petefinnigan

"So far, Roots Pride consists of a town-hall meeting, a protest of the Azalea concert, an intergenerational paint/water-balloon fight, and a healing circle and river walk. Really? This is how Roots Pride is going to build off all the momentum Delta has spent years building? *News Break* AZALEA IS NOT PLAYING PRIDE. Maybe now we can all get over ourselves and get back to galvanizing ourselves as a community and a city. As a white straight male, I look forward to pride week as a way to stand in solidarity with those who are not white, straight, or male. Those 3 differences are eclipsed by all the other things we all share as humans with a heart. I thought part of celebrating diversity was knowing how close we are despite our differences. Maybe I just don't get it because of how I was born, but I never saw pride week as a celebration of who can be the biggest black sheep. Yet somehow, that's all I get out of statements like "The material reality of queer/trans people of color in this city is different than the material reality of a cis, white gay man". I'll never know what it's like to be LGBT, and I guess I'll also never know what it's like to hang with every one under the same roof either :(

I've been forced by a promoter to pay to play and have self promoted my own shows. As a local musician in a local band I have seen extremes from both sides. This topic is very near and dear to my heart. Drusky doesn't want to comment? Well I will comment for Drusky. My rule of thumb as a band is to act as if I were the promoter of every show even if I wasn't the "official" promoter. I like to support small touring bands I believe in when they come through PGH and that has put me in bed with Drusky on occasion. Its a grind to get people in the door, but that's the reality of the business. The biggest issue I have with pay to play is the cases where a promoter like Drusky requires you to sell a certain number of tickets and then does NOTHING to promote the show themselves after that. This turns the local scene into one big pyramid scheme where bars make money off the alcohol, promoters make money off the bands' presales, and the bands walk away with with little if nothing. IT RUINS LOCAL MUSIC. What happens is you end up with a show where a headliner plays to an empty room because all the openers were from local bands who all sold tickets to their parents and grandparents who ended up leaving after their set because they really didn't want to be there in the first place. Local music should have a community. Where is the community in that?