A Few Wishes for the New Year

• Seattle's Mayor's Office of Film and Music drops music from it's scope and becomes just the Office of Film. This office is a perfect example of government bureaucracy. We don't need our music clubs overregulated and government involvement in the music community stifles creativity. Government is not the solution to our problems, it's monolithic, inefficient and expensive. Things like an 80K+ Club Czar position, industry happy hours and public relations concerts at The Paramount are a huge waste of taxpayer dollars, especially in tough economic times where we see public hospitals and schools forced to take major funding cuts. Focus the office on film and generating income for the city by making it cheaper and easier for movies to be shot here, instead of everyone going to Vancouver BC. The best thing government can do for the music community is keep it's hands off it. Allow artists, labels, promoters and clubs to follow their own path to success or failure.
  
  
• The beard fashion trend will end. I thought it was played out a year ago, yet it seems more and more band members are growing facial hair. Today's hair bands don't have teased out long hair, they have big bushy hippie beards. It's trendy, it's cool, it's hip... why not grow one, everyone else is? To me it just says you're a trendy hipster or you're too fucking lazy to shave. And gross, I can see what you ate for lunch on your face.
  
  
• Ticketmaster, who charges up to 50% over the ticket price in "convenience fees," will face greater competition from alternatives like Brown Paper Tickets (and Live Nation, even though they are also evil), driving handling fees for a concert ticket back down to the $2-$5 range.
  
  
• Nationwide concert venue owners and promoters like AEG and Live Nation lose power, money and influence in tougher economic times, allowing more competition and locally-owned venus and concert promoters to more easily flourish.
  
  
• People get over cocaine. I can't believe so many people are still doing coke all the time in Seattle, especially people in their 30s and 40s, it's like a Bret Easton Ellis novel for aging hipsters. I can understand "partying" occasionally, but this town is packed full of wide-eyed, jaw grinding, figidy people with an inability to carry on a real conversation. Disappearing into back rooms at parties for hours or bathrooms at bars and clubs all the time is annoying to everyone hanging out with you that isn't high. Stick to the booze baby, you're much more fun to be around on it. And in case you haven't looked into the mirror lately, your drug use has aged you five years in the past five months.