Premier Rock Forum

this question is more directed towards people who live here in chicago, or who are familiar enough with this town through touring to know the club, Cabaret Metro:

am i the only musician/patron who despises this club?

every show i attend there is ruined for me by the fact that i can't stand this place. the edifice itself is unoffensive, archetechturally speaking (but i can't say the same for the elevator)...but the management is horrible. what the hell is up the the obnoxious attitudes displayed by the two-bit pussies who work there? what the fuck is up with the goddamned "water policy" at the bars? and why the fuck does everybody think this place is so fucking important?

as a musician, i've never met anybody else who feels the same way as i do about this club. but seriously--i CANNOT be the only person in this town who wants to stick a few lit roman candles up joe shanahan's ass.

is anyone brave enough to venture a few comments? am i just a jaded asshole, or what?

regards,
jet.

The last time I went to the metro I lost my coat check ticket. The coat check guy was on a power trip, and told me there was nothing I could do. So, I started in with a couple of well placed insults (in spite of inebriation) causing him a bit of humiliation in front of a fairly large crowd of coat check patrons. He tried to have one of the bouncers throw me out. The bouncer laughed at him, but I still ended up leaving jacketless. House of Blues is even worse.....

...I've never had a good time watching a show there, the staff drives me crazy: a bunch of Napolean syndromed AHoles.......It's kinda fun to play there though; some of those meatheads carry all of your gear, they give you a bunch of free beer, and it sounds pretty good (on the stage)....that said, I'd rather play nearly anywhere else in the city, and will often skip shows that I would see somewhere else if it is at the Metro

Sounds like the Chicago equivilent to emo's in austin....eeeeeeww! Look at me...I get my entire personality and sense of self-worth sweeping the floor and declogging the latrines at the most legendary shithole in Texas...I have a Texas tattoo and a goatee and everything! What's that? Pay your band?...(or better yet) treat you like an equal when you are playing here? Nice try! Maybe if you were the (insert lame-ass cockrock revival band with minimal talent and probably leather pants and pyrotechnics here)! Sorry...you struck a chord with me.

.eater wrote:Sounds like the Chicago equivilent to emo's in austin....eeeeeeww! Look at me...I get my entire personality and sense of self-worth sweeping the floor and declogging the latrines at the most legendary shithole in Texas...I have a Texas tattoo and a goatee and everything! What's that? Pay your band?...(or better yet) treat you like an equal when you are playing here? Nice try! Maybe if you were the (insert lame-ass cockrock revival band with minimal talent and probably leather pants and pyrotechnics here)! Sorry...you struck a chord with me. :evil:

Just to be fair and balanced, I've always had good experiences at Emo's as a musician, live sound engineer, and patron. Not that I doubt less-than-appealing things have gone on there, but it's been fine the 20+ times I've visited. I have yet to see a show there that involved leather pants, though.

Then again, I've had great experiences at the Empty Bottle, yet I know several folks who detest the place.

mb

having played there back in the mid 90's i thought backstage was pretty cool, the dressing rooms and free beer and all that.

i would agree that some of the folks that work there are really "cool" , i.e. ununpleasent, but they got the "right" look, and thats all that really matters.

but, i got to see the flaming lips there in there for "clouds taste" tour.

i got to see trouble open for motorhead
megadeath open for king diamond
voi vod open for celtic frost

and a whole bunch of other great shows there.

the sound was terrible, but compared to that turdhole aragon ballroom, it was choice acoustics.

its all relative.

you just have to have the right tatoos, the right haircut, and be cool.

i guess thats why i have a boring haircut and no tatoos. i will never be cool.

woe is me.

matthewbarnhart wrote:Just to be fair and balanced

dude...you've been watching WAY too much fox news. i hope you're not falling prey to their right-wing propaganda...

jet

Regarding FOX: They air subliminal suggestions between commercials. The first one I ever saw said, "OWN A TIME-SHARE!" They don't just devote one frame to the messages anymore. I guess by definition this message was not actually subliminal. It was detectable, however, and the first time I saw it I thought it was the beginning of a commercial that was accidentally cut off. Then I saw it again the next day. During the same show I saw another. It said "BUY MORE AND SAVE." Those are the only ones that I've actually noticed. I'm sure there are quite a few more. Could be part of your right wing/FOX conspiracy theory.

Back to the Metro - am I alone in hating the Empty Bottle even more?

Dylan wrote:Back to the Metro - am I alone in hating the Empty Bottle even more?

I have a top ten of places I like to play and see shows:

1 Lounge Ax (rip)
2 Nice old theatres with ornate plasterwork
3 People's houses
4-10 almost anyplace.

I have a bottom ten of places I most hate to play or see shows:

1 The Empty Bottle
2 The Metro
3 Any Clear Channel venue
4-10 almost anyplace

Chicago is a perversely difficult place to run a music venue. The City has essentially made it impossible to open a music venue for anyone other than corporate chains.

This policy makes little sense, considering the notoriety and business that the music scene in Chicago has given to the city. I believe it is part of a general trend in Chicago to get rid of liquor-licensed establishments whenever possible, as a way of "cleaning-up" neighborhoods.

In one way or another, virtually all music venues are violating the law at all times. The laws governing them are in many places overlapping and even contradictory. A venue can be "illigeal" by not observing some arcana in the business licensing laws, having too many people on the premises, not having enough parking available, having an old ventilation system, selling cigarettes at the bar, not paying a city entertainment tax, loading the band in from the curb, using the wrong door for public access, having rats...

The intent of making all these businesses "illegal" is to make it possible for the city to shut any of them down on a whim, because there is sure-as-shit something they're "guilty" of.

As a result, the venues that survive fall into two classes: Those with politically-connected owners, and those in neighborhoods which attract little interest from city government (or neighborhoods with a lot of illegal "business" being conducted generally, where police/city attention is not welcome).

Neither one of these survival mechanisms is good for the patron or the band at a venue.

-best