The Beast of Live Music
Courtney Millsap (Station Manager)
I grew up in the Salem area, with frequent visits to Portland; however, I never really got into live music until I came to La Grande. Sure, I did go to a hand full of concerts, but they were essentially the same big name bands three or four times. I am sure there is some sort of music happening every night in Salem, but I sure did not know about it, or it was always in a 21+ venue.
Then, I came to La Grande. At first, I wasn’t a part of the music scene. Hell, I didn’t even know Ten Depot existed. However, once I got involved with KEOL, my eyes were opened to how much live music was truly happening in La Grande. There is Ten Depot every Tuesday and Thursday, and is an all ages venue. At the time, Mt. Emily Ale House, and other local venues, was still offering music occasionally. Then there were the various house or barn shows. On top of this, I learned about The Great Pacific in Pendleton. It essentially blew my mind about how much live music there is in La Grande.
Gregory Rawlins (left) and Mike Surber (right) perform at the Great Pacific in September 2013
I now have an entire friend group that I would not have had for any other reason than music. Even hanging out with them, I continually meet more and more people and distance myself from the university a little bit more at a time. At this point, I have about a handful of people that I regularly spend time with that are students. I know a lot of people on campus though, it is hard not to when you are involved with extracurricular activities, and I hardly ever see them out.
Recently, I was having a conversation with the university’s President, Jay Kenton, he was pitching to me the concept of the Mountaineer Base Camp, which, at the vaguest level, would create an environment downtown that would have a brew pub, coffee shop, and possibly a concert venue. I was thinking something along these lines: “Oh my gosh. That would be so cool. I would love to go there!” However, me, with my realist mind was also thinking: “If this is supposed to be a place for students to mingle, with the community, downtown, who is truly going to be there? Well, all of my friends will be there, but none of my friends are students.” Some are alumni, but most aren’t currently enrolled students. Then I thought about the number of students that attend live music events that La Grande offers now, the number is small.
Whisky Barrel Rocker performs an acoustic show at Bud Jackson’s Bar and Grill
You can always tell when a local musician has ties to the university. The attendance of students at these events always skyrockets. Sum People, Bag of Hammers, Whisky Barrel Rocker, these are just a few of bands that draw huge crowds of students to a live music event. Yet, there could be a band coming into town that brings out members of the music crowd that don’t attend music regularly, and there will be no change to the number of students present.
I have learned during my time at EOU that students will not come out to a live music event unless they know the musician. There are so many issues with that. Students are notorious for complaining that there is nothing to do in La Grande, but there is, every Tuesday and Thursday at Ten Depot there is live music, but will students attend? No. This very attitude is what terrifies me from ever organizing a concert on campus. Will I have student attendees? Probably not. Will the community come out to the show? Maybe, but the number would be fairly small.
Live music is a weird beast in La Grande. There is always some sort of music happening, but the turn out could range from two people to hundreds of people. It is disappointing to see shows become busts, while it is invigorating to see highly successful shows. That is the beast of hosting live music though. All factors have to be aligned for it to be a success. It must be free, there must be alcohol, the band has to have a reputation within the community, it must be at a respected venue, and it cannot conflict with anything else happening in town.