Rockbites: Rock Out SF demonstration to support local music

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September 2000 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Rock Out SF demonstration to support local music
20 September 2000

This Saturday (23 September) at 1:00 pm musicians of all stripes in and around San Francisco will put down what they’re doing and play live music for an hour to bring attention to the accelerating erosion of local music infrastructure. In the past year, according to the nonprofit group Save Local Music, more than 700 bands have been evicted from Bay area rehearsal spaces and a half dozen or so live venues have shut or have done away with their stages.
    Save Local Music was organized hastily last month when Downtown Rehearsal, which hosts 155 bands with 2,000 musicians, issued eviction notices. The soon-to-be-orphaned include Oranger, Creeper Lagoon, and John Vanderslice.
    San Francisco Supervisor Gavin Newsom said “These people are not being alarmist, the evidence is incontrovertible. If you have no incubator space, the seeds of the community will die off, or go somewhere else. We’ve been the beneficiary of the music community for years and it seems we’re standing on the precipice of losing it.”
    The threatened closing of Downtown Rehearsal arrives on the heels of other Bay area closings including the Art Explosion rehearsal space. Remaining spots including Rocker Rehearsal and Secret Studios have waiting lists longer than two years or have closed their waiting lists altogether.
    JMA Properties, Downtown Rehearsal’s new owner, claims the mass eviction is necessary for seismic retrofitting. But the San Francisco Supervisor’s office says that no retroffiting permits have been filed with the city. | Rock Out SF | | Save Local Music | | top of page |

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