Strasburg told me the story on Chair 10.

Used to be a dedicated reader could tell what was going on, a subscription to “Billboard” was enough. Not anymore. There’s no music publication that will hip you to the business. Today you’ve got to know the people, and that’s a damn hard thing to do, because they’re working so damn hard.

You know I’m not a big fan of music business schools. They teach you how to be middle managers. When the music business is run by entrepreneurs, all unique, all self-starters, they’d be successful at anything they chose to do.

Don Strasburg promoted a Phish show when he went to Colorado College. And by time I met him, before the roll-up of 1996, he was a super-passionate promoter out of Denver. I mean we all know Chuck Morris, but this twentysomething giving me burned CDs of Robert Randolph and…

Strasburg was relentless.

But Don cares. He views a concert as a party, that’s what he tells all his charges to never forget, to see it through the eyes of the attendees.

And Don used to book the Denver Fillmore, but then he, Chuck and Brent moved over to AEG and they didn’t have a venue that size.

Now AEG’s got plenty of venues in Denver. And today Don’s territory is not limited to the Mile High City, but Don wanted to fill this niche…the only issue was money, could he convince the bigwigs to go for it?

And it’s always about money, you can’t afford everything, that money could be used to buy Outside Lands…

Now if you know Don he’s scruffy. He said he wasn’t gonna shave his beard until the Mission opened. He ended up looking like a lumberjack, with a beard maybe eight inches long, but he stuck to his guns.

Now what you’ve got to know about Don is he’s passionate, he cares, he’s not a company man. That’s what’s wrong with the music business today, too many company men (and women!) The basic question is…have you ever risked your own money? The losses hurt. And they still hurt. Don told the story of losing 250k, maybe a little less, on a recent date. He’d been arm-twisted into doing it. During the gig a worker asked if they should let those on the grass down into the seats, Don said no. Because he wanted the act to play to empty seats, to show its representatives that they were wrong.

This is the nitty-gritty, this is not what they teach in school. Every show is a risk. And you don’t always win. The landscape is littered with dead promotion companies, it’s damn hard.

So Don had a vision. He laid it all out on the chair. He called me about it. We spoke about it every time we were together in Vail. Hell, wanna get to know somebody? Ski with them. Of course you can play golf, but that’s competitive, skiing is not. And actually, Don snowboards. He loves to go into the trees, like in WTF. I’ll let you try to decipher what that stands for, let’s just say it’s at the far end of Sun Up Bowl and it used to be off the map. I was recovering from shoulder surgery, I did not want to hit a tree, and the average person would classify WTF as the woods/forest. Then again, Don tore his ACL in the woods at Winter Park and extracted himself and drove home before he had surgery.

So the concept of the Mission Ballroom, the layout…

Let me just say it’s rectangular, but it’s encircled, like the Colosseum in Rome, by bleachers a la Red Rocks. Maybe you haven’t been to Red Rocks, you should go, it’s unique.

(Check out the Mission’s layout here: seating map)

And nothing is ever finished on time. When I asked Don if the August 7th opening was firm, he said ABSOLUTELY!

So we went.

This is not an old building with charm, this is brand new construction, and the vibe is created by the acts on stage.

Now, the side seats, on the second floor, they’re open to the hoi polloi, insiders sit/stand behind them. The Mission Ballroom is egalitarian.

And there are the usual bars, Don and his compatriots have learned a lot about what is needed in their decades of shows.

But first and foremost this is a music venue. And we ain’t got many of those. We’ve got the Forum, the best arena in the country because it’s only about music, there are no sports teams. But many of the other venues are multi-purpose buildings. But in the Mission, the infrastructure is permanent, for the music. The lighting rigs can be moved back and forth, same deal with the stage.

But really, it’s all about the music.

And Denver’s a music town.

You think everything is happening in New York or L.A., but you’re wrong. Hell, the Lumineers moved from New Jersey to Colorado to make it. This is how far we’ve come. In an era of mass communications, we know so much, but we know so little. The truth is, music is more regional than it’s been since the sixties. Maybe not in radio, but live. Unless you’re there, it’s hard to know what’s going on. And Don hears it first, because Denver/Boulder is inundated with college students and Don also runs clubs. He told me about Maggie Rogers nearly a year before most people heard of her, before the press began. And when you go to the show, you get it.

The people were there for the music.

Now the Lumineers are a hometown act, and they had a big radio hit, but still…this was not your typical arena show, all flash and on hard drive, this breathed.

And “Ho Hey” would not get on Top Forty radio today, no way. But it did back in 2012, SEVEN YEARS AGO! That’s right, there’s a return to musicians, the Lumineers have been doing it since 2005. The major labels promote ever younger “artists” who burn out before they are twenty, and the older people in most cases don’t even need a label, and they have an audience.

Now you have to be over 16 to get into the Mission Ballroom, but most of the people were in their late twenties and thirties. I didn’t feel old being there. But I was envious of the enthusiasm, these were true fans, they sang along.

So maybe it can be about music again. Maybe it all doesn’t have to sound like the Spotify Top 50. Turns out there is an audience older and more sophisticated who will devour different acts, if you make them aware of them.

And if the acts are good, they graduate up the building ladder, and one step on it is the Mission Ballroom, with a capacity of 3,950.

There’s no MTV keeping us all on one track. And sure, there are not only Top Forty radio stations, but we live in an on-demand world, radio does not drive the business like it used to.

It’s about word of mouth, friends, social media. You hear about it and want to check it out.

The only problem is it can be hard to become a member of this chain.

But you can start by checking out who’s playing at the Mission Ballroom.

Mission Ballroom

I was in Denver for the opening of the Mission Ballroom.

But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

The following day, my friend John took me to the Clyfford Still Museum. Actually, I’m the art history major, but he seems to see more art than I do, hell, he’s a member!

You see Clyfford Still said that after he died, all his work should go to a city that built a museum solely to show his work. And that ended up being in Denver, spearheaded by John Hickenlooper when he was mayor.

That’s one of the things wrong with the debates, it’s hard to focus on accomplishments, everybody’s so busy tearing others down. If the Democrats want a centrist, Hick would be great. Biden’s just a faux pas away from blowing himself up, and is ten years older.

But this is not about politics, this is about art.

You’ve seen Clyfford Still’s work. You’d know it if you saw it again.

But this is not about the work per se.

There are two floors in the museum. The second contains Still’s paintings and drawings. The first contains mementos and documents from his life. Still was a pack rat, he kept everything.

In one letter, Still excoriated all the artists imitating him. He said it was all right at first, but then you had to go your own way. And the artists Still listed were and still are household names. You see art is about pushing the envelope, going on your own personal journey. Still was trying to be legendary. And on this journey…

He stopped exhibiting his work. COMPLETELY! Oh, he’d already made a splash in New York, but in the sixties, he sent a letter to his gallerist, and told her it was over, no offense, he just didn’t want to show his work anymore…BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE SUBJECT TO THE BLOWBACK, THE CRITICS…he was worried it would change his art, make him stray from his own vision.

Whew… Nothing could be more prescient in terms of today. You make it, people criticize it, and you’re wounded, or change to suit these people who may not like what you do anyway, and if you give them what they want, they still hate it.

That’s the conundrum.

There are fine artists and commercial artists, and there’s nothing wrong with the latter, but if you’re one of the former…

As Steve Jobs said, you should try to put a dent in the universe.

It’s a lonely pursuit, and oftentimes attention comes and goes, if it comes at all. But you’ve got to keep on trying.

Now in an era of wannabes, you’ve got to know when the experts/insiders first saw Still’s work, they were blown away, he got a show almost immediately. It’s always that way with art, people have a visceral response. And no one is interested in meh.

So, if you’re not getting attention, that does not mean you should stop, it just means if you’re a true artist you’ll keep doing it, irrelevant of whether you get any attention or make any money.

That’s what music is today, about money. Commerce. The focus is not on art, and we’re not getting much.

Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, of course there are great musicians out there, but the general belief is that you make a hit and then leverage your brand for an entree into clothing, perfume, selling…. We can’t stop hearing that Kylie Kardashian, I think that’s the one, is now a billionaire based on makeup. That’s a business story, that’s not art.

Art is a lonely road.

Clyfford Still Museum

That’s right, Kootch! Guitarist and songwriter for James Taylor (“Machine Gun Kelly,” “Honey Don’t Leave L.A.”) and band member for Carole King and Jackson Browne and…co-producer for Don Henley, Danny came up with the sound of “Dirty Laundry,” and…yup, Danny has too many credits to list!

iheart

apple

spotify

stitcher

I told Alexa to play Blind Faith. The people looked at me funny, like I was talking to myself, but Alexa works on the phone, assuming you’ve got a subscription to Amazon Music. And the great thing about Vail is you get Verizon LTE over the complete mountain, so you can stream on your hike.

But then I got an e-mail from Jesse Kornbluth:

“Bob-

Doesn’t there need to be a big, star-studded concert – a benefit for gun control?
Like No Nukes… after 9/11…/

Bruce, Jay-Z, Paul, Jason Isbell, Emmylou, every major female?

I’m going to write this up.

Will you?

We could work on it together…

JK”

And I’d thought about this on Monday, but there seems to be a concert for everything these days, they’ve become meaningless, but I responded to Jesse:

“It needs a twist. Maybe multiple locations.
Heritage and new artists along with Presidential candidates. And the tie-in should be to Netflix.”

I was kinda blowing Jesse off, showing him it just could not be routine.

But after typing that e-mail, I got excited! And I fired off another e-mail:

“Maybe Texas, SF and Ohio.

SF-Another Planet
Texas-Louis Messina (who could get Swift, Sheeran and Chesney)
Ohio-Belkins

And some reunions-Destiny’s Child and…

And a day of protest in D.C.”

And I forwarded this to Don Strasburg and he said we should reunite Zeppelin. And my brain was firing on all cylinders, and if I’d had a computer I would have nailed this. Writing is all about inspiration.

But that was three hours ago, I had to hike to the top of 4 and then 3 and check out Windows and…

Now I’m back.

So here’s the scoop.

There are gonna be three concerts, three festivals, this will be the Woodstock spirit Michael Lang was talking about.

But there will be no camping. All will be in established venues requiring no infrastructure, like baseball stadiums. If Another Planet can do it in Golden Gate Park, that’s great. But we don’t want to fail in construction, we want to make it easy.

So there will be shows on three consecutive days. Let’s say Friday San Francisco (representing Gilroy), Saturday Austin (representing El Paso) and Sunday Cleveland (representing Dayton). If the concerts can be held closer to the exact sites of the tragedies, that’s great. But close is close enough.

Now these shows are not about healing, these shows are about ACTION!

There will be a manifesto, not only right wing people can write one. Laying out our position, one that all participating musicians must sign.

Of course we’ll include background checks and anti-AK-47/assault rifle/automatic weapons measures, but I believe we should go further.

First, a waiting period. As they say, if it takes that long to get an abortion, it should take that long to get a gun. You’ve got to go back twice, and you’ve got to speak with a mental health professional in order to get a gun.

I would go even further, and say we should stand up for no guns, but I’m willing to go with the consensus. But it can’t be namby-pamby, it’s got to be envelope-pushing, we’ve got to ask for more than those in Congress, we’ve got to demonstrate the power of musicians to unite their fans in action!

This is how it’s like No Nukes. Which halted nuclear construction immediately.

I give Jimmy Iovine oodles of credit for his 9/11 show, but once again, that was about healing, not action. And there’s nothing wrong with healing references in these shows, but the main thrust must be action.

So, if you’ve been arrested on gun charges, you can’t perform. If you’re a pro-gun nut, we don’t want you on stage. We’re making a point here, not everybody can play, you’ve got to sign the manifesto.

And if you were arrested on gun charges, you can play if you sign and give three guns to the police. Yes, we want people to turn in their guns. Maybe we even give tickets to those who turn in their guns. We’re making a point here, you’ve got to start somewhere.

And we’ve got to have old acts and new acts.

In San Francisco, we’ve got CSNY. Yup, this is the time for them to reunite, to get over Crosby’s actions… And Crosby must turn in the aforementioned three guns.

And Pearl Jam in San Francisco too.

Destiny’s Child in Texas. As well as ZZ Top. And some of the red dirt acts.

In Ohio, you reunite the James Gang and Wild Cherry. This is not a somber affair, life is about joy, maybe that show finishes with “Play That Funky Music.”

And I don’t care if the acts are on the chart now, or are superstars of yore, but we’ve got to have a balanced slate. And, once again, if you’ve got a posse responsible for a shooting, you can’t appear, unless you cough up the three guns. We’re drawing a line in the sand. We’re trying to send the right message to the young ‘uns, to all music fans, to AMERICA!

This is not anti-dope ads by people who still partake. This is not get out the vote ads by people who don’t vote. You’ve got to walk the walk. There are plenty of acts who are anti-gun, and if you want to change your opinion to appear, more power to you. This is a MOVEMENT!

Now the shows are all on separate days so you can see all the music.

And they will be live, because it’s the editing that takes the soul out of music, it’s a live medium, your flaws are what draw people to you!

And, of course, we’ll have an anti-gun playlist that will be on all streaming services, from Spotify to Amazon to Apple to Tidal to Deezer. And all the money made from those streams will go into the pot.

As for streaming video…

As per above, my first thought was Netflix, because everybody’s got an account and the company lets artists be free, it’s on the right side.

But I’m wondering if we should limit it to them. Maybe we should also have it on Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO. You can’t air the concert if you take ads (there is a Hulu tier with ads, but let’s not get caught up in the details right now). And anybody who airs, has got to pay. And can run no commercials, no NPR sponsored by corporation commercials, we’re looking for credibility here. I’d say leave corporations out, but if they’re included, they’ve got to sign the manifesto/pledge. The CEO. They’ve got to stop giving money to candidates who support guns.

As for radio… SiriusXM pays well, and they could have a free weekend, exposing potential subscribers to their service… But not everybody has a radio, so we add iHeart too. Once again, they’ve got to PAY to stream!

Now Scooter Braun marshalled the troops in Manchester quickly. These shows have to happen soon, we’ve got to keep the spirit alive. Got to be before October 1st, when it’s still warm, when people can go without heavy coats.

And, you can buy a good ticket by turning in your guns. Maybe we’ll have a competition, like Taylor Swift did with her last album. But it’ll be pure. The people turning in the most guns will get the best seats. And maybe even a meet and greet.

And there will be a Grateful Dead-style lottery for half the tickets, you know, where you send in an envelope and they’re picked at random. And I think the Dead should reunite one more time in their home city of San Francisco, don’t you?

And half the tickets will be sold at what the public will bear. AEG has done this wonderfully with the Stones, they can be in control of it.

But one thing’s for sure, EVERYBODY’S INVOLVED! AEG and Live Nation…WME, CAA, Paradigm and UTA…

And the acts don’t get paid a cent, not a single penny. If you can’t pay your way, you don’t deserve to be on stage.

And yes, we’ll have politicos talking. We’ll have Obama, we’ll have anybody willing to sign the manifesto/pledge. This is kinda like Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. We want politicos to sign it and adhere to it.

We want to demonstrate the power of music.

We want to raise money we can use for lobbying, maybe tie in with Irving and Coran’s new organization.

We want to keep this story in the news.

And if you’re a Republican and you want to sign the manifesto/pledge, you can participate, welcome aboard! But if you won’t, you can’t. Same deal with acts.

As for where we go after this…

I’ve got ideas but it’s too soon. Let’s see how this plays out and then adjust/pivot, like Silicon Valley.

As for the techies, I’d kinda like to leave them out, but…

You can donate your private jets to ferry musicians and equipment.

Facebook, you can donate a ton of ads. Same deal with Google. Whenever someone searches on “gun” they’ll get an anti-gun ad.

As for Microsoft… I’m not sure yet.

Apple? We’ll tie in the Apple Stores, maybe that’s where the public can sign the manifesto/pledge, maybe where they can turn in their guns, although police stations are better.

Amazon?

One year of Prime for every gun turned in.

Let’s be clear. This isn’t about promoting corporations, it’s about them supporting us. There ain’t gonna be any ads promoting their efforts. We’re not gonna display signage. They can take out their own ads, fine, but I’d say their advertising agencies should donate their commissions.

Now ideas are a dime a dozen, it all comes down to execution.

But I know there are tons of people who’d like to play. Tons of promoters, like Michael Rapino, Jay Marciano and Gregg Perloff, tons of agents, like Rob Light, Marc Geiger and Marty Diamond. And managers like the aforementioned Irving Azoff, Coran Capshaw and Scooter Braun, as well as Guy Oseary too.

This has got to be a team effort.

This is the new Woodstock.

Will it happen?