IMP to Operate Lincoln Theatre

Huzzah!

http://930club.tumblr.com/post/54028732502/for-immediate-release

Great news.  Hopefully IMP will train the staff not to empty the trash cans in the middle of an acoustic show.

oh look another mention of the lincoln theatre, as if it is rising from the ashes of great places to see a show in dc.  well, it is.

and look . . . a new person.

Congrats! Will the Friends with Benefits program be expanded to include the Lincoln?

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2013/07/02/mayor-announces-slate-of-vanilla-shows-at-lincoln-theatre/

Mayor Announces Slate of Vanilla Shows at Lincoln Theatre
Posted by Ally Schweitzer on Jul. 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Today, Mayor Vince Gray announced the first set of I.M.P.-booked shows at the Lincoln Theatre. It may be the first and last time D.C.'s mayor announces anything having to do with Scottish wuss-rock band Travis.

Here are the first publicized shows I.M.P. will present as the Lincoln Theatre's new full-time operator. Tickets go on sale July 12 at 10 a.m. on Ticketfly.

Sept. 4: Laura Marling
Sept. 20: Travis
Sept. 29: KT Tunstall
Oct. 29: Matt Nathanson
Oct. 30: Neko Case

Before the city brought on I.M.P. to run the Lincoln Theatre, the Bethesda-based company?which also books the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion?rented the historic venue from time to time, usually reserving the seated venue for acts on the intimate alt-folk/country end of the spectrum, like Jeff Tweedy. This lineup suggests that the company doesn't have any immediate plans to change course.

But let's look at the bigger picture here: The Lincoln Theatre is a historically black theater, and these acts are largely white singer-songwriters with?I'm assuming?mostly white, middle-class fans. Anyone concerned about the Lincoln Theatre maintaining any shred of its legacy might be a bit concerned about the appearance of an encroaching acoustic-guitar takeover.

At a Lincoln Theatre press event I attended in 2011, a reporter with the Afro-American asked the mayor point-blank whether the then-transitioning Lincoln Theatre would be turned into a white venue. (The mayor responded diplomatically that the theater would be available to all who choose to patronize it.) An alarmist question, perhaps, given the theater's long history of booking black performers, but when new management takes over and announces a lineup as Anglo as the line outside an L.L. Bean liquidation sale, eyebrows could begin to creep skyward.

Though, this is just the first set of shows, and I.M.P. still books one of the country's most beloved venues, the 9:30 Club, which could hardly be accused of catering to an exclusively white audience. Whether this slate represents a dramatic turn for the Lincoln Theatre remains to be seen. But let's hope it doesn't.

Update, 7 p.m.: I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz responds via a spokesperson: "This is just a start. We are going to try all kinds of things. We are not afraid to take chances…in fact, we enjoy doing so, and that's what makes it exciting for us. But, ultimately, the audience for the Lincoln will be determined by what does well."

Photo by Flickr user AndreaMann used under a Creative Commons license.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2013/07/02/mayor-announces-slate-of-vanilla-shows-at-lincoln-theatre/

Mayor Announces Slate of Vanilla Shows at Lincoln Theatre
Posted by Ally Schweitzer on Jul. 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Today, Mayor Vince Gray announced the first set of I.M.P.-booked shows at the Lincoln Theatre. It may be the first and last time D.C.'s mayor announces anything having to do with Scottish wuss-rock band Travis.

Here are the first publicized shows I.M.P. will present as the Lincoln Theatre's new full-time operator. Tickets go on sale July 12 at 10 a.m. on Ticketfly.

Sept. 4: Laura Marling
Sept. 20: Travis
Sept. 29: KT Tunstall
Oct. 29: Matt Nathanson
Oct. 30: Neko Case

Before the city brought on I.M.P. to run the Lincoln Theatre, the Bethesda-based company?which also books the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion?rented the historic venue from time to time, usually reserving the seated venue for acts on the intimate alt-folk/country end of the spectrum, like Jeff Tweedy. This lineup suggests that the company doesn't have any immediate plans to change course.

But let's look at the bigger picture here: The Lincoln Theatre is a historically black theater, and these acts are largely white singer-songwriters with?I'm assuming?mostly white, middle-class fans. Anyone concerned about the Lincoln Theatre maintaining any shred of its legacy might be a bit concerned about the appearance of an encroaching acoustic-guitar takeover.

At a Lincoln Theatre press event I attended in 2011, a reporter with the Afro-American asked the mayor point-blank whether the then-transitioning Lincoln Theatre would be turned into a white venue. (The mayor responded diplomatically that the theater would be available to all who choose to patronize it.) An alarmist question, perhaps, given the theater's long history of booking black performers, but when new management takes over and announces a lineup as Anglo as the line outside an L.L. Bean liquidation sale, eyebrows could begin to creep skyward.

Though, this is just the first set of shows, and I.M.P. still books one of the country's most beloved venues, the 9:30 Club, which could hardly be accused of catering to an exclusively white audience. Whether this slate represents a dramatic turn for the Lincoln Theatre remains to be seen. But let's hope it doesn't.

Update, 7 p.m.: I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz responds via a spokesperson: "This is just a start. We are going to try all kinds of things. We are not afraid to take chances…in fact, we enjoy doing so, and that's what makes it exciting for us. But, ultimately, the audience for the Lincoln will be determined by what does well."

Photo by Flickr user AndreaMann used under a Creative Commons license.

oh christ.

are any of those musicians black?

if not its kind of silly..

i ask because i haven't heard of most of those..

hutch wrote:
are any of those musicians black?

if not its kind of silly..

i ask because i haven't heard of most of those..

Seriously, who gives a shit.. and no, none are black and all pretty damn boring, but who cares? At least something is happening at the "historic black theatre." As not a damn thing has happened there in over a decade.

Why would those artists mostly appeal to white, middle class fans?

that is exactly the kind of article that was written by someone that doesn't actually go to concerts, and certainly not buy tickets

kind of like those people that wax poetic about baseball but never actually go to games

Seth wrote:
that is exactly the kind of article that was written by someone that doesn't actually go to concerts, and certainly not buy tickets

kind of like those people that wax poetic about baseball but never actually go to games

*knux*

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2013/07/02/mayor-announces-slate-of-vanilla-shows-at-lincoln-theatre/

Mayor Announces Slate of Vanilla Shows at Lincoln Theatre
Posted by Ally Schweitzer on Jul. 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Today, Mayor Vince Gray announced the first set of I.M.P.-booked shows at the Lincoln Theatre. It may be the first and last time D.C.'s mayor announces anything having to do with Scottish wuss-rock band Travis.

Here are the first publicized shows I.M.P. will present as the Lincoln Theatre's new full-time operator. Tickets go on sale July 12 at 10 a.m. on Ticketfly.

Sept. 4: Laura Marling
Sept. 20: Travis
Sept. 29: KT Tunstall
Oct. 29: Matt Nathanson
Oct. 30: Neko Case

Before the city brought on I.M.P. to run the Lincoln Theatre, the Bethesda-based company?which also books the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion?rented the historic venue from time to time, usually reserving the seated venue for acts on the intimate alt-folk/country end of the spectrum, like Jeff Tweedy. This lineup suggests that the company doesn't have any immediate plans to change course.

But let's look at the bigger picture here: The Lincoln Theatre is a historically black theater, and these acts are largely white singer-songwriters with?I'm assuming?mostly white, middle-class fans. Anyone concerned about the Lincoln Theatre maintaining any shred of its legacy might be a bit concerned about the appearance of an encroaching acoustic-guitar takeover.

At a Lincoln Theatre press event I attended in 2011, a reporter with the Afro-American asked the mayor point-blank whether the then-transitioning Lincoln Theatre would be turned into a white venue. (The mayor responded diplomatically that the theater would be available to all who choose to patronize it.) An alarmist question, perhaps, given the theater's long history of booking black performers, but when new management takes over and announces a lineup as Anglo as the line outside an L.L. Bean liquidation sale, eyebrows could begin to creep skyward.

Though, this is just the first set of shows, and I.M.P. still books one of the country's most beloved venues, the 9:30 Club, which could hardly be accused of catering to an exclusively white audience. Whether this slate represents a dramatic turn for the Lincoln Theatre remains to be seen. But let's hope it doesn't.

Update, 7 p.m.: I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz responds via a spokesperson: "This is just a start. We are going to try all kinds of things. We are not afraid to take chances…in fact, we enjoy doing so, and that's what makes it exciting for us. But, ultimately, the audience for the Lincoln will be determined by what does well."

Photo by Flickr user AndreaMann used under a Creative Commons license.

Holy crap! Next thing you know, we'll be going back to different water fountains, and having to have some people sitting in the back of the bus. WTF WTF WTF!!! Regardless of skin color and history, obviously it's not able to survive without help from "the white man" (insert sarcasm) 

I can see it now "Oh, Wu-Tang wants to play the 9:30 Club" "Oh, we can book them but down at our "black" venue a few blocks down"  Jeebus!

What a horrible story.

seriously racist article

seriously ugly writer.

Ally Schweitzer??

but thats the thing.. just booking one black act to start… the kind of act seth books all the time would have been great for PR…surprising mistake.

wishing the world wasn't the way it is don't make it so..

i mean looking at it from the black community perspective IMP is taking over a historic piece of the black community (yes, its sucked for years now…) and they want to see some continuity etc.. its understandable..

What exactly is a "black act"?

hutch wrote:
but thats the thing.. just booking one black act to start… the kind of act seth books all the time would have been great for PR…surprising mistake.

wishing the world wasn't the way it is don't make it so..

i mean looking at it from the black community perspective IMP is taking over a historic piece of the black community (yes, its sucked for years now…) and they want to see some continuity etc.. its understandable..

James wrote:
What exactly is a "black act"?

hutch wrote:
but thats the thing.. just booking one black act to start… the kind of act seth books all the time would have been great for PR…surprising mistake.

wishing the world wasn't the way it is don't make it so..

i mean looking at it from the black community perspective IMP is taking over a historic piece of the black community (yes, its sucked for years now…) and they want to see some continuity etc.. its understandable..

well I'll give you a clue: its sure ain't frickin' Travis

Why not?

hutch wrote:

James wrote:
What exactly is a "black act"?

hutch wrote:
but thats the thing.. just booking one black act to start… the kind of act seth books all the time would have been great for PR…surprising mistake.

wishing the world wasn't the way it is don't make it so..

i mean looking at it from the black community perspective IMP is taking over a historic piece of the black community (yes, its sucked for years now…) and they want to see some continuity etc.. its understandable..

well I'll give you a clue: its sure ain't frickin' Travis

James wrote:
Why not?

hutch wrote:

James wrote:
What exactly is a "black act"?

hutch wrote:
but thats the thing.. just booking one black act to start… the kind of act seth books all the time would have been great for PR…surprising mistake.

wishing the world wasn't the way it is don't make it so..

i mean looking at it from the black community perspective IMP is taking over a historic piece of the black community (yes, its sucked for years now…) and they want to see some continuity etc.. its understandable..

well I'll give you a clue: its sure ain't frickin' Travis

you're going to have to figure that one out on your own sonny boy..