no really, i swear im going to redesign these pages. i hate the basic template that moveabletype gives. its just that ive been so swamped with work drama [ie, plain parade] that i havent been able to think straight.

here is my to-do list:

- redesign page
- archive every radio playlist
- finish current pieces that are in “draft” mode

whitney pastorek breaks down blogging and those who do not blog. i am certain that i am committing some sort of blogger faux-pas here, if i were a real blogger.

we all know what jeff sharlet said, here’s a response by ben morgan, who is a former employee of curt flood booking. the version printed in the letters section of harpers magazine is clearly truncated:

While I share Jeff Sharlet’s concern about the size and power ielded by Clear Channel, his search for abuse of power has resulted in the unfortunate casting of Philadelphia promoters Sean Agnew as a saint and Bryan Dilworth as “Clear Channel’s man” in a misleading attempt to pin more dirty laundry on Clear Channel. I would say that consolidated radio ownership is a much more valid thing to focus on than giving ink to asinine conspiracy theories brought to us courtesy of a young entrepreneur all too eager to blame problems on his competition.

I always supported and respected Agnew, but in the past few years I fear he has focused on cultivating his image as a righteous punk rock underdog rather than realizing the damage he causes to the Philadelphia music community by blaming competitors for his problems and constantly claiming that he is the subject of persecution. Agnew only benefits from this Davey vs. Goliath press; the Khyber and Curt Flood serve the same independent/underground music community who are growing increasingly misinformed and hostile about Clear Channel’s influence on these independent businesses.

Agnew has done a lot to bring quality all ages rock shows to the area, and has had many struggles with authority to keep his operation running over the years. The Philadelphia police shut down the first (completely unlicensed & illegal) venue he booked, I myself wrote a short supportive piece in the Philadelphia Weekly about his fight with the University of Pennsylvania to start a venue there in 2000, and the Licensing and Inspections Department shutdowns were the latest in many hurdles he has had to face to stay in business. ‘Business’ is a term he does not like to apply to what he does, though to my knowledge he earns more money while booking fewer shows than his peers in the rock club promoter scene. I am happy for his success and cannot fathom why he is not content to enjoy what he does and support his peers in his community.

Part of Agnew maintaining his desired image as a righteous punk fighting authority mandates an enemy to struggle against, and were Clear Channel not around it would certainly be Electric Factory concerts or whoever else was competing with Agnew to book the same acts. The only difference is there would be no media hungry to transform his hostile attacks into politically relevant cover stories.

Sharlet’s clearly negative portrayal of a concert at the Khyber as “No one was there to see the bands; the crowd, maybe a hundred strong, was there to get drunk, or to take someone home” is particularly hard to stomach, and furthers an implication that Agnew’s labor is somehow more honorable and noble than Dilworth’s. The literary techniques used to describe Dilworth are nothing short of character asassination. Unlike Agnew, Dilworth is not a PR hound, and articles like this one are precisely the reason why.

Most perplexing was the startling omission of the fact that the Khyber, the club booked by Dilworth, was also shut down by Philadelphia’s Department of Licensing and Inspections in March of this year, just as Agnew’s had been months before, whereafter Agnew hinted that Clear Channel was responsible. To insinuate that rival promoters were responsible for the closure of Agnew’s venue is a hostile and unnecessary attack by Agnew. Harper’s has only helped to further this hostility, and rather than fostering legitimate criticism of Clear Channel it creates needless antagonism in the Philadelphia music community while wasting the reader’s time chasing conspiracies that simply do not exist.

Ben Morgan
former employee of Curt Flood Booking 2000-2003

ill be heading up to NYC on saturday 3/6 to DJ a show with local awesome bands The Teeth and Dr. Dog [whom you may have seen opening up on My Morning Jackets most recent tour]

9:00pm at The Lucky Cat (245 Grand Street, Brooklyn NY). FREE.

if you’re in town, stop by and say hello!