives of the city Department of Business Affairs & Licensing met with members of the Chicago Music Commission, Metro owner Joe Shanahan, Jam Productions talent booker Nick Miller and Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney Tuesday morning, a day before the law was expected to be passed by the City Council.

Made aware of concerns in many corners of Chicago's arts communities, Schulter asked DBA for more facts and figures about the alleged "problem venues" and "underground promoters" that the ordinance was designed to curtail. Some of those who attended the meeting said DBA had to admit that it had no hard information and that it has not formally studied the extent of the alleged problem that the law was crafted to address; they had only the anecdotal evidence of the single tragic incident at the E2 Nightclub five years ago.

The law will return to committee for more work and public input before a council vote is considered again. Schulter told the meeting he expects that process will take at least a month.

"We are not sure when it will come out of committee for a vote, but we hope that Chairman Schulter will wait until he and the city have engaged the music community publicly and meaningfully so their concerns can be heard and hopefully incorporated into the eventual law," said Chicago Music Commission board member Bruce Iglauer.

"We are pleased that Chairman Schulter has responded to community concerns here, and we look forward to working with him, members of the Committee, DBA staff and other music community stakeholders to come up with a workable version of the ordinance."

Posted by Jim DeRogatis on May 13, 2008 01:00 PM

Comment on Chicago's Music Promoters License

I entered a comment on Jim DeRogatis' blog. I have a feeling it might get rejected due to one word I used. So I'll post it here and if it is rejected I'll remove the word and repost it.

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I can personally say that if this goes through I am through with putting on events in Chicago.

I am not a "big fish". I am not a voice that can reach into the pockets of those that would be interested. I do not rely on events to pay my way. If I did, I'd be doing illegal house parties, raves and loft parties.

I put on 2 or 3 concerts a year and I do a monthly dj night. If I wanted to make money off of shows for a living I'd never have tried to do it in this city to begin with. Too much competition and way too much money involved.

I don't rely on ticket sales to pay bands. I rely on having the money on hand before the night of the show.

Not a single event have I ever made enough money to even go so far as to pay my rent. I usually take all the money made at the door and split it between the bands. I might keep enough to pay for a cab ride home if needed.

I can say that I pay money out of my own pocket at the end of the night to make sure the bands get what was needed.

I will say now that if I have to pay for a license because the city doesn't want to enforce the laws and ordinances they already have, I won't.

Maybe I'll continue to do shows outside of the city limits. That's still to be seen.

Why do I do shows that cost me money? Everyone needs a hobby and because I like to offer the opportunity to bands to come in and show people what they can do. To open themselves up to a new area and hopefully gain new fans.

Everything I do, I do inside a licensed and insured establishment.

I do not promote or organize illegal house parties or raves. However, if the laws were stronger against people that held these illegal activities maybe the city wouldn't have to cover their asses and make everyone pay for a license to an ordinance that allows blame to fall on the venue and the promoters rather than the venue and the city.

Maybe the city should offer a "per head" ticketing system for people that organize and promote illegal loft parties, raves, and such inclined events. Every person at such an event is a $20 fine. And maybe they should enforce the underage and curfew policies for anyone that is underage at these events. But that might take too much man power and too much time. And this isn't about who's at the event. It's about who's putting it together and telling people about it. No need to ticket the underage kids because they didn't put together the event. They just showed up and got drunk. Even though they know they're not supposed to drink until they're of legal age.

After all, the city wants to determine who the good guys and bad guys are so wouldn't the fact that these events aren't in legal establishments do that?

I think it's funny how all of a sudden, the big venues like the Rosemont and United Center threatened to take their business out to the burbs if this passed. Now all of a sudden, they're exempt from it and they no longer care.

The biggest reason such venues said this was simple. They have a lot of people from other states that book events there. Circus', carnivals, monster trucks, concerts and such. Accordingly, all these outside promoters from other states and cities would have to buy this license. Even though they do not reside within the limits of the city of Chicago.

These promoters plainly said that they would take their events to other venues such as the Metro Centre in Rockford IL. The city doesn't want that to happen so now these larger venues are exempt. Thus, the outside promoters do not need the license.

The only thing I can offer to everyone, that is a small time player like myself, is this.

Search out venues that are outside of the city limits but close enough for trains and buses. As soon as the word is given that the license has become legitimate, cancel all the shows you have, even if they happen before the 5 month limit, and try to reschedule them outside of the city.

If everyone does this it might send a message to the city.

Highly doubtful, slightly possible, but it will save you the money instead of paying for a license that basically keeps the city out of court for not enforcing the laws and ordinances it already has.

City of Chicago's Event Promoter License & Me

Ok, so what's the big deal about the Event Promoter License that the City of Chicago wants to enforce?

Here's the deal. I consider myself an Event Promoter. I might only put on 2 concerts a year and 1 dj night a month but that's considered an Event Organizer/Promoter.

So now, if this license passes I have to pay $2,000 a year in order to do what I like to do, at this point, as a hobby. Even though my events are within legitimate venues that have all the permits and licenses that are required. Even though I haven't made any money at all doing this in the past 2 years. In fact, I've given money away for these things to happen.

Technically, this effects every person that puts together any type of an event. A dj night, a concert, an art opening, any type of event that charges a cover at the door.

Well, they did change the terms of the license since last year.

Last year this license went all the way across the board. It effected every single person that ever put on a show. Here's one of the major ways it changed.

The license fee before was $2,000 for every 2 years, for everyone. For the little people like me all the way to the charity organizations and up to major organizations like, everyones friends, JAM Productions.

Here's how the license fees changed.

License fees, payable every two years, would range from $500 to $2,000, depending on the size of the venues in which the promoters operate. The city, non-profit organizations promoting their own events and promoters at "fixed-seating" venues with at least 500 seats, such as the United Center, would be exempt.

So here's a quick thought. Last year the license got shot down. You know why? Because places like the United Center, JAM Productions, the Rosemont and all the other major players said they'd take their business to the burbs. An action like that would culturally crush the city of Chicago. Not to mention the amount of money the city would lose out.

So now the city is listening to the major players and they decided that they shouldn't have to pay for this license. Even though, out of all the people that will be effected, the major players are the only ones that could afford such a ridiculous fee.

Here's another thing that I noticed from the Tribune's article. It's in regards to the E2 incident that happened almost 5 years ago.

Months after the stampede, an independent panel that reviewed the disaster and emergency response concluded that inadequate city inspection procedures and lack of city agency coordination allowed the club to stay open months after a court ordered it shut.

So wasn't it the city's fault that all this happened? Oh yea, the city doesn't do anything wrong.

If you want more information on this please follow these links.

Chicago City Council panel OKs licensing plan for event promoters
Chicago's promoter's ordinance: What the city wants, the city gets?
Jim DeRogatis' Blog
Chicago Music Commission's site
Rules inspired by E2 stampede approved


If you are an event promoter please contact your Alderman and express your concerns BEFORE Wednesday May 14th.. If you don't then don't feel bad that you have to leave the city to do the events that you like to do.

The floor at this meeting is not open to the public. It's a hearing for the Aldermen to vote on whether or not to impose the license.

This site will help you find out who your Alderman is and how to contact them.

http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html

Go there, find them and contact them. Let them know your concerns and let them know how it will effect you.

If you can, appear at the hearing. Maybe if enough people show up to boo down the license they'll listen.

The hearing is on Wednesday May 14, 2008, at 10:00 a.m.

The City Council meets in the Council Chamber located on the Second Floor of City Hall, 121 North La Salle Street.

Chicago Music Promoters Ordinance Round 2

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

The Chicago City Council has fast-tracked its new version of a measure first introduced last year to greatly impede independent promoters attempting to hold events in the city. Under the proposed law, independent promoters would have to acquire a promoter's license at a cost of up to $2000 every two years, obtain liability insurance for every event thrown, even if the presenting venue already has liability insurance, be fingerprinted and background checked, and maintain extensive records of each event. The ordinance allegedly is intended to prevent disasters like the one that occurred in the E2 nightclub several years ago, but really would just put many small indies (not to mention non-profits that rely on events for fundraising, like CHIRP) out of business.


Jim DeRogatis has been following the story closely, so you can read further here:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/

FYI, the ordinance exempts non-profits from certain portions of the rules (although not the extensive record keeping), but requires a group to have been in existence for at least three years, or to "be qualified for" 501(c)3 status. CHIRP, while non-profit, has only been around since August 2007, and is still being advised on 501(c)3 issues, a process that often takes more than a year from application to approval. This means events ranging from our Record Fair to dance parties at Town Hall Pub to speaking events by media activists might be out of our reach under the new ordinance...and if we cannot throw those events to raise money, there is no way to fund our organization.


If you value live music in Chicago (and the work of the Chicago Indie Radio Project), it's important that you make your voice heard. Call your alderman and ask him or her to oppose the Promoter Ordinance. Be polite. Tell him or her you support live music in Chicago, and feel this ordinance would kill many great events. Say you want venues to be safe, but this ordinance goes too far.


Your voice makes a difference. Place a call to your alderman's office today.


This page will help you find your alderman and give you his or her phone number -- quick and easy! It only takes a couple of minutes.

http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html

And if you're able, come to the city council meeting on Wednesday, May 14 at 10AM in City Council chambers, and speak out against the measure.

Cancellation.

Just got an email today from Gaius Acilius. Turns out there's some scheduling complications and they won't be able to play the show on the 14th.

Now begins the mass emailing to find a filler in under a weeks notice.

Show Update

FINALLY!!!

There is now a full roster for the show and it's 100% confirmed!!

Making Ghosts

Chapter Seven

Kentucky Shades

Chainwax

There was a scheduling conflict with Calling All Destroyers so they had to cancel.

The show goes on.

This will be a post b-day bash so if you go you'll probably see me in my famous drunken state. Then again.. I do have to work the next day.... ha ha...

-Rev

Decision 06

Well, some of you might think this post is about the whole Decision '06 Election Ballots... Then again, if you know me, you know it's not.

Halloween was a pretty eventful holiday all this past weekend. Plenty of things were going on all weekend, all the way up to last night. Sadly, the devil never showed up and offered to buy my soul again.. or is that something you can only sell once?

Well, the decision as to whether or not to move to Vegas has been made. It took so long to make the decision that I decided not to go. There's a few factors involved that helped to keep me around. Family, friends, all the bullshit involved to actually move there, and work. Not that I didn't have work waiting for me out there but the work I have here.

So we'll see what the future holds. I'm getting some paperwork together for future endeavors.

Speaking of the future. I put together a "farewell" show at the Double Door for November 28th. Since it's no longer a farewell show it's now going to be a free admission, come get drunk show. Out of all the shows I've ever put together this had to be the hardest one yet. Since it's the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving a lot of the bands I asked to play had someone out of town or they had a show too close to the date to play mine. But I'm still happy with the line up that we have.

So check out these bands and make sure to mark it in your calendars so you can show up. Here's the line up.

Doors open at 8pm and the first band goes on at 9pm.

Making Ghosts

Chapter Seven

Kentucky Shades

Calling All Destroyers

It should be a really good show and I hope everyone can make it.

If not... you suck.