I was missing bands that came through town. That’s the worst. Finding out days or weeks later that some band I would have gone to see had passed through Reno. I still miss some but it’s because I’m a geezer with a 9 to 5 job who can’t keep up with going out multiple nights a week. I just have to be more choosey but at least now it’s a choice. I felt like I did an ok job of keeping up with the basic place to find out who was playing where. The Reno New & Review being the main source but also occasionally checking out the flyers at Recycled Records
Why I list (or don’t) list the shows I do:
When I started the project the goal was to become the single best source for live rock/pop music in Reno. I think that I have done that. I consistently have more listings and better information than any other site doing similar work. Not going to mention them because I don’t think they would return the courtesy if I did. Basically the other sites in town are scrappers of some sort. They just pull events off of RNR or Facebook or ask the bands and venues to do the work. Here is my philosophy about that. It’s wrong. I have a form so some can notify me if I’ve missed something or the information I have posted is incorrect. It’s even been used a few time (thank to Post War and The Atlantis). Frustratingly these are what are leading to this rant. They were great to help me keep the site accurate but each pointed out things wrong with the way I’ve organized the site need to be addressed.
- Post War made me think about how to handle a festival. Reno had a few pop up this year.
- The Atlantis made me think about bands that play short engagements as oppose to a single show.
- Boomtown made me think about two a night shows.
All of these are things I want to address.
I would love to get all the information for free but I can’t ask a venue or production company to go every website and enter the information they want posted. If it was that easy on my part, there would have never been cause for me to start this adventure.
I can agree that I spend a lot of time looking up shows, linking to information about the bands on the bill and trying to give a decent approximation of the genre of music you might hear that night.
Here is what I’ve decided I won’t list for now:
- House bands with a regular night. There might come a time when I will create a section for these but it would be way down my list. These bands are there for the bar regulars and can be a lot of fun but they aren’t out to make the live music scene in Reno any better at least in the way I want it to be.
- Classical / Chamber music
- Restaurants as venues. If most people are going to eat and the musician is just an added draw or background to the bar. Sorry, I know that many of you are working musicians but basically if there’s not a stage or you have to bring your own sound system it’s out.
I’m a little bummed about this rule because Heritage has started a series that looks interesting.
My rules that I’ve already broken:
- RULE #1 – I list Boondoggle at St James Infirmary for their once a month gig. Why, because they take the time to submit it each month and Rick (I’m assuming its the Rick in Boondoggle) has signed up for my newsletter.