Column 25: Opening the ol’ E-mail Bag

One does get mail.

And though The Reader appears to get none of its own — or at least never prints any of it — I get more than my share, probably because I ask right at the bottom of the column for you to send your love/hate mail to tim@lazy-i.com.

In addition to those kind words from the faithful readers (thank you for your support, it keeps me going), the most common (and voluminous) mail comes from hopeful bands making sure that I received their CD for review. Since The Reader doesn’t print CD reviews, I’m pretty sure this e-mail is generated from my website. As stated online, I do my best to listen to everything that’s submitted, but a man only has two ears, and with feature-story deadlines breathing down my neck, the time for absorbing CDs is scant. Patience, grasshopper.

The rest is hate mail.

First and foremost, last week’s Tegan & Sara column prompted a long, non-apology apology letter from Sara Quin herself explaining why the band never got back to us after countless rescheduling attempts following their interview cancellation and no-show. “We would have been happier with a friendlier welcome to Omaha, but we understand that maybe we hurt your feelings. But you hurt ours too. Don’t write off young bands so soon! Some of us really do care about this world and music we are making in it.” I’m told by people who were at their show last week (I wasn’t because I was under the weather) that Sara sarcastically dedicated the set to me from the stage. Nice.

Look, my gripe was more with their publicist then the band, who had four days after my run-in with their answering machine to get back to us if only to say that the interview was off. Instead, she was too busy revvin’ it up at Coachella. Sorry, that’s just bad biz. I will add this caveat — T&S aren’t the first band to do a no-show, and they won’t be the last. It comes with the territory.

A reader who goes by the initials “AES” was “slightly aggravated” by the April 23 column that highlighted how only the rich and lucky are able to take advantage of so-called “top-drawer” acts performing at the Qwest Center these days (U2, Paul McCartney, etc.). He thinks the ticket prices are fair.

“I think you are MORE upset at the fact that the Qwest Center did not give you a pass to ‘Get to know the band’ or ‘front center seats’… I think the attendees to the U2 show would rather have you walking around Sokol’s dirty halls, griping about what you know is right and is cool, and the piss smelled bathrooms full of ‘cool coke heads’ than have you at QCO ruining their opportunity to see a band they like.”

Ol’ AES missed the point. The biggest problem concerning these shows is scalping — not the tickets’ face value. With scalpers making a flush living off the current system, only the lucky and determined few have a chance at paying face-value for tix. It’s turned into a game that I’m not willing to play. I would have been happy to pay the tickets’ face value to see Bono and The Edge, but not $2,000.

And yes, I’d much-much-much prefer to see U2 (or even an old has-been like McCartney) at a piss-scented Sokol than at Qwest. That, of course, will never happen. However, I am able to see tomorrow’s U2 (Kasabian, for example) at Sokol today.

Keep them cards and letters coming, folks.