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Gimme Gimme Gimme

“Pls stop hitting me up for Incubus tix & vip support the homies. Everyone says support local buy local then wants free tix #hypocrites” twittered @Flashee last week as people who waited until the last minute began to grow frantic in the hours leading up to the [still not sold out] show. I didn’t even have to see the requests he was getting to know what they must have looked like. People realized the concert was that night and thought, “Oh yeah, Incubus concert tonight. How are we going to get tickets? Who do we know? Wait, Matty from BAMP and Flash Hansen own a restaurant together, I know Flash, I’ll hit him up.”

It happens for a lot of things. That “my presence is payment enough” mentality. The only thing with that is the people who have that mentality are usually the people whose presence… isn’t that valuable. Being clueless as to the investments made to bring a concert to Honolulu, the math that’s involved in individual ticket sales and cost vs. profit does not equal a free ticket for you.

Even Daniel Gray was hearing it from his “First Friday Friends” who only seem to know how to get in touch with him when they are on their way to the club–not even respecting the guest list that he tells everyone is open until 5pm that day. Waiting until they are outside to hit him up, and then getting irritated when they can’t get in at 11:30pm because the club is already at capacity.

I’ve come to understand the last minute. Well, not really understand it as much as tolerate it. You have to take the good with the bad. It’s the sense of entitlement that too many clubbers have been getting, even after we are coming out of a crippling economy. They are the same people who are probably barking about not getting enough shows here. They stand outside harassing the door person, saying “But I’m going to spend a lot of money in your club.” Well that’s awesome, how about you spend $10 on the ticket to get inside as well? The bar isn’t always paying for the band who’s been flown in, put up in a hotel, hosted for two or three days and asked for more bottles because they drank all of their comp tab.

Paying the cover; it was a trend that Toyo Theater ringleader Blaise Sato was championing on his own a few months ago. Even if it was a weekly or monthly party, pay damn it. That guy is friends with everyone, but he gets it. The $5 that most people don’t want to take out of their wallets is what’s making that party they are pushing their way into happen.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been contacted by people who I’ve never seen at any of my other events asking for the guest list or to skip a line all together at our pool parties. “I don’t mind paying, but I can’t deal with a line,” they will tell me. Really? Who likes standing in line?

Success in nightlife-ing does not mean knowing the person pulling these concerts and events together for you and being able to call or text them to hook it up. If these people are truly your homies, then you of all people should be the ones paying. Your friends will hook it up when they can and be happy to do it. If it’s not happening, then it’s either time to re-evaluate your level of support or think about staying in.

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