Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Music Rejoice: You No Longer Have to Follow "Irving Plaza" With "Or Whatever the Fuck It's Called Now"
Posted by Mike Conklin on Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 9:25 AM
The new name never quite took hold—at least not for anyone who lived here before April of 2007—and it felt terrible that one of our most prized venues had become just another piece of hippie nostalgia, no better than the Hard Rock Cafe. Surprisingly, Live Nation seems to understand this:
“It’s always going to be Irving Plaza in New Yorkers’ minds,” said Kevin Morrow, president of Live Nation’s New York division. “That’s where the mistake was made: taking a name and putting it on a building that already had a history and emotional ties with the local music scene.”“Since I’ve been here I haven’t had anyone say to me, ‘What a great idea that was,’ ” he said, referring to the Fillmore name. “Almost everybody I talk to in the New York music scene, one of their first experiences was at Irving Plaza. And I’m really excited to be able to bring back to the New York music scene what people have overwhelmingly desired.”
The tone of that last sentence is the most frustrating part of the whole story—it's as if we're supposed to say, "Wow, thanks, Live Nation! And we're so glad it brings you such satisfaction to be able to give back something you never should have stolen from us in the first place!" Morrow gets a pass, of course, because he didn't take over the company's New York operations until after the original name-change went into effect, but still. One wishes he'd have chosen his words a bit more carefully. (Apologies, of course, if we eventually find out that those words were actually spoken by Times writer Ben Sisario as he ordered Truffle Fries or something.)
(Image: Brooklyn Vegan)
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