Yo! 2004 Summer Concert Blitz

Downhill Battle was at the Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts last night to check out the Chinese Stars and indie dance-party favorites !!!. There was much locomotion. Thankfully we made up for poorly executed dance moves by getting nearly 100 people to read up on our mission with convenient, sharp looking handouts and we had a lot of people coming up to us specifically to ask about what we’re doing. There were also bumper stickers to be had by those folks who promised to display them prominently. Not the least of whom was !!!’s very own Nic Offer, who wore the sticker proudly on his midsection (see the photo above). It was a fun for all, and we did it with just two people.

Today, we’re officially launching our 2004 Summer Concert Blitz, and you need to get on board and change some minds. Changing the music industry is something that tons of people would love to see happen, but they just haven’t realized how much potential we really have. If we can get ourselves to enough shows this summer, we can put the issue on the map like it’s never been before. The major labels have done everything they can to distort the debate around the future of the music industry and confuse people about what they should think. But there is just no way that the RIAA can match the power of a grassroots campaign like this.

So — here’s what you can do:

1. Go here to check if we have shows listed in your area that we’re hoping to flyer, and sign your ass up for one. If there’s nothing near you, see number 2.
2. Go here to let us know about shows in your city or town that you can go to and hand out flyers.
3. Go here if you’re a musician, label, or concert organizer, to tell us about shows that you’re are planning or performing at that you’d like to have people flyer or table. We’ll add them to our listings and if you can get a couple people in for free, that would be great.
4. And send us photos of whatever you do so that we can put them up!

Flyering at these shows really is fun. It’s an issue that everyone is interested in pretty quickly, even if they’ve never heard of it before or haven’t given the music industry much thought. And it’s not a message that people are expecting to get info about, which gets them curious to hear more. Even better, when people actually hear someone giving them honest info about what’s happening in the music industry, they agree, and that’s what ultimately changes things. C’mon, you might as well try it.