Re: Blues in 2003

[the Leones <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

>   Blues in the philly area seems to be on the down side.
>Many clubs have either stopped having music  or have gone out of
>business.
>    To just keep playing we have to take gigs as a trio (no drums).
>    I was wondering  what's happening in the rest of the scene.
>
>Emile "Diggs" D'Amico
>www.diggsblues.com
>

  It all boils down to one word..Litigation. The demise of the club scene
rests on numerous factors which would include (BUT are not limited to the
following);
 a. Club owners must move a lot of "Product" to make expenses.
 b. .08 laws exascerbate this inasmuch as law enforcement is under a lot of
    pressure to eliminate drunks. Federal Matching funds...you know.
 c. Instead of concentrating on the real drunks, they (over-zealously) go after
    "Numbers" to show results (to Glad, Sadd, Madd, Vlad, etc.)
 d. Bartenders are sued for damages that the drunks caused. EVEN friends are.
 e. Attorneys go after the ones with the deepest pockets. (what ELSE is new)
 f. A person MY size (175lb) has only to drink 3 1/2 "stiff ones" to reach .10
 g. Many states (like Pa.) have a .10 limit, BUT, the officer has a latitude
    (through testimony), to bring a case at a LOWER reading.
 h. While police are tied up with .068s (obtained at unconstitutional road
    checks), a .228  will slip by.
 i. There has ALWAYS been a radical movement in this country to eliminate both
    drinkers AND smokers (I, BTW am both). This is nothing new.

 Back in the good ole' days, a person could "practice" their craft by
gigging at all sorts of venues, and people worked hard, played hard, and
had some fun in an otherwise tedious life.

 You have only to watch scenes from recent rock concerts to see that the
young ones of today are getting more destructive (mostly to themselves). I
understand where they are coming from..FRUSTRATION. It's hard to have fun
anymore without BIG BROTHER constantly hassling.

 I find it amusing to drive around down here "Deep in Fla" and watch the
police pull people over for what seems like nothing at all. Upon asking, I
was told
"Routine Traffic Check". Jeez, what kind of people are they hireing anymore.

 As someone with SOME experience with this phenominon, I find it
disgusting. So I can see where some folks just don't want to go through the
rigamarole of getting stopped (& even if clean, get a ticket for something
dumb, like an inspection sticker).

 smokey-joe