Weekly Rant: 8/28/2011: The Class warfare CONTINUES

*Due to some circumstances beyond my control, We post a column we wrote and never posted...So here is a blast from the past. This column was written on 8/28/2011.

This week in the rant, I am going to have to speak on something that has effected the lovely city of Salina Kansas for decades according to some but mostly I have noticed in real heavy in the last 3 years. The Class warfare in this town is just outrageous and I wish it would stop because it is getting god damned annoying. The Friday concert featuring Peter Frampton downtown has become the sticking point here. However The Jigg is up kids and we all know this and if you did not know, I plan on telling ya. I also would like to compare the Opera House & The Old Fox theater as well this week from what was posted on a social networking site today. Salina and It;s Shadiness is on display as well this week and finally my view and how Hutchinson Kansas and Salina KS compare and do business just an hr and ½ away from each other.

Friday night in Salina Kansas Peter Frampton played, which by any stretch of the imagination was no big deal. However the show itself had some plot twists, you had the fact private party were all being held with Frampton as guest and the local business owners who were buddy buddy and in society in general. However the Frampton concert was not doing a meet and greet, now the folks at the Old Fox theater got a nasty comment about this issue on their face book page, our pals at the Old Fox responded like this, So about meet and greets and how they work. Peter Frampton (for example) didn't do one this time. As a 501 C3 non-profit we raise all our overhead at the Stiefel and one of the benefits we offer is meet and greets (when available.) They are...e a benefit for Friends that donate $1000 or more, and all companies that sponsor shows get around 6 meet and greet passes for their show. I wish all artists did them and came out to the Watson Room after all shows - but they don't, and usually it is because performing takes so much out of them and they are tired.

The Jigg is up kids, believe me that comment above is *********, let me explain to you something here. The contract that most venues sign entitle the promoter to do what they want. So what happens is instead of Jane Gates and her clan letting people meet Frampton before or after the show, you get to either buy the most expensive ticket in the place and maybe get to meet the man or you have to pay to meet the man. So wondering how a guy who makes minimum wage or works at a factory can do this? Believe me if Jane wanted to provide this service she could. I think it's ******** that she makes up this excuse because working in the business and being around the entertainment business, this is not the case.

I would like to compare The McPherson Opera House and the old Fox theater on this topic. The Glenn Miller orchestra played both venues. The venues itself have been doing different things to promote and do the shows. The GMO played the Steifel in Salina Kansas and the show did not sell out and the people paid the high price ticket got to meet the group. The folks in McPherson who paid the cheapest ticket and the highest ticket got to meet the group. So do you see why this is odd? When you read the statement from Jane on their Facebook page? So if Peter Frampton plays McPherson Ks we can meet up with the man but if he plays Salina I gotta give Jane a grand or more to meet him? I could go on for days as to why McPherson Opera House is getting it going and The Fox Theater is not getting it going.

Salina Kansas and it's shady yes we have all these non profits running around. Look around kids, you have Access TV that gets public monies from the City of Salina, so Marcia can fix her husbands home up and the folks who get raises every year for polishing the seat with their asses. What about the kids over at The Old Fox theater who pay whatever god damn amount of money they can for Frampton, sell out, then lose their *** in the final take home because the price was so much along with rider that they lose their asses. I am sick and tired of people in Salina Kansas just being shady on all aspects.

Comparing Hutchinson Kansas and Salina Kansas, Yes lets look at the differences. If Miles at The R Bar or Brian at The W and The District bring in a band. Guess what if I am media or anyone who sponsored the show, I get to see the artist. I do not have to pay some grand or two to meet the folks who make the music. I remember when I went to a show one time in Hutchinson at mcGraws, if I was coming at the end of the beginning I still got to meet the people and still got to take pictures. If this happened in Salina Kansas, I better have a grand ready to go to meet whomever or get on some guest list or sneak around the promoter to the record company to get my interview, otherwise it aint happening kids.

My view on all this is simple as always, The Salina Kansas folks continue to be nasty and continue to be of the privileged and the rich who get all the perks. The Hutchinson crowd is much more down home and actually care about their customers. Hell if you go to the McPherson Opera House for a show, you get treated like family not just another ticket holder. This is one of the main reasons I am fed up to death with Salina Kansas and will be moving soon from this crap hole back to the place where people care about live entertainment, Hutchinson Kansas.

Finally lets wrap up this by saying if your going to run your mouth about things like I can not get the artist to do whatever, your a bold face liar. You have the folks in the non profits and arts commissioners who are just as corrupt and crooked as the city officials who help keep these clowns in power and vice versa. Then you have the folks who do business different and somewhat better in Kansas in other parts. I just hope that some day that it will change and things will move along but until there is a change at the top, it aint gonna happen and it becomes another long line of Corruption Junction.

Jiggy Jaguar
http://www.jiggyjaguar.com