NYE Is Amatuer Night - see Lady Gaga @ LIV. Friday,January 1st is for Professional Partiers - See Agent Orange At Churchill's Pub

Let's face it. New Year's Eve is amatuer night. It's the night where every unfun pencil pushing middle manager, assistant principal or shift supervisor thinks they are the wild and crazy guys from the 70s SNL skit. They drink too much, puke on your shoes and then drive drunk on the highway until they sideswipe a cop or smash into a dumpster.

A dumpster is an appropriate analogy seeing how the night's entertainment choices are led by an appearance by Lady Gaga - the pop strumpet who cancelled her tour with Kanye West because there weren't 10,000 suckers in each city who would pay 3 figures to see her play. Only a few rows at her early NYE  gig at in the Knight center are 3 figures, the rest of the seats are a pedestrian $23- $63  -- so she's appearing at LIV, where maybe 1000 chumps will pay between $425 (general admission) to 25K (25 seat pool cabana) to hear her sing to a track (at best) or lip synch (at worst).  If they put a band poolside, I will be very impressed,  but I highly doubt that's happening. Even if it did, that ticket is still overpriced by $250.

So you could pay nearly $500 to get treated like crap at a bad gig, or you could go to a house party on NYE and see a great live band for  $415 bucks  less (that's $10 for the mathmatically challenged). That show stars legendary Surf-Punk Band Agent Orange  at Churchill's Pub. In case you're totally unfamilair with the origins of American punk rock - AO is led by guitarist Mike Palm, and is responsible for "bloodstains" one of the great anthems of the early 80s. If you can imagine a mixture of Dick Dale and The Buzzcocks, you have half an idea of the racket that Palm has been making for 30 years. While Palm has never hit it big, his nose to the grindstone approach is totally refreshing. It's pretty impressive that a man his age is willing to crisscross the state of florida from miami-panama city-sarasota, just to have to lump it 15 hours to Wilmington,NC for a sunday gig. You would have to pay me 10K a show to keep that schedule, or at least give me plane tickets, but Palm, like Mike Ness is in another state of mind when it comes to touring.

So go see the real deal Friday. Sure Agent Orange plays south florida twice a year, but damnit, the man and the kids he plays with still kill. Opening the show is Broward County's own surf punk, Laramie Dean.

Comments

[Adrian Ruhi]

People are gladly paying 3 figures to see Jay-Z. The Gaga tour that was canceled was with Kanye West, who was fresh off the Taylor Swift-backlash

[Billy Shakespeare Jenkins III esq.]

Me thinks thou doth not do thy due diligence. Gaga and Jay-Z thou sayeth? Perhaps thou meant Sir Kanye West.

In other news, I heareth Madame Adam Lambert is on tour with Gwar. Perhaps thou shalt write about it?

[Bowker]

Yes it was Kanye West, not Jay-Z Who Lady Gaga bounced off the tour with. I Stand Corrected.

However, the point of the article stands - anyone who would pay $425 or more to see an act poolside, who is playing for 1/8th as much in an actual venue earlier that day is a chump.

Furthermore, spending $10 to see a bona fide music legend a day later is still a better value.
Happy New Year,
Tom
PS: While the floor and club seats for Jay-Z's Bank Atlantic show have been bought up, the $99.50 lower level seats are readily available - so I don't know how "gladly" his fans are to pay scalper's prices from ticketmaster for a mediocre seat.