RTP-area local music and culture

["Ken M" <snz AT mindspring.com>]

I smoke.  I have smoked on stage.  But my take is more like the "crazy
ex-smoker".   The evidence is clear (as if it wasn't before) that
second hand smoke hurts people.  I don't intend on being the guy
begging the club to allow me to hurt people if less than 50 people show
up.  If a club decides that there is no smoking, I respect and applaud
it.   I also think the issue should be all or nothing.

I was in LA recently and people smoke outdoors.  The club owner smoked.
 She also swore that she tried everything to keep her bar smoking, and
that her business hadn't dropped off a bit.   This was a regular
neighborhood bar... nothin' special.

If there is a decision to allow smoking on some nights,  I think that
all employees need to be polled first, as they are not in the line of
fire by choice.  This includes the bands who are performing.  If they
are all OK with smoking, then maybe a posting should be put at the door
announcing that the show is a smoking show and money will be rufunded
to those who object.  Or maybe they can stand outside the back door.

Let me put it this way:  Since there is no way to please everyone,
perhaps the goal should be to not physically hurt anyone.  That leaves
one choice.   Make pot legal.

Ken


grady wrote:
> I think this would be a huge step in the right direction. The primary
> potential downside I see, I guess, is that a lot of folks make the
> decision to go/no-go when they're still at home, not when they walk up
> to the door, so having some mechanism to alert people "hey! this show is
> non-smoking! it's safe to come out!" as far in advance as possible would
> have the biggest benefit, in terms of increasing attendance among those
> folks for whom smoke is a big issue. And I assume that increasing
> attendance would be an important sign that the plan was working, right?
>
> So the clearer the policy, the better. Folks will really appreciate it
> if the room is smoke-free, but unless they realize that this is due to a
> clear policy shift, it may not sink in that they can start planning to
> hit more shows in the future.
>
> And I'll make sure to look around & do a headcount next time I'm at a
> show & suddenly realize that the smoke-danger-alert bells are going off
> in my head.
>
> Ross
>
> p.s. for John I. -- dude, "bars" are places where they serve drinks &
> people play pool & chat & flirt with each other, and there's no cover
> charge. Local 506 is a rockclub. There are still approximately 50000000
> bars in the Triangle where you can sit & drink and smoke. There are
> quite a few within walking distance of the 506, even, so you can slip
> out between bands & light up, if you feel the need to so while sitting &
> drinking, rather than just standing on the sidewalk.
>
> And you're saying that you can't smoke at home? Shouldn't that tell you
> something? ;-)
>
> Glenn Boothe / Local 506 wrote:
> > Just curious what people think about this:
> >
> > I'd like to think that smoking really only becomes a deterrent at the
> > bigger shows.  When there is only a small crowd, then there usually
> > isn't enough smoke to bother someone and if it is, it's probably
> > centralized to the bar area, so non-smokers should be able to find a
> > suitable place that's less smoky.
> >
> > The problem for me is knowing just how many people are going to attend
> > a particular show.  For example, The Shanklys sold no advance tickets
> > and close to 150 people attended.  The Subways sold over 120 advance
> > tickets and had only slightly more than The Shanklys..
> >
> > What about this idea:  If Local 506 sold more than 50 advance tickets
> > (or whatever number seems appropriate, might take some time to
> > determine) - then the show would automatically become smoke-free?
> >
> > If we knew how big the crowd was in advance, we could put up no-smoking
> > signs and remove the ashtrays.  And for our smaller shows, we can
> > operate just like any other bar (as we tend to do a decent portion of
> > our business after the bands finish on some of the slower nights.)
> >
> > Let me know...glenn
> >
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> >
> >
> >
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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