Why People Don't Go To The Movies (or to DJ gigs?)
hogginthefogg
6,098 Posts
Gigs in SF have been pretty slooooow as of late and no one seems to have a solid idea as to why. I just found this article on why people aren't going to the movies these days. It struck me that many of these reasons could also apply to lulls in club nights.Here are the top 7 reasons as compiled by the reporter (condensed for your easy reading pleasure). In italics after each, I've tried to make similar gig-related arguments:Reason 1: There Is No Reason.[/b] There is absolutely nothing wrong with the movie industry, at least nothing serious. It's like this: Say you get a sudden dizzy spell. You go to the hospital. They run tests -- an EKG, a CT scan, a stress test, a blood test -- and everything comes out normal. Finally, there comes that moment when the doctor looks up from the clipboard and shrugs, "Well, it looks like you just had a dizzy spell." Even in a healthy organism, weird things happen, for seemingly no reason.That may be the case with Hollywood right now. There are ups and downs. These things happen, and then they stop happening -- on their own.This could definitely be the case here in the Bay, and I really hope it is. Sometimes, there are just inexplicable slumps (no grinding).Reason 2: The Movies Are Awful.[/b] This is the critics' favorite reason because critics want to have pleasant lives, seeing only wonderful movies, and if the box office is providing a disincentive for studios to put out garbage, critics believe they may soon be close to that day. The current movies, of course, argue in favor of that interpretation. They're not so good. They're mostly pretty lousy.DJs are awful? Hmm...I thought it was just my bitter friends and I who felt this way. 
Reason 3: Movie Formulas Have Grown Stale.[/b] This is a subtle variation on Reason 2 that takes into account that people are avoiding good movies as well as bad. According to this theory, people are staying home because the formulas that govern the making of thrillers, fantasies, action movies and love stories have become so pervasive, familiar, restrictive and boring that people are skipping them because they feel they've seen it all before. It's old stuff.DJ playlists have grown stale? Not sure. Definitely true for some and very applicable to certain weekly gigs. File under "Why would I go there if I've already heard him play that set nine times?"Reason 4: People Feel Uneasy About the Economy.[/b] The recovery has been slow. Movies are expensive. People might want to hold on to their money and invest either in their retirement or perhaps in a sturdy tin cup they can use in their old age, when they're half-demented and begging on the street.Ding ding ding ding! I think this is a very distinct possibility.Reason 5: The Country Is Suffering From a Vague, Nameless Malaise.[/b] It doesn't exactly feel like morning in America right now. Or maybe it does, but only in the sense that it feels like staring out the window at 4 in the morning in America, having a stiff drink and wondering what went wrong. So who wants to go to the movies?The argument against this theory is that people often flock to movies in times of crisis. But an acute crisis can be galvanizing, whereas a chronic crisis of confidence and unease can be paralyzing. (The early years of the Great Depression saw a box office slump.) Combine that with economic uncertainty and that could be reason enough for an anemic box office.See #4 above.Reason 6: Going to the Movies on a Saturday Night Has Become a Fairly Hideous, Repulsive Experience.[/b] Art houses and repertory houses are exempt from this observation. Those theaters preserve the moviegoing experience as a fun, rewarding collective activity. But to spend Saturday night going to see a major release at a multiplex can be more stressful than going to work the first Monday after vacation. It costs $10 for a ticket and almost another 10 for something at the concession stand, and you have to wait in line to buy both.Going out to the club on a Saturday night has become a fairly hideous, repulsive experience for a lot of folks. Which brings us to...Reason 7: Staying Home Has Never Been So Good.[/b] Just as the movie-theater experience has become increasingly putrid, home viewing has become a joy. Recent years have seen the ascendancy of HDTV, video projectors and plasma TVs, and DVDs have become inexpensive -- most sell for about the price of a ticket, soda and popcorn. It used to be that people had to leave the house to have the big-screen experience. But to see a movie on a plasma screen, broadcast in HDTV -- or to see it on DVD, blown up to an 8-foot image by a video projector -- is to come very close to the theatrical experience, with none of the headaches.This is where I'm most guilty. If I'm not booked, I'm most likely gonna be on the couch.Any of this applicable to your scene? DISCUSS.
Reason 3: Movie Formulas Have Grown Stale.[/b] This is a subtle variation on Reason 2 that takes into account that people are avoiding good movies as well as bad. According to this theory, people are staying home because the formulas that govern the making of thrillers, fantasies, action movies and love stories have become so pervasive, familiar, restrictive and boring that people are skipping them because they feel they've seen it all before. It's old stuff.DJ playlists have grown stale? Not sure. Definitely true for some and very applicable to certain weekly gigs. File under "Why would I go there if I've already heard him play that set nine times?"Reason 4: People Feel Uneasy About the Economy.[/b] The recovery has been slow. Movies are expensive. People might want to hold on to their money and invest either in their retirement or perhaps in a sturdy tin cup they can use in their old age, when they're half-demented and begging on the street.Ding ding ding ding! I think this is a very distinct possibility.Reason 5: The Country Is Suffering From a Vague, Nameless Malaise.[/b] It doesn't exactly feel like morning in America right now. Or maybe it does, but only in the sense that it feels like staring out the window at 4 in the morning in America, having a stiff drink and wondering what went wrong. So who wants to go to the movies?The argument against this theory is that people often flock to movies in times of crisis. But an acute crisis can be galvanizing, whereas a chronic crisis of confidence and unease can be paralyzing. (The early years of the Great Depression saw a box office slump.) Combine that with economic uncertainty and that could be reason enough for an anemic box office.See #4 above.Reason 6: Going to the Movies on a Saturday Night Has Become a Fairly Hideous, Repulsive Experience.[/b] Art houses and repertory houses are exempt from this observation. Those theaters preserve the moviegoing experience as a fun, rewarding collective activity. But to spend Saturday night going to see a major release at a multiplex can be more stressful than going to work the first Monday after vacation. It costs $10 for a ticket and almost another 10 for something at the concession stand, and you have to wait in line to buy both.Going out to the club on a Saturday night has become a fairly hideous, repulsive experience for a lot of folks. Which brings us to...Reason 7: Staying Home Has Never Been So Good.[/b] Just as the movie-theater experience has become increasingly putrid, home viewing has become a joy. Recent years have seen the ascendancy of HDTV, video projectors and plasma TVs, and DVDs have become inexpensive -- most sell for about the price of a ticket, soda and popcorn. It used to be that people had to leave the house to have the big-screen experience. But to see a movie on a plasma screen, broadcast in HDTV -- or to see it on DVD, blown up to an 8-foot image by a video projector -- is to come very close to the theatrical experience, with none of the headaches.This is where I'm most guilty. If I'm not booked, I'm most likely gonna be on the couch.Any of this applicable to your scene? DISCUSS.
Comments
"It's all bullshit. Everything you just said is just bullshit...People don???t come because you motherfuckers don???t play shit that they like. If you play shit that they like the people will come."
"It's the economy, stupid."
No parking in the Mission.
somewhat true, but so is the movie malaise debate
but there's still a million singles out in the world, right???
seriously, I guess the more people settle down the less they'd be inclined to go out to some club....quiet bars in the 2K5?
saying
Rize: good, but could have been an hour shorter plus kinda
Me, You and Everybody We Know: amazingly good and funny as heck
Mad about Ballroom: I'll give a report later
bingo...
funny you mention #7. I always wonder if things like Netflix and the internet have just made everyone chill at home.
SF is starting to become like other major cities where shit just doesn't pop off (Seattle and San Diego come to mind etc..)
Dude forgot to mention "gentrification"
and
yes
SF DJ'S ARE AWFULL*
**If your number is in my phone/I be seeing you outside of clubs then this does not apply to you
I think this is nummer one.
techmology
+ take out cheeseburgers
+ innanet porn
+ pot
+ dl'ing music
+ dl'ing movies
= that lazy dood that neva comes out when you call him on a Saturday.
#1 - I watch International film, so I've already seen the originals to all the remakes coming in the next three years.
I'll pay to see a movie all day, but give me something original. There is nothing I "need to see" or would like to see coming out of hollywood right now.
Or
At least make the remake better or a bit different. I don't need to see white actors to make the story better. lol
SAYIN. Can't wait for this weekend!
and i dont think any of the above theoretics apply to LA.
Quick... put my number in your phone
1. To get laid
2. To see their friends
3. To hear songs they heard on the radio on the way to the club
4. To get laid
"To get an enriched and diverse musical education courtesy of a discriminating DJ/collector who spends his spare time on internet HUBS for digging culture" runs a very distant fifth. Or tenth.
Besides
So does Ross--he is all the time posting in it like he thinks he is Jamaican!
WORD MOSS! CO-SIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REALEST TALK/MARCO YOU ROCK.
Hi, P*t!
I get shit from time to time because I dont go and "support" the other DJ nights and I have been branded a "hater" and a snob here in town. Its true, the only other DJ nights I go to are ones put on by my pal Lacey, Eric Oblivian, or Chad from Memphix(which draw about only 20 people believe it or not)..all the other ones SUCK ASS, I dont give a shit about hearing LCD soundsystem or Mp3 mashups, or Cyndi Lauper...these are the DJ gigs that draw 100+ folks..folks think I am jealous or some shit that they draw more folks than shingaling and I's nights, not true, I just dont want to spend my evening listening to shitty music.
All the DJs in my area pretty much understand that the reason we don't support each others' gigs is 'cos we're all spinning on the same nights. I mean, the only time new 'Strutter Mooney has ever seen me spin is cos I DJ'd his sister's wedding afterparty, and I don't think I've ever seen him spin at all.
That said, it would take a lot to drag me out of the house to someone else's gig:
1. I already play the music I REALLY wanna hear - excluding my own crew, as much as I like other local DJs , they don't really play stuff I'm crazy about enough to drive 15-45 minutes to support them.
2. My wife isn't a night person, so I'd be going to a party by myself with no guarantee that I'd know anybody in the room. Since I'm not planning on picking up a girl or dancing with myself a la Billy Idol, my DVD collection is a much more alluring alternative.
3. I'm already spinning about twice a week - why the fuck do I want to go to a club where I'm not getting paid and I'm not getting free drinks?!?
Here are some I have not seen mentioned:
1. I'm too damn old:
-I'm just too old to hang out in a club with 20-somethings gettin' their party on.
2. I'm married:
-I'm not on that meat-market, pick-up-girls shit anymore, so the club is pointless. I can get "paid" at the crib without all the fuss.
3. I don't like most "popular" music:
-I don't like the "popular" music of the day, which is what is mostly played at clubs.
4. My wife is not a hip-hop fan:
-If we go out, my wife and I take in live jazz or some derivative because it is usually a better "scene" for us grown folks.
5. Avoiding knucklehead club shit:
-A shady element tends to frequent at least some clubs, so I'd rather avoid it. I'm too old to be dealin' with club violence, chairs flying, etc. I'm a peace-loving cat who dislikes confusion and trife behavior.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
1: lack of interest in the musical spectrum of the given night
2: married. my wife is a health fanatic, out the door at 5:30am for a quick jog before she teaches pilates all day. she goes to bed by 10:30 at the latest so to get her to the club usually means we leave early which leads to #3
3: gigs in toronto start way to fucking late... if you show up at 11pm you'll be the only person there.. yet as the dj you're expected to start playing tunes by 9:30 / 10... NOBODY shows up till at least 12. Why can't somebody have an afternoon gig??? or an early evening sun goin down gig??
4: cab fare. it costs me around $12-$15 to cab it home from a gig that i already paid 5 - 10 to go to?? plus the fare to get there in the first place. THe subway shuts down at 1:30am so its pretty irritating that the gigs go until 3am.
Most movies suck and most radio music sucks. But the 18-25 demographic would probably disagree w/ me.
This is pretty much all true for me too. My wife likes all types of music to a certain degree, but her animosity for "hanging out in bars chitty chatting" is legendary. That said, she is actually super supportive and will come down to the weekly once a month or so for a drink with her friends. It being a low key jazz night helps. After one night at a dance gig she came to, watching me deal with requests and crazy drunk girls, she had had enough.
You younger cats, build your scene while you still know a lot of single folks who NEED somewhere to go. They might still come around once in a blue moon even after they have a couple kids at home and their den is their only retreat. It gets harder and harder as you get older to drag folks out of their house.
I am guilty of this. Milk is probably the biggest cause of this shit for me. Like there has been shit going down there that I wanted to peep but dealing with the crowd is just too much of a pain in the ass. Which results in me drinking beers at home until I passout and that fucking sucks too. I hate drinking a bunch of beer only to end up laying around watching fucking tv. Yelling at fashion makeover shows on tv just doesn't cut it. It also doesn't help I haven't had much funds this past month due to moving/buy stupid ass furniture.
I need to go out more, fuck staying home that shit blows.
Word, it does suck that as weekend warriors we never get to see our friends gigs, but at the same time I usualy judge the professional sucess of a night when I have a place packed and I don't know a single person.
Personally I a most impressed when I hear about mights like Marco's Masala beat club and latin nights that draw a good crowd, because it that means you are drawing on entirley different cultures, and not just backpackers and hipsters that are going out just to go out.
I am guilty of this. Milk is probably the biggest cause of this shit for me.
Dude, foreally. I was telling someone last night that I like going to Milk if I'm spinning there. That way, I'm up front, out of that crowd. It just gets a little too clusterfucked in there sometimes.
Having said that, I expect all of you to be at my next gig there. The crowd's great!
real talk
(reason #151152 I can't wait to get to nyc: djs I actually want to hear have gigs!)
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