Senior Editor Eric Snider and I were planning to see Caribou (here's my interview with band leader Dan Snaith) perform tonight at Crowbar in Ybor City.
Problem is, Caribou isn't scheduled to start performing until midnight, which means the band probably won't play until 12:30 a.m., which means the show won't wrap until around 2 a.m., which is way too late for even most music writers to be out on a Tuesday night unless he absolutely has to, as in Talking Heads or Led Zeppelin have reunited for a double-bill tour with shows only starting at 1 a.m.
Apparently, we're not the only ones who have tried to talk Jack Spatafora, of Aestheticized Presents, to start his shows (or at least put his headliners on), at a more reasonable hour. Check out this comment posted by Jennifer Hollowell, which starts: "Fuck yeah, flapjack! I’ve been bitching at Jack S. for years about this exact issue and it falls on deaf ears."
Look, Aestheticized Presents brings some of the best shows around. Without Spatafora, the Tampa Bay music scene would be seriously diminished. But I can't help but think attendance numbers would rise if shows like the recent David Dondero gig I attended started around 10 or 11 as opposed to 12:30 a.m.
Skipper's Smokehouse and Jannus Landing typically get their headliners on no later than 10 and close shop around midnight. These are venues that often book the same kind of shows Aestheticized Presents brings to Crowbar and nearby New World Brewery. So, y'know, it can be done.
I'd really like to get feedback one this one, especially from the people who enjoy waiting for the headliner to go on at 12:30 a.m.
This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2007.