Good god, somebody’s looking out for Knoxville
February 19th, 2006 by AtomictumorI was a frothing, gibbering idiot for about 15 or 30 minutes Friday, and no, its not because of my anniversary. It was because I found out that one of the best damn bands preforming and recording today, the Walkmen, are going to be coming to Knoxville, and my mind was temporarily blown over the fact that no less than 4 acts (Walkmen, Wilco, Son Volt, and Nine Inch Nails) I would be interested in seeing have graced our neighbor to the south.
I’ve been constantly amazed for years that Knoxville gets the shaft when it comes to touring bands. I mean, theres a college of 20,000 or so students in a fairly large city easily accessible by several interstates. Seems to me like a perfect stop between Cincinatti and Atlanta, and I fail to see how any show coming here won’t nearly instantly sell out.
Its a pisser, because so many bands ignore the south. Take the White Stripes, for instance. On their previous tour supporting Elephant they had to cancel the scheduled Nashville show, along with much of the eastern side of the states, because Jack White broke his hand in a car wreck. Nashville was the only show not rescheduled, so we figured for sure that they’d swing on back here. I mean, hell, he just did a record with Loretta Lynn, so hes gotta have a soft spot for Tennessee, right?
Oh no. They did Atlanta as part of the Midtown Music Festival a month or so prior to launching a worldwide tour, which completely missed the southeast. In fact, lemme spell it out to you like so:
Out of 36 or so shows in America of their tour, this map indicates where they hit. The red dot would be a 200 or so mile radius, or about how far I’d be willing to drive for a show. The more opaque dots are where they played multiple shows in the same locations, for example, the greater LA area saw 6 shows. Sure, theres a lot of people there, but I’m not one of them. So, I’m bitter.
Same goes for several other bands, but I got tired of making maps. This whole thing suprises me, because isn’t promoter Ashley Capps, of AC Entertainment (think Bonnaroo) from Knoxville?
Perhaps he prefers midget wrestling and second rate motocross in his backyard.
February 19th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Seems like Ashley has been doing a lot of good work but there’s a lot left to do.
Nice map. Impressively depressing graphics.
February 19th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Thanks man. Yeah, it’d be nice to see this kind of stuff keep up. I mean, hell, if Asheville can get all these shows, theres no reason this dump can’t.
February 19th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Peering deeply into this map I can see . . . that Cincinnati has three ns and one t.
But back on topic. It looks like things haven’t changed that much since I lived in Knoxpatch.
February 20th, 2006 at 8:45 am
“Peering deeply into this map I can see . . . that Cincinnati has three ns and one t.”
Hey, I married him for his butt, not his brain.
February 20th, 2006 at 9:10 am
“Hey, I married him for his butt, not his brain.”
Oy! Too much information!
February 20th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Speaking of Asheville, I used to live in SC and I was amazed by how many good bands would zip right past Knoxville to go to Greenville (SC). Nowadays I try not to look at Greenville’s concert listings because it makes me jealous.
February 20th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
So is the dot in the Gulf of Mexico on a boat?
February 20th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
And I haven’t looked lately but I am pretty sure that Tennessee’s entertainment tax used to be the killer of concerts.
February 21st, 2006 at 5:32 am
Uh… the dot in the gulf is Atlantis…? I always heard the entertainment tax is to blame for that stuff, but as a boy I recall Chattanooga getting some decent shows, so maybe its just Knoxville. I mean, taxes are fine, but why would anybody in their right mind tax something to death like that?
February 21st, 2006 at 7:32 am
Knoxville’s relatively good at getting bigger acts… as long as they’re not too rowdy or controversial. For instance, the big-name country stars tend to come through here, as well as the more innocent large rock groups.
They can afford any kind of heavy entertainment tax.
Smaller, less well-known (and theoretically less well-selling) independent or small label groups are more of a gamble; they may or may not sell well in this market.
Well, they will, as long as they play the right venue. The Walkmen at Thompson-Boling wouldn’t sell too well. But Blue Cats is right on the nose.
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I am going to see NIN so thats good
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:50 pm
fyi…the Wilco show hasn’t sold out yet. I wonder if it will.
You know Sundown in the City has been pretty successful, for what it is.
So is it a Tenn. tax or is it something local? Because AC entertainment is pulling in big names to Bonnaroo in middle Tenn. While I’ve never been to blue cats, I think Ktown’s venues suck, especially compared to something like the Orange Peel over in Asheville. Seems like AC has had to create his own venue with bonnaroo.
February 24th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Yeah, it just never seemed like getting shows was much of a priority for this dump of a town. And don’t get me started on Bonnaroo. Freakin hippies…