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News & ArtsTuesday, August 10, 2010
City / Music Dave Matthews Leads Support for KEXP's Bid for Seattle Center
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Dave Matthews, members of Pearl Jam, National Public Radio, and more than 20 local artists and community leaders are backing KEXP's bid for the Seattle Center's Fun Forest site (full list here—.pdf). Yesterday was the deadline for the eight competing projects to submit supplemental materials—most notably, a funding plan—to still be considered as a viable candidate to inhabit the Fun Forest site. I have a call into the Center to see if everyone met the tight two-week deadline.
- I make-a the musics.
"... this project would enable KEXP and NPR to bring a new level of connection between musicians and the Seattle public, one that is open to all, regardless of their financial resources," writes Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of NPR. "KEXP plays a significant role in NPR's national programming. That can be seen most easily in the leadership role the station played in the founding and evolution of NPR Music at npr.org/music, an online music destination that has reinvented the public radio music experience."
“Directly and indirectly, the music industry in Seattle supports 22,000 jobs and generates $2.6 billion in sales," says Kelly Curtis, manager of Pearl Jam. "KEXP at Seattle Center will be an asset that only makes that industry more robust by enhancing our stellar reputation as a community that through-and-through supports music and musicians.”
KEXP's most viable competition at this stage is, of course, the Space-Needle-backed Chihuly museum. By including letters of support in their supplemental materials for the panel to review, KEXP is still playing catch-up to the Chihuly museum, which mustered support from the Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle Public Schools, and ArtsFund after being criticized for not offering any (free) public benefits to Seattle residents. Still, the leaders on KEXP's list can't be dismissed lightly. This is a smart move.
3
I don't know why we should listen to a bunch of "Seattle musicians" when we could be helping out some out-of-towner pirate-looking dude. Where are our priorities?
4
Does anyone actually LIKE Dave Matthews? I've tried to listen to his stuff and I find it pretty dull, boring and pretty self-important.
6
Cato: yeah, nobody likes Dave Matthews. Nobody has bought his CDs. Nobody buys out his three day show every year at the Gorge. Nobody.
(not a big fan but your comment at 4 is absolutely leotarded)
(not a big fan but your comment at 4 is absolutely leotarded)
7
What neighborhood does he live in anyway? I'm not looking for cross streets so I can stalk him - I'm just curiuos.
9
@6, your wit just cuts me to my very soul! You've cut to my very essence and destroyed all that I am!
10
@7 - Wallingford. Not a fan of the music, I've met him a couple of times and he couldn't be a nicer, more down to earth guy considering his $ and celebrity.
So the guy stands up for KEXP and their importance in the community, even though they don't play his music, when it serves no benefit to him or his band, and people on here want to trash him?
Stay classy Seattle.
So the guy stands up for KEXP and their importance in the community, even though they don't play his music, when it serves no benefit to him or his band, and people on here want to trash him?
Stay classy Seattle.
12
@4 I've tried, but just can't get there. Excellent musicianship, dynamic live performances and a rabid cult following. I even overlook the fact that I cannot decipher a single lyric, as that's never been my strong point. But I can't get past the feeling that it is just wanker rock, going absolutely nowhere.
Not a lot different than the Grateful Dead, in a jam band sense, but they didn't seem so goddam serious about it.
Still, he's a heavy hitter striking back at Chihulyville, which is good for everyone not trying to inflate the value of their collections.
Not a lot different than the Grateful Dead, in a jam band sense, but they didn't seem so goddam serious about it.
Still, he's a heavy hitter striking back at Chihulyville, which is good for everyone not trying to inflate the value of their collections.
13
as I understand it, Mr. Dave lives somewhere in Wallingford, possible close to Gasworks Park, and has been spotted shopping at the WALLINGFORD QFC from time to time.
...and bravo to #6. Whether you like him or not you can't dispute is popularity
...and bravo to #6. Whether you like him or not you can't dispute is popularity
15
@4: His early CDs were great, but I haven't liked any of his studio albums in the last decade. He's absolutely fantastic live, though.
16
I'm not a fan of his music, but I like Dave Matthews' idea for the Seattle Center much more than Dale Chihuly's. Plus, he lives in Wallingford with regular folks and seems to actually care about this town.
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“This is a great post to see, Cienna. We at the Space Needle and at Chihuly Studio support KEXP locating to the Seattle Center Campus too. We have met with KEXP leaders during the past several weeks to find a way for that to happen – to achieve a win/win for everyone. Also, we welcome the discussion that has taken place in recent months about how to improve the Seattle Center Campus. The challenge is to find a way to incorporate all the positive benefits of various viable projects. This doesn’t need to be a “this OR that” discussion, but instead, it can be a “this AND that” opportunity for the City of Seattle, for the Center, and for supporters of the visual arts, music, and green space. There is room on the Seattle Center Campus for more than one great idea and we hope the Selection Committee can find a way to accomplish multiple improvements while the energy, excitement, funding and focus are here to get it done.”
Ron Sevart – Space Needle
Billy O’Neill – Chihuly Studio
Ron Sevart – Space Needle
Billy O’Neill – Chihuly Studio
19
Stick the Chihulhy stuff in a small 30x30 space, Stick the KEXP studio in a 40x40 three story space, put both in their respective NE and NW corners, and use the rest of the space for the Public Park the Citizens want with a real NW Native longhouse next to the Space Needle.
Win. Win. Win.
Win. Win. Win.
21
Dave Matthews has nothing to do with Seattle other than he has a house in Wallingford he lives in part time. He doesn't perform in Seattle, he doesn't participate in the local music at all from what I can tell. He, Pearl Jam, and The Presidents are to music what Chihuly is to art. T
And since when did anyone at the Stranger give a crap about what any of them had to say, let alone their music. Isn't Vedder the dude who backed Nader and isn't giving up his mohawk until we are out of Iraq? Silly boy.
It's more telling that not one musician KEXP actually plays backs their idea of trying to raise $10 million from donors to build a glorified office space as a public monument to themselves and their egos. These are the people who wasted donor money on a repeater signal in Tacoma (cost over $300,000 for nothing), started a now failed station in New York, and this last quarter couldn't meet their fundraising goals. Now they want us to believe they can raise $10 mil, and pay $350,000 per year rent, so they can have a concert stage with a stream running in front of it.
If people supported this extreme financial expenditure by KEXP, you'd see all the bands and events they support coming out to say so. Instead you hear silence from everyone except those desperately in need of some indie cred, and just a couple labels and managers in need of some airplay for their new albums.
And since when did anyone at the Stranger give a crap about what any of them had to say, let alone their music. Isn't Vedder the dude who backed Nader and isn't giving up his mohawk until we are out of Iraq? Silly boy.
It's more telling that not one musician KEXP actually plays backs their idea of trying to raise $10 million from donors to build a glorified office space as a public monument to themselves and their egos. These are the people who wasted donor money on a repeater signal in Tacoma (cost over $300,000 for nothing), started a now failed station in New York, and this last quarter couldn't meet their fundraising goals. Now they want us to believe they can raise $10 mil, and pay $350,000 per year rent, so they can have a concert stage with a stream running in front of it.
If people supported this extreme financial expenditure by KEXP, you'd see all the bands and events they support coming out to say so. Instead you hear silence from everyone except those desperately in need of some indie cred, and just a couple labels and managers in need of some airplay for their new albums.
22
Of course you're supposed to hate Dave Matthews. If he's popular he must suck, right?
And Will: He's like 43 -- a whole lot younger than you, I'm quite sure.
And Will: He's like 43 -- a whole lot younger than you, I'm quite sure.
23
props to dave matthews for supporting kexp eventhough i dont think ive ever heard him on the dial over there and to the chilhuly museum for commenting on this story knowing that the trolls and haters are lurking everywhere on slog! a win win for everyone would be ideal.
and a new building and a bigger access venue for the community that kexp is dedicated too would be most ideal!
kexp deserves the opportunity to organically grow and more ideally serve the diverse and expanding seattle population. i also believe it is exactly the sort of local value that should be highly visible at a center piece to the city like the space needle where locals and visitors are drawn.
-grace
and a new building and a bigger access venue for the community that kexp is dedicated too would be most ideal!
kexp deserves the opportunity to organically grow and more ideally serve the diverse and expanding seattle population. i also believe it is exactly the sort of local value that should be highly visible at a center piece to the city like the space needle where locals and visitors are drawn.
-grace
24
As a UW grad, I take issue with Ex-president Mark Emmert's endorsement. He ditched the UW for a higher paying job with NCAA and he tried to hide under the fact that part of the reason for his departure was due to lack of state funding to the University. I find it ironic, then, that he's endorsing KEXP, a project that would require a 12-15 million dollar capital campaign, when the UW's 2010/11 operating budget was cut by $20.6 million, resulting in higher tuition and fewer services and fewer jobs.
Wouldn't it have made more sense if he would have been focusing on that deficit, as opposed to trying to salvage what little reputation he has left by throwing support behind a radio station?
Wouldn't it have made more sense if he would have been focusing on that deficit, as opposed to trying to salvage what little reputation he has left by throwing support behind a radio station?
25
@24--The fact that the UW holds the FCC license for KEXP has absolutely nothing at all to do with the school's support of the radio station's plans to move to Seattle Center?
Your comment tells volumes about the value of a UW degree!
Your comment tells volumes about the value of a UW degree!
26
@25 - the fact that any UW support for KEXP was forthcoming is quite surprising to me. Yes, UW does provide the frequency, but what oh what does it get in return? Absolutely nothing. The only time KEXP even acknowledges that it owes it's very existence to UW is when it sends out mail begging for money from it's listeners so it can overpay a few of its staff and enter into grandiose misadventures such as this. That envelope begging for money has a UW address on it, perhaps to add a modicum of credibility and/or neediness.
And this oneway street of support with no recognition in return is all the more galling because the UW actually has its own real student run radio station, RainyDawg Radio, that is stuck broadcasting online, with no over the air outlet.
If KEXP can drum up the money to build a development at Seattle Center, then the first thing they should do is buy their own broadcast frequency, and quit parasitizing the UW.
And this oneway street of support with no recognition in return is all the more galling because the UW actually has its own real student run radio station, RainyDawg Radio, that is stuck broadcasting online, with no over the air outlet.
If KEXP can drum up the money to build a development at Seattle Center, then the first thing they should do is buy their own broadcast frequency, and quit parasitizing the UW.
27
@7 Dave Matthews lives inside the Fremont Troll, you'll find the entrance in the rear.
I love KEXP! Come to the Free concerts at The Mural this Saturday and every Friday in August.... for FREEEEEEEEE!!!! Come, get wasted in the beer garden, or smoke a toke on the lawn, or sneak a drink in your peep, or stash a flask in your wask, sit back, relax and enjoy some good Free music under the sunshine this weekend.
I love KEXP! Come to the Free concerts at The Mural this Saturday and every Friday in August.... for FREEEEEEEEE!!!! Come, get wasted in the beer garden, or smoke a toke on the lawn, or sneak a drink in your peep, or stash a flask in your wask, sit back, relax and enjoy some good Free music under the sunshine this weekend.
28
although i can not and will not comment on any of this anymore than the following..i have never listened to or played any dave matthews music on kexp in the last twenty years of my association with the station nor am i aware that ANY dj has done so. his support for what we/i do is pretty damn cool , particularly given the fact that i/we don't play him.
@26
ummm ...the license is still owned by uw for benefits that they consider important to them far more than we know ( or could know.. you should ask them. a gift horse in the mouth ? well i've been warned by sages that we shouldn't examine it too closely..and i don't ) keep in mind kexp is not the only university owned frequency.. kuow - perhaps you've beard of it seems to require and command more operational costs than kexp . and probably raises more money.. i've imagined that the three of them rainy dawg. kexp, kuow, owned in common cover a lot of bases for the university. and while kexp could not afford to purchase that ( or any other license that may EVER be up for sale..the fcc shit ain't nowhere near cheap... shit is more expensive than any human knows or can know ) license..the matters thus presented are much more complex than any poster here ( including myself ) really knows.. like other level shit.. ask the uw what it gets in return, but common sense would tell you that it probably gets quite a bit more than ' absolutely nothing' .. quite a bit more.
@26
ummm ...the license is still owned by uw for benefits that they consider important to them far more than we know ( or could know.. you should ask them. a gift horse in the mouth ? well i've been warned by sages that we shouldn't examine it too closely..and i don't ) keep in mind kexp is not the only university owned frequency.. kuow - perhaps you've beard of it seems to require and command more operational costs than kexp . and probably raises more money.. i've imagined that the three of them rainy dawg. kexp, kuow, owned in common cover a lot of bases for the university. and while kexp could not afford to purchase that ( or any other license that may EVER be up for sale..the fcc shit ain't nowhere near cheap... shit is more expensive than any human knows or can know ) license..the matters thus presented are much more complex than any poster here ( including myself ) really knows.. like other level shit.. ask the uw what it gets in return, but common sense would tell you that it probably gets quite a bit more than ' absolutely nothing' .. quite a bit more.
29
@21 and others - KEXP needs new office space because they have out grown the one they currently occupy. They are going to have to move soon anyway, so why not try and move someplace where they can provide a service to the community and gain exposure at the same time? It sounds like common sense to me, not some wasteful ego-trip.
Also, I'm a musician and donate to the station and I happen to think that it's a great idea. If you don't like the way they run the station, don't listen and don't donate. Go ahead and support the Chiihuly exhibit (talk about a public monument to someone's ego...)
And I'm pretty sure they're still on the air in NY, if not Tacoma. Maybe Riz can confirm this? He is wise: "the matters thus presented are much more complex than any poster here (including myself ) really knows.. like other level shit..."
Also, I'm a musician and donate to the station and I happen to think that it's a great idea. If you don't like the way they run the station, don't listen and don't donate. Go ahead and support the Chiihuly exhibit (talk about a public monument to someone's ego...)
And I'm pretty sure they're still on the air in NY, if not Tacoma. Maybe Riz can confirm this? He is wise: "the matters thus presented are much more complex than any poster here (including myself ) really knows.. like other level shit..."
30
Oh, and even if his music is lame, friends that know him confirm that Dave Matthews and his family are good people and live in a totally ordinary house in Wallingford.
31
KEXP is a WAY better option because it is a far better fit for what makes Seattle Seattle. It has a real soul, and not simply a strong profit motive. The Chihuly deal will not pan out as well its proponents assert. Either project will bring challenges. Problem is...the Chihuly deal has old money behind it...it will likely prevail and the Center remain as it is...a backwater all crawling with cotton candy, trinkets, and tourists riding ducks... (Sorry! sounds like someone hasn't had his breakfast...)
33
@18
Ron Sevart – Space Needle
Billy O’Neill – Chihuly Studio
I appreciate Dave Matthew's support for KEXP. I see it working in tandem with Experience Music Project, and drawing the teen-to-30-something crowd, potentially both locals and out-of-town young people. A Chihuly Museum would likely draw tourists in their 50s through 70s. What's to buy? The larger "waddlers," you might say. All due respect. They have the dollars.
So what's in it for the local and tourist kids? If you want to make a win-win-win, think HARD about an interactive outdoor sculpture garden designed around some amazing play of light and space, so that our smaller "waddlers", toddlers, little and big kids have something to do in this city. I believe that the Seattle Center is for everyone. Please design for us all.
-27 years in Seattle, and Mother of a 7-year-old Seattlite.
Ron Sevart – Space Needle
Billy O’Neill – Chihuly Studio
I appreciate Dave Matthew's support for KEXP. I see it working in tandem with Experience Music Project, and drawing the teen-to-30-something crowd, potentially both locals and out-of-town young people. A Chihuly Museum would likely draw tourists in their 50s through 70s. What's to buy? The larger "waddlers," you might say. All due respect. They have the dollars.
So what's in it for the local and tourist kids? If you want to make a win-win-win, think HARD about an interactive outdoor sculpture garden designed around some amazing play of light and space, so that our smaller "waddlers", toddlers, little and big kids have something to do in this city. I believe that the Seattle Center is for everyone. Please design for us all.
-27 years in Seattle, and Mother of a 7-year-old Seattlite.
34
Wow, so much hatred for Dave Matthews. Can't we all just get along?
@18 - Props to the Space Needle and Chihuly for their open-minded and diplomatic response. And they are right: Why does this have to be an either/or? In reading KEXP's proposal, the station offers no argument as to why they need this particular space as opposed to any of the other location possibilities around Seattle Center. Whereas the Space Needle's motive is obvious - they think their proposal will enhance the "Space Needle experience." So KEXP could move in anywhere at Seattle Center, but if the Chihuly project - which is the only proposal with a clear plan to generate funds for the Center - doesn't happen in that location, it won't happen at all. Support musicans AND artists! Build them both!
@18 - Props to the Space Needle and Chihuly for their open-minded and diplomatic response. And they are right: Why does this have to be an either/or? In reading KEXP's proposal, the station offers no argument as to why they need this particular space as opposed to any of the other location possibilities around Seattle Center. Whereas the Space Needle's motive is obvious - they think their proposal will enhance the "Space Needle experience." So KEXP could move in anywhere at Seattle Center, but if the Chihuly project - which is the only proposal with a clear plan to generate funds for the Center - doesn't happen in that location, it won't happen at all. Support musicans AND artists! Build them both!
35
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