The Friends of the Halifax Commons, an offshoot of the Heritage Committee, (kind of like the Heritage Committee but for the Commons) have got their knickers in a knot that this summer tens of thousands of young whippersnappers will flock to the Halifax Commons to drink beer, smoke the devil grass, and experience KISS and Paul McCartney. For those of you who don’t like fun, don’t worry: here’s one group of people whose soul objective in life is to kill the buzz for everybody else, and rest assured they will vociferously be making their objections known to the City.
From the Friends of the Halifax Commons Website: “Things Arent Getting Any Better
..In 2007 HRM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)….with concert promoters for two mega concerts/year on the North Common.”
A picture of the offending superstructure (the stage and speaker towers from the other year’s Stones concert) appears on the Friends of the Commons Website. The tower, which will be over one storey tall, is completely not keeping in style with Halifax’s 18th century heritage, can be seen from Citadel Hill, and is within a mere two miles of St Paul’s Church.
Next thing you know Elvis will be shown on TV shaking his hips!
—Chairman Mars
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.
What is their website? Googling didn’t turn anything up.
Also: pretty sure these bands are bringing many more tourist dollars to the city than the occassional baseball game on the commons is. New fangled rock n’ roll can peacefully coexist with “18th century heritage”.
“pretty sure these bands are bringing many more tourist dollars to the city than the occassional baseball game on the commons is.”
Ya sure? Maybe. I dunno. But I don’t trust the economic models behind these sorta things. They miss all sorts of things.
They’re not missing the cost to clean up the commons after such an event.
Well, the full costs of cleanup and lost of space aren’t included– how do you put a dollar amount on lost recreational opportunity?
I also wonder, besides the out-of-towners coming in for the show, what about locals? Are they diverting their entertainment budgets, which otherwise might be spent every weekend to see a local house bad at some tavern, or whatever, in order to afford the more pricey megaconcert? If so, you have to look at the negative impacts on that.
As for out-of-towners, they clearly are in fact spending money in hotels, restaurants, etc. But are they displacing other out-of-towners? How do occupancy rates at local hotels compare for a non-mega concert weekend and a mega concert weekend?
And then there’s lost business opportunities related to the concert. janes on the common, and a lot of other nearby businesses, simply close for the weekend.
None of this is to suggest that the concerts aren’t economic generators. Like I said, I really don’t know. But I think it’s far more complicated than a simple multiplier– concert attendees times x dollar amount, which is how the modellers figure it.
“And then there’s lost business opportunities related to the concert. janes on the common, and a lot of other nearby businesses, simply close for the weekend.”
A tactical error in the part of the proprietors should not be counted as an economic cost..
If Christ himself floated down on the Commons, ready to deliver the Sermon on the Bleachers, those heritage bozos would run him off with a burning bush and a fire hose.
I don’t give a flying hoot who recieves the tail end of Dinosaur Jr.’s glorious delivery of rock heaven, I’m going to see Dinosaur Jr. play their new album at the Virgin Fest this summer. SO HOLD ONTO YOUR HOOPSKIRT, MISTER MARS!
Who gives a sweet fuck what a group of psychos think? Is it going to sway the promoter’s opinion and make him cancel the concerts? Are potential concert goers all of a sudden going to say “You know what? KISS does really stand for Knights In Satan’s Service, I better not go see them.” Please let’s keep Halifax in the 18th century and ride around in horse drawn carriages and tear down all of our “scyscrapers”. For entertainment, let’s all go to the Split Crow and raise a mug of Keith’s while we listen and sing along to Barrett’s Privateers for the millionth time. Original.
K, so why didn’t anyone get their “knickers in a knot” about concerts on Citadel Hill? Like, I know the Commons get super shitty after a concert and clean up’s a bitch, but…Citadel Hill had to be cleaned up too.
…come to think of it, why did the concerts on CH stop? There used to be some decent ones in years past on quite a regular basis. Hmmm…
I think Paul et al will not be leaving their money in the city.
BRoc, They’re called “senior citizens”. Can you say that?
CEEN-YIR CIT-I-CENS. And, I don’t think that Halifax should
hold this bullshit. Hold it someplace where it won’t disturb
people. Like in an area just outside of Metro where the
houses are five miles apart. These outdoor shenanigans
cause seniors to lose their sleep.
Seniors don’t have jobs, so why can’t they just sleep during the day, hello?
THERE. Thread SOLV’D. 😛
Soundproof domes. There are people who do
have jobs who don’t want to hear crap coming
from outdoor events. I’m not the only one who
hates crappy noise being made by some gay
guy. PM is one creeracter. That’s my new word
for him, creepy-queer-character is a creeracter.
Hello, you’re an asshat. Can you say it? It’s ASS-HAT. Which is defined as someone who comments through their rectal area. By the way, what do you have against gay people? Just wondering…
I’m all for big concerts, but I don’t think the Commons is the appropriate place for them. A parking lot in the BLIP would be a better choice. I wonder what the response would be if some promoter decided the Commons would be a great place to stage a production of Der Ring des Nibelungen. (That’s the loud German opera they used to spoof in Bugs Bunny, btw). Massive outdoor concerts in a residential area are an abuse of the rights of common that the whole institution of “The Common” is based on. Read some history before you start blathering about granny’s knickers, and in particular read The Tragedy of the Common.
Miranda there will never be a use of the commons that everyone would agree on. Therefore you’ve got to decide how to use it such that the largest number of people are satisfied. I would say that several thousand people collectively rocking out to live music greatly outweighs a few dozen tightarses who find music and young people offensive. That’s the point.
And by the way, the tragedy of the commons wasn’t history, it was a hypothetical writing.
dinosuar jr was a cool band, if you were a total loser, and the year was 1994
Come here so I can peel your eyelids off, moonshine.