RTP-area local music and culture

[DJ Stevo <djstevo AT wknc.org>]

I think I'm going to chime in with the chorus here and agree that this
is a really ill-conceived concept for a column.  In the past few years
as KNC's local music director, I've seen a lot of live shows, and many
times I've come in with low expectations for a band and had them
utterly blown away by the end of the evening.  Ragging on a live show
_before_ you actually see it is like writing a bad review for an album
before you give it a listen.  Sure, if the show sucks, skewer it like
there's no tomorrow afterwards, but actively discouraging people from
attending live music is borderline irresponsible in my opinion.  The
Independent has great power over popular opinion in the Triangle, and
a good or bad word in it can be extremely influential when it comes to
show attendance.  Now, I've seen a lot of great shows around here go
criminally unattended, and so we've got to ask ourselves, do we really
want to discourage it further?

Simply put, discouraging people from attending live music events is an
unhealthy practice for a music scene that needs all of the positive
support it can get.
-Stevo
djstevo AT wknc.org