Untie those undergarment knots young grasshopper, all is safe in EDM-land!
Think Red Rocks Amphitheatre is going to ban electronic music performances from its 2016 concert season? Take a deep breath, chill the fuck out, and stop re-posting links and tweets perpetuating the inaccurate claim. Now please …
Here’s the deal, after a series of tweets dropped yesterday from the inimitable Bassnectar (seen below), in where he chastises the iconic venue for its sound levels, the thump-heavy electro-god led many fans (and unfortunately some blogs) into thinking the venue will be dropping the genre altogether from its lineup next year. This, of course, is far from the case.
“You know the bottom line is this year we put a series of new decibel restrictions in place that were intended to help us with the neighbors,” says Denver Arts & Venues Marketing/Communications Director Brian Kitts. “If they skirt those rules or bump up against them, it feels disrespectful to us, and it feels disrespectful to the neighbors. And if they want to play someplace else, we understand.”
He says the rules are in place to try and appease concert-loving fans that flock to the iconic venue en masse each year while keeping a peaceful balance with the surrounding neighbors. The restrictions, contrary to popular belief, were never intended to be an assault against the bass-heavy acts found in the EDM culture.
“We love EDM,” says Kitts. “I personally love EDM, and so it pisses me off when this sort of thing snowballs into a ‘Red Rocks is killing EDM’ thing, because that’s not the intent at all.”
Not commenting on any specific artists, Kitts explains that there are acts they try and work with that don’t want the levels messed with in the first place, but there’s nothing they can do to circumvent the regulations.
As far as Bassnectar’s comments are concerned, Kitts says it was wrong of him to suggest the venue had made any announcements about the upcoming concert season, because the current one isn’t even over yet, and they won’t be reviewing complaints and concerns until later in the year, if not by early next year, to make any necessary adjustments — if there are any.
“Our response to (neighbors) and to the city of Morrison is that we will, at the end of the season, review noise complaints and parking issues and anything else that we feel is part of our being a neighbor out there,” he says.
Really, to suggest Red Rocks, an amphitheatre that hosts over a hundred concerts a year, would do anything to push back a specific — and wildly popular — genre, is absurd.
“It was built as an amphitheatre,” says Kitts, “and next year we’re celebrating our 75th anniversary, so it’s not a surprise we book music acts there. For the past 75 years that’s what we do. It’s an amphitheatre first and foremost."
“I’ve said this before," he continues, "the history of Red Rocks is the history of pop culture in the United States, and EDM is a big part of that. We are absolutely not trying to ban EDM, but we have a responsibility to neighbors, and we put in restrictions in place that we thought were fair. If (an artist) finds that it doesn’t work for them and the way that they want their music to be heard, we completely understand.”
It's entirely plausible that some acts will bail on the venue next year because of the regulations, but let's not flood anyone else's feed with misinformed propaganda and heresy — there's enough of that bullshit floating around already. Bassnectar, we love you to death, but because you can't have things your way is no reason to shit on everyone else looking to play the incredible venue in 2016.
EDM is safe, young grasshopper, now go, tell all friends and foes alike. </rumor>
TL;DR: Red Rocks, as of right now, has not announced anything new for the upcoming season.
There will be no Red Rocks shows of any decent volume in 2016. They are gonna lower their DB level even more. We have other plans for CO 😉
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
Any show in 2016 at Red Rocks will have virtually no bass. Sad but true. Other than ambient music or rock, the venue is a bust sadly 🙁
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
But we're putting together plans for something super magical in #Colorado where we can play at a decent volume and gather the freaks in 2016
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
The trick with volume is to set it at the perfect balance so it sounds warm, tight and beautiful like a good car stereo, yet plenty heavy
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
And sadly Red Rocks is gonna have to run their sound levels so low it will sound like laptop speakers. And I'd feel guilty telling ppl to go
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
Fans and music lovers deserve the experience they expect – full sonic immersion. Not too loud, but not too quiet. Colorado deserves the BASS
— bassnectar (@bassnectar) September 10, 2015
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