Song Fight Live Speculation

[Hoblit]

SONGFIGHT! LIVE QUADRA Hunting & Fishing

Cool, lets do it.

[mkilly]

Alright, so there's a lot of things for underage people to do in Vegas. But seriously, I don't want to travel that far for a SFLive event and then not be able to follow the Songfighters to whatever evening revelries they decide upon, and you're not going to let a few minors get in the way of your fun. Seriously now, if it were in Vegas, you can tell me (and Marcus, and Poncho) all the fun things we can do in Vegas as minors, but the big kids will still be doing big kid things. And from a selfish standpoint, if that's how it's going to turn out, I won't want to go, because I don't want to travel that far alone to be left alone.

[Insert no-show jab here]

Really the only things that would go down that you/me/Poncho couldn't be hip to is gambling on the floor of a casino, or going to bars. I didn't hear about any barhopping in Austin, and I don't know that the SongFighter contingent would go gambling together on the floor of one casino anyway. Much more likely, is several Fighters would get together and go to a show (Blue Man Group or Cirque du Soleil or Celine Dion or whatever), others would gamble, still others would go to strip joints or bars, but most everybody would get together at the Luxor for buffet dining, or whatever. For both nights in Austin we all got together after the shows, once at a restaurant and once at Moboid/FB's place, and in Vegas, if it was two days, we'd probably go to a restaurant one night and walk down the Strip and hit up a buffet and show or something the next night, and then after that people would go off and do their own thing, or maybe people would clump together and do their own thing. Marcus/Poncho/Generic can go to the Godamn Circus Circus and M&M Store if nobody else wants to be cool with us. There's plenty to do when one isn't 21 in Vegas, and besides that maybe we could try to get some group discounts on a hotel, or have a few people get together and get a suite and we'll smuggle alcohol in and party up there with some DVDs and hookers and guitars and bongos.

The only problem, again, is a matter of organization, but if Blue/Ken/Jack/whoever can figure they can master SF Vegas: Hot but Awesome then great.

[Hoblit]

Yeah, I would not be gambling anyways...

[Bjam]

Hey, my parents always wanted us to go to Vegas. And, yeah, the only thing we can't do as 'minors' is drink and gamble. I think that's it, right? And hookers and stuff, but I wouldn't really be looking into that anyway.

I dunno, I have a ton of airmiles, so name a place and I'll hop on a plane.

Of course Ohio and Boston both still sound good...

[jack]

one obvious advantage to las vegas is that everything could possibly be held at the same hotel. group discounts would be an option for attendees and every hotel in vegas has a ballroom or conference room they would be happy to rent. and presenting it as a package deal is the way to get the lowest cost, not to mention the fact that everyone becomes more self sufficient and there is no major hassle for the local guy who has to run around and deal with people, shuttling them, hosting a party, etc.

vegas is the ticket. i would go to vegas. i would be happy to help try to set something up in vegas. i'll start looking into possible venues.

*although, vegas is pretty damned hot in the summer. might not be the best time of the year for there.

[Lunkhead]

My experience in Vegas, as a non-gambling, non-hard-partying, non-rich person was that it was really boring. It seemed like nearly everything one could do there, even the non-drinking, non-gambling stuff, involved spending lots and lots of money.

Cleveland would probably be easier on the wallet, and it sounds like there are some SongFighters who are at least somewhat close by. As for attractions, the Rock Hall is definitely worth seeing once if you're really enthusiastic about (non-classical) music. The Great Lakes Science Center next door would also probably be fun for some people. An hour away is Cedar Point, greatest amusement park in the world. Then there's the baseball (and football, though I'm not a sports fan so I don't know if anybody cares about it) stadium also in downtown. And there are plenty of bars and strip clubs, of course. As for venues, most of the ones I knew when I lived there are gone, but there's the new Grog Shop in Euclid Heights, and some places on the West Side that might be amenable to an SF Live. Probably the cost of renting a venue would be lower in Cleveland, too.

Damn, that makes me think about how my rent literally quadrupled when I moved to Berkeley from Cleveland.

[mkilly]

one obvious advantage to las vegas is that everything could possibly be held at the same hotel. group discounts would be an option for attendees and every hotel in vegas has a ballroom or conference room they would be happy to rent. and presenting it as a package deal is the way to get the lowest cost, not to mention the fact that everyone becomes more self sufficient and there is no major hassle for the local guy who has to run around and deal with people, shuttling them, hosting a party, etc.

vegas is the ticket. i would go to vegas. i would be happy to help try to set something up in vegas. i'll start looking into possible venues.

*although, vegas is pretty damned hot in the summer. might not be the best time of the year for there.

it'll be less hot, and less humid, than austin was. It's hot, but it's a dry heat. It's really pretty tolerable if you dress lightly, Vegas.

Hey, my parents always wanted us to go to Vegas. And, yeah, the only thing we can't do as 'minors' is drink and gamble. I think that's it, right? And hookers and stuff, but I wouldn't really be looking into that anyway.

We under-21 set can't step onto the gambling floor of casinos, or enter bars. Every casino, however, has a significant amount of non-gambling-floor errata. And one can gamble and drink until they ask for ID, anyway.

[erik]

It will be less humid than Austin, but it might very well be hotter. It just gets fuckall hot in Vegas. In the summer it gets up into the triple digits, and the first time I went, the person I was with got dogsick from walking around in the heat and forgetting to remain hydrated.

[Hoblit]

I imagine Vegas can get hot...but for those of us who made Austin (and I'm IN TAMPA) that venue was burning up...we handled it..gave us something to bitch about. My point is that the heat will not be the make or break.

However, we are discussing four locations right now and have NOT picked one as of yet. Which is way super cool... I just wanted to list the four and see if we have narrowed it down to those four or if someone else wants to speak up about another alternative.

Las Vegas
Cleveland
Boston
Quadra

All very cool ideas.

[erik]

It's still November.

I don't think we have to narrow it down to anything.

[adjuster]

I don't care where it is...

June 24 or after... please... please... please...

I ought to, ya' know, start writing some songs and playing again, too... *sigh*

[Hoblit]

It's still November.

I don't think we have to narrow it down to anything.

"I just wanted to list the four and see if we have narrowed it down to those four or if someone else wants to speak up about another alternative."

I retract the use of the word 'narrow'

and reiterate 'someone else wants to speak up about another alternative'

<font size="1">I had only meant that in this particular conversation we had narrowed our talk down to 4 locations and by all means leaving this wide open

[Spud]

I think the Quadra concept is more like the show in Seattle this year, rather than being the official annual event. Well, that is, if I am not mistaken.

[Hoblit]

Quadra concept

sounds like a classic rock album

[Caravan Ray]

What sort of time frame you guys talking about? There's a construction conference in Vegas I'd been entertaining ideas of attending around March next year.

Whatever - my wife and I will probably heading overseas somewhere next year - if I get plenty of notice I may be able to swing a SFLive into the itinerary. I'd love to lob in and check it out.

Shame the Pacific Ocean is so big - I've got the perfect venue for you. I own a 10 acre farm on Queensland's Gold Coast (beaches, nightclubs, casinos, bikini girls, amusement parks......). Songfight-stock! You could even have a day-trip to Steve Irwin's crocodile farm at Beerwah.

[bz£]

Boston to Brisbane, close to 11,000 miles, 24+ hour trip, and closing in on $2,000 round trip for a random trip next summer. (US summer: mid June). That's a shame because I would love to go visit any place with beer and crocodiles. And Aussie Rules Football, too.

I think we're talking a weekend in June or July, most likely.

[frankie big face]

Las Vegas was unbearably hot last July and the dryer it was, the more we baked in the sun. It's also not a place you can get around easily without a car. You might think you can and you'll get on the monorail and head down the strip and you'll see something and say hey let's go there to that really close hotel and then you will walk for twenty minutes and collapse right in front of it. And all the really cool shows are over $100/person, so if unless you want to see Frank Marino in drag while sitting in folding chairs next to some old people from New Jersey, you better bring a lot of cash.

But the main problem I see with Las Vegas (and that no-one seems to be talking about) is that no songfighters live there. It's nice if Jack or someone else is willing to do the necessary legwork to set this thing up hundreds of miles from his home, but who's going to attend the show? Part of the responsibility of the host is to get at least a few non-playing audience members in the joint. I think it's going to be pretty damn hard to do that in Las Vegas.

Plus, with all respect to those who expressed an interest in organizing the event (and I mean that sincerely), we have always said the host should be a former attendee who has a pretty good idea of what's involved in setting up this thing. That's why I think john m should host, because, despite being a youngster, he's been around for awhile and has attended this event at least twice. Cleveland will be more fun that Las Vegas, I think. If there's less to do, it just means people will spend more time together.

[prayformojo]

Cleveland Rocks!!!

Though Vegas is one of my very favorite cities.

[jack]

i give up.

[ken]

If there's less to do, it just means people will spend more time together.

I must say that one of my favorite things from the Austin event was going out to dinner with EVERYONE after the concert. It was very cool.

Ken

[Hoblit]

i give up.

nah, don't give up!

<font size="1">If you are 'giving up' based on Frankie's mention of the 'host should be familiar with past event status' ...whereas I agree with him, it isn't necessarily the make or break either. Let us be reminded that Futureboy/Heather combo had not previously been to a songfight! LIVE event before they organized the last one in Austin.</font>

[Hoblit]

If there's less to do, it just means people will spend more time together.

I must say that one of my favorite things from the Austin event was going out to dinner with EVERYONE after the concert. It was very cool.

Ken

Me too, and I was all lonely in Seattle during the first quarter of the days. (But I loved hiking around the city, which is a natural Hoblit thing to do)