City gov’t tries to get hip, encourage arts, manages to strangle DIY while trying.

by Greg Szeto | March 13th 2009, 9:00 AM

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MP3: The Clash – I Fought the Law

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MP3: Operation Ivy – Here We Go Again

Baltimore City looks to be pursuing further action on the Live Entertainment License legislation.

The main perk is that officially recognized venues will no longer be required to stay in designated entertainment zones; on paper this should stimulate and encourage this sector.

But there are a number of corollaries to that main thrust which may actually threaten many of our beloved and established DIY spaces. These stipulaions range from the douchebaggery of new annual fees, ambiguous investigations on the “moral character” of involved parties, and all sorts of logistical bureaucracy (plans for cleaning, parking, safety etc) to the bizarre, such as designations of non-participatory dancing.

This is all rather shocking and dumbfounding until you realize that the amount of communication between the legislators and the venue owners and operators who run affected businesses has been slim to none.

But it’s officially crunch time, and two organizational meetings for any community members interested in voicing their concerns on the bill have been scheduled in Station North this coming Monday, Mar 16.

Meeting #1 is at the Metro Gallery, 4PM.

Meeting #2 is at the Hexagon, 7PM.

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Alex Mudge says:

March 15, 2009 at 12:19 pm

I’m surprised that, to date, no one has seen the analogue between this legislation in Baltimore, and the infamous Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 passed in the UK. Particularly the rather awkward including of the “non-participatory” dance events phrase. Wow, that echoes, and so throughly parrells the now classic definition of Rave by Parliament as:

“A ‘rave’ is defined as a gathering of 100+ people, at which amplified music (‘wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats’ is played which is likely to cause serious distress to the local community, in the open air and at night.”

To quote The Streets’ ode to the golden era of UK Rave–even more apt given the use of the middle-finger image in the post above:

“…And to the Government, I stick my middle-finger up with regards to the Criminal Justice Bill.”

Greg Szeto says:

March 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

my defense of ignorance to that law: i think i was busy studying non-UK shit.

City gov’t tries to get hip, encourage arts, manages to strangle DIY while trying.

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