<BR>>To those of you bitching about <BR>>how you live in <BR>> BFE (that's <BR>>bum fucked egypt to the rest <BR>>of ya): <BR>> It's not the fair <BR>>for you to whine about how <BR>>you <BR>> have to travel to <BR>>see the Roots. If you live <BR>>in a small town it makes <BR>>sense that the Roots <BR>> aren't <BR>>coming there.<P>First off, I wouldn't make fun of anybody's town. Second off, if you're serious about building your town's hip-hop scene (as someone, possibly you, noted) and you can't book the Roots, BOOK SOMEONE ELSE. Since when were the Roots the only hip-hop act in the world? I don't get this at all...<P><BR>> - <BR>>As far as all ages venues <BR>>go: The Roots should <BR>> make <BR>>it a point to book all <BR>>ages venues (much <BR>> like Mos <BR>>does w/ his no alcohol shows). <P>Relatively speaking, Mos Def doesn't do that many shows (ESPECIALLY compared to the Roots). I would wager good money that his 'no alcohol' pledge has a lot to do with that. <P>The Roots don't "book" the venues, the promoter does. Here's how it works (in the case of Mr. Def, hypothetically): Promoter X contacts Mos Def and says, I have Y amount of money to pay you. Mos says "Is there alcohol in the venue you wanna have the show in?" If the promoter says "yes", mos asks the promoter to find another venue or the show's off. Mos does NOT (I'll bet the house) call around Promoter X's city trying to find a non-alcoholic venue to perform in; that's the promoter's job. same goes with the Roots and whether they perform in all-ages venues. <P>In this particular case, the Roots went out of their way to insist on an all ages venue. I wager they had problems finding a promoter to agree to book them for a $5 all ages show. why? The money is fucked and the range of venues is limited, two headaches no promoter wants to deal with.<P>Yo, cats need to learn more about this game before they speak on it, for real...<P>>And as <BR>> far as dealing w/ <BR>>promoters (remember, I'm not <BR>> in <BR>>the biz so I'm willing to <BR>>admit that I don't <BR>> know for <BR>>sure how this works), any promoter, <BR>> would seemingly want the Roots. <P>It's not just the promoter that has to want them...the venue has to want to house the show as well...the venue has to be strategically located (you know, easy to get to, decent parking, etc), there are a couple of factors you aren't discussing (I only went through two, if you want more, e-mail me)...<P>>You are guaranteed a sell out <BR>>at almost any Roots show<P>No such thing as a "guaranteed sell out"...everything has to be properly promoted, et cetera...but yes, the Roots are popular...<P>> <BR>>seeing how the Roots are by most <BR>>accounts a "peaceful" group, a promoter <BR>>would have to worry <BR>> about violence <BR>>at a show and whatnot.<P>You mean their fans are peaceful...not too many violent acts at concerts are instigated by the group on stage...hah...<P>> I <BR>>think <BR>> it is more the <BR>>Roots management's fault that <BR>> they <BR>>book an 21 show...<P>The management? No, it's the promoter's decision...<P>All age venues are a different dynamic from alcoholic venues...some venues serve alcohol at some shows and have all ages on others, some venues are exclusively one or the other...what you have to realize though is venues can make a heap of money by selling liquor, money which doesn't get made at an all ages show...so, whenever a venue is missing a chance to make money, they want to make that up somehow...when that happens, you get into arrangements where a venue owner's grubby hands start slicing out of the pie of money made at the door a little more than anyone likes...this discourages a lot of promoters because, hey, you do a lot of work to get people out to the show and look who takes a healthy chunk out of it?<P>I could talk about this all day, but I'm bored now...point is, the Roots are coming to Seattle for an all ages show at $5...so why is this thread so large?<P>Peace,<P>Spirit<BR><a href="http://amphibians.iuma.com">http://amphibians.iuma.com<;/a><BR><a href="http://infiniteloop.iuma.com">http://infiniteloop.iuma.com<;/a><BR>DC hip-hop is on the rise...<P>"High grade when I create beats/if I don't get signed/I'ma be the most dope bum that ever walked the streets" - <BR>Aychell (HL, of Khemystery)<P>"If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it's probably a tool of the conspiracy" - unknown