Commentroversy: Grasso Speaks!
Responding to this post on his proposed Fishtown music venue and the notion that he might be trying to “replace” the Electric Factory, developer David Grasso (pictured) became one of Philebrity’s newest commenters last night. His spin?
I Think Whoever wrote this article is trying to cause a fight between me and the Electric Factory. FOR THE RECORD… I have enormous respect for Larry M and in no way is this an attempt to target the Electric Factory. Anyone claiming to speak on my behalf about a plan to hurt the Factory is not speaking for me. I know would be a great story if it were true but it just is not.
We’re of two minds on this: On one hand, Grasso’s “friend” who gave us the hot tip that the Factory had closed (it hadn’t) definitely needs to reeled in a bit and should be shushed straight away — when we did reach him later, he also gave another hot tip that Live Nation was “definitely” booking Grasso’s venue, even though its zoning still hadn’t been approved and a Philly LN source we spoke couldn’t confirm or deny either way on the matter. On the other, this is pure spin: If Grasso wasn’t directly going after the Factory, why would he be saying in public that “a lot of artists won’t play at the Electric Factory” and making it a part of his pitch that Philly simply doesn’t have a venue with the capacity his will (when the Factory clearly already does)? Increasingly, though, this all is less about Grasso versus the Electric Factory for us, and more about Grasso’s hubris and presumptuous bulldozer style — whether it’s the way he got DiCicco to attempt to grandfather his zoning or his notion that he’s here to “save” Philly’s live music scene. Replying to this blog post by JT Ramsay (Grasso was busy last night), he made a now-familiar talking point: “Most other major cities in this country have Philly beat by a mile in terms of places to enjoy a live music performance.” We beg to differ. A lot.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
somewhere within the quotes above and in this argument there needs to be an answer to the Atlantic City booking question
asin: how many and what type of shows get booked in AC in place of a Philadelphia date?
see the PiL tour and last week’s Stooges show. is it just the guarantee?
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Just trying to set the record straight. BTW- Instead of bugging the guys in my band (who are not involved in this at all) to rant and see what you can dig up and publish out of context, why not call me and ask me directly what you want to know? Yes, I’m very busy, but waiting eagerly for your call…..
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Bands that go to Atlantic City and skip Philly?
Here’s a short list:
Megadeth
Alice Cooper
Rob Zombie
Scorpions
Lewis Black
Billy Idol
That’s on my short list. Mind you, I’m talking about headline shows in Philly over the past 5 years. Lewis Black MIGHT have played here in that time, so if so, please forgive me.
Most of these acts have, can, or could easily sell-out a decent-sized show in Philly, but I know the promoters in this city are driving them away, or something else is! I am SICK AND TIRED of having to go to New Jersey for a show!
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
You know what all those acts have in common? Old man fans willing to pay way too much for tickets, but not a large enough audience to play the Wach. Philly really doesn’t have a lot of shows like that.
(Exception is Lewis Black, which is a bad example since comedians and casinos have always been a really common pairing.)
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I wonder if it’s not so much philly promoters driving acts away but rather HoB AC making a better/faster offer. Would be interesting to see the difference in show costs between Philly venues and AC.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
The path of succession in Philly is clubs < TLA < Troc < Factory < Tower < Susquehanna < Wachovia. In that progression, EF has proven to be a weak spot to draw mid-size acts – whether they have old man fans or not.
I think we could probably support another venue of similar size and structure that can draw those acts just graduating from TLA/Troc but not ready for the Tower (hard to sell out; not great for raucous rock) and Susquehanna (not great for winter; way bigger stage to fill).
I know EF used to have a negative rep with some bands (I believe b/c of acoustics?) that meant a lot of bands of that size would skip Philly for other adjacent venues. Not sure if we're still seeing the specter of that (I think they've improved), or if some bands/genres attach a certain young/rock stigma to it. (I remember being surprised at both Gaga and The Pretenders playing there.)
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
@Nate:
Oh, you’d be amazed how many Megadeth fans are younger than 25. ;)
@krisis:
Really? I actually didn’t know about that (the acoustics), but I’m not shocked. Throw in the fact that, yeah, a ton of college kids tend to go there who know nothing about the bands who play there(Dragonforce was basically jock-fest), and I’m not surprised. The staff there is really “meh”.
Then again, I did get to see Iggy Pop play there in 2007 thanks to the awesome folks who run this blog. ;)
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:43 pm
@ krisis Check YouTube for old clips from great rock shows @ the Tower. They are legend. Find Bowie and you’ll understand.
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I’d feel a lot better about the whole thing if he didn’t look like an arrogant prick.
September 2nd, 2010 at 5:54 pm
I’m 25 and a casual Megadeth fan, but those tickets were damned expensive considering it’s just Mustaine and a bunch of sad hired guns at this point.
September 4th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
I’m not sure why people are upset that David Grasso wants to bring another quality music venue into a desolate part of the city that was originally zoned G2 industrial. This zoning is change is eventually going to happen to mix use or commercial so that a dead section of the city can flourish near the waterfront. Again I was at the meeting and there was nothing shady about them trying to change the zoning to accomodate a quality project of this nature. Eventually most of the waterfront north of Sugarhouse will need to be rezoned and heard before the public. If anyone thinks they were doing anything shady they are sadly mistaken because of the archaic way that zoning occurs in the city. We all know all the hoops people have to jump through to get anything done. So they met and had a meeting and attmepted to bring a quality venue to a warehouse district by the waterfront. I can’t fault a man that wants to follow his dream and use his money to compete with other venues so as to bring us what he feels is missing. That he is willing to do it in this economy and take that big of a gamble is all on him. If he fails at least we have a new venue that someone else can run and another place to catch shows in a part of Fishtown that is pretty dead now.