Here’s a suggestion: get rid of 21-and-over shows

I’m not one of the lucky few that will turn 21 before his senior year. To those of you who… I’m not one of the lucky few that will turn 21 before his senior year. To those of you who will, congratulations: you are one of the privileged that will get to buy alcohol for your friends who are underage. Me? I still have to depend on the likes of you fine folk, but that’s not my real gripe.

You see, there are people like me on campus who go to lots of shows. I admit it; I can be quite a music whore. Momma didn’t raise no fool. I am well-versed in guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, clarinet, sax and even the Aborigine didgeridoo. Now, as it’s easy to guess, I love music. What pisses me off is that most of you can get away with getting into 21-and-up shows at places like Nick’s Fat City, or even ’80s dance night at the soon-to-be-closed-but-maybe-not Club Laga/Attic/Upstage.

I’m not going to lie to everyone by saying I haven’t had a glass of – non-alcoholic – beer/liquor in my day. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like sitting back with some friends and kicking back some – non-alcoholic – booze. But seriously, if I want to attend a good concert, I don’t need to get drunk to have a good time. I love Kool-Aid, seriously.

I just turned 20 on Aug. 7, and that’s going to stop me from going to a lot of shows and clubs that I wish I could go to before my senior year. It is debilitating enough that some of your favorite bands just don’t play your city; it’s a hell of a lot worse knowing that when they do, you can’t go because you’re a damn Leo born in 1983. And it’s not going to be any easier now that quality places like Project 1877 and others will be closing down, and the final few great shows around the area are probably going to be 21-and-up.

Did it ever occur to anyone that they might have a better chance of making money by not making shows 21 and over? Sure, you end up attracting little teenybopper kids and encourage high school drama, but those are paying customers! And, noting that ticket prices are not getting any lower for shows, who cares if you can’t make money selling alcohol (to underage children)?

And hey, in the worst-case scenario, you’re encouraging patrons to drink more to make that 16-year-old that they’re staring at look at least 18. Yee haw!

It’s a common complaint that some shows are just “too mature” for a certain age group. Oh, pish-posh. Tell me that you weren’t pissed that you couldn’t drive before 16, or that you couldn’t buy cigarettes and porn until you were 18, let alone vote, or drive past curfew. You know you bent the rules, and that’s not what I’m advocating. By removing that age restriction, people won’t be encouraged to be contemptible jerks by offering various favors to others that I choose not to get into at this moment. I’m sure club owners turn their backs to the fact that bands themselves will let willing fans into shows even though they aren’t 21, because of their love of the music.

Why stop the inevitable? Why not just let people pay for their tickets and make your dough fair and square? If this fails to even break any waves, I at least urge all of you club owners to stop complaining that there aren’t enough customers, because you’re limiting yourselves too much already.