Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A Rant

Okay, so the big news in Somerville is that U2 are coming to the Somerville Theater Wednesday night, March 11, to play a "secret show." The reason it's so "secret" is that it's for commercial radio station personnel (and the few listeners to whom they gave away tickets) only, meaning that no one in Somerville or anywhere else has the opportunity to obtain tickets. It royally pisses me off that a bunch of jaded radio types are going to invade my town to see one of my favorite bands, so they can undoubtedly yawn and say how much better they used to be back in the day, or how they never even liked them and never understood what the big deal was, or some such hipper-than-thou crap. Meanwhile, according to the Somerville Journal's blog, parking has been prohibited in the area today and tomorrow, forcing residents to scramble for already scarce legal spots. I've been a U2 fan forever, forgiving Bono his rehearsed-sounding onstage soapbox speeches in light of the fact that seeing the band is so powerful, and the fact that they use at least some of their money to bring positive change to suffering people. I resent that Live Nation and U2 think they can just dump their exclusive event right in this town with absolutely no compensation to residents. They should have put the show-ola on in Boston, where all the radio stations are headquartered, instead of bringing the whole pageant here and rubbing our noses in our exclusion. Let them eat cake, right? Two thumbs down for Live Nation and U2.

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more, but it's par for the course in this town. See All-Star Game at Fenway where there were NO tickets for long-suffering fans, but hey! plenty for stars of bad Fox sitcoms that nobody watches. And - ahem - The Democratic National Convention - where virtually nothing was open to the general public, and Mumbles Menino actively encouraged residents to leave town. And don't get me started on Live Nation - I'm come to enjoy attending more out-of-town shows at smaller venues, where I don't have to give those fuckers a piece of the take.

12:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When the only thing you can rant about is rock royalty in your backyard, your life can't be that bad...

Put a smile on your face. I'd give anything to have U2 in my neighborhood- whether I was able to get tickets to their show or not.

12:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're blog description say that Somerville is an artist-friendly community......

5:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yo Anoymous, Then invite them to your neighborhood! I agree with Laura that the exclusion of the true fans and residents to suck up to FAT CAT radio mutants to promote their tour is BS. Let it go to Boston with all the rest of the F*uckwads in radio stations and let them deal with the parking nightmare. How does U2 playing in Somerville benefit anyone from the town? The residents of Somerville will go through all this for nothing more than bragging rights that "U2 played here"!! Doesnt sound like a good deal to me unless you work for WBCN or are in the band.

7:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous? Is that another word for coward? You want your opinion to be heard, but you dont want to own it.

7:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a huge bummer for you guys! I'm in Maine and love U2 with a passion. Missed out on a chance to win free tickets to the Somerville show... a local radio station teamed up with a local pub and gave some away. If that can be done up here, one would think they'd give folks in Somerville some way to attend, too.

11:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm the 5:33 p.m. anonymous, I don't know the other guy.
My name's John.

2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

U2 sucks. The Somerville Aldermen/Mayor and other public trough chow hounds also suck! The radio stations suck.
Other than that, I love my life and look forward to the next big thing that I can B*tch about. John, thank you for stepping up brother, you have my respect! The rest of you anonymous guys...bah!

9:09 PM  

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