Gulf Coast benefit at George’s on July 1

YOU
June 29, 2010

Wow.
Guess what? People are going to drive and drink beer no matter what, why not make it for a good cause? Attitudes like the above, only discourage people from doing good for the community.
I guess getting on your electric powered computer and complaining about how people choose to help is going to help the Gulf a lot more.

You are a pathetic person.

Me
June 29, 2010

@Anon: I read nowhere above that this is a protest… it is a fundraiser. If you want to support their cause without using energy you can donate online… just make sure to use a solar powered computer made out of all organic circuitry. :)

OffCamber
June 29, 2010

I was going anyway, and probably walking from a friend’s house.

Now we *have* to drive. Maybe even go out of the way to top off at that BP station across from Harps on Garland. The irony is too delicious.

This beer’s for you, Anon.

roger
June 30, 2010

the first comment was bad, smug, overused capitals , but at least it was real and without irony. sure, everyone hates this stance, but pretending it’s impossible to get around without driving or making outdated baby seal jokes, this is truly the worst. i know you guys love irony, followed closely by the sounds of settling, silent hatred, the new KFC double down, escapism, all things bacon, sports (watching, not playing), the internet, etc… but please get it over with already.

Flanegain
July 1, 2010

@the Anons…. haters, sing kum-ba-yah with everyone else and drink the damn cool aid

Is it just me or does the line up read like a who’s who of Fayetteville’s most mediocre?

Urk
July 1, 2010

1. Where does it say that you have to DRIVE to the club? Is it required? Are there some secret rules that aren’t listed here? Back when the neighborhoods around Dickson were filled with student & affordable housing it certainly would have been easier to walk there for more people, true, but time travel uses even more energy than air conditioning, so maybe encouraging people to walk/bike/carpool would be more worthwhile than demonstrating your ideological purity by trashing the event.

2. The question of the bar making money off of this does have some validity. It might be worth a phone call or two to George’s to ask them if they are donating any money from beer sales to the event. it wouldn’t surprise me if they did that, especially with a little encouragement & some appreciation for doing so.

3. And there is some tension between the bar hosting this and and sponsoring fuel-wasting motorcycle events. Hosting this doesn’t let them off the hook for that, but sponsoring that doesn’t reduce the value of this event to zero. I’d suggest that the problem is with the bike rally, not so much with this event. So, maybe this is a good place to start a discussion about the appropriateness of motorcycle themed charity events in the midst of the worst oil-related environmental crisis ever. Boycotting this fundraiser hardly seems like the best way to get that conversation going though. Maybe showing up, paying your money, and making your feelings about that hear there would be tho.

4. Also, as Dustin helpfully notes, you can bypass the bar entirely via this link: “Those who can not attend and who would like to support the relief effort can donate online at gulfcoastbenefit.com.”

5. @Flanegain: maybe you could persuade some hipper bands to donate their time since this lineup doesn’t meet your approval? Because after all, the hipness of the band’s is the most important thing about any charity event!

6. And maybe these hipper bands could do their benefit all acoustically outdoors at a location with no parking so that patrons have to walk or bike? I’m annoyed enough by the sneering, purer-than-thou tone of the comments that it’s hard to avoid being snarky, but I do mean that sincerely. If this event doesn’t meet your approval, whether because of the bands or of the venue, then organize your own to balance it out. There are flaws and contradictions here, sure, and if you’re perceptive enough to note them, why stop there? I’m sure that the Gulf Coast Restoration Network would be glad to have the money you’d raise at an oil-free benefit to clean up the oil spill. In fact, that would be a nice way to publicize it. You’re welcome, now get to work!

Hillbillyfunk
July 1, 2010

just a little bit of digging associates Gulf Restoration Network to Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, a non-pofit organization owned and operated by BP.

so… a benefit for BP… whay a great idea!

grongo
July 1, 2010

Um…George’s is donating their facility and staff to pull off a show with several bands. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to make money off of their beer/liquor sales? They are organizing and assisting in raising money for a cause. That’s not an issue. They are doing plenty, they shouldn’t have to take a bath to try to help. Ridiculous.

ohboy
July 1, 2010

George’s only concern is to put as many drunken she-cows in the room as possible for the least amount of monetary risk. Boom…some idealistic chick wants to round up several mediocre bands to play for free? Sounds perfect. No risk. Bring it on. George’s doesn’t give a hump where the donations go. Nor should they. This town has proved over and over again the necessity of dumbing it down to survive as a bar. Go George’s.

Zaff
July 2, 2010

At the end of the day, Georges (and the people who went)at least did SOMETHING, opposed to simply getting on Fayetteville Flyer and complaining how others choose to help.

OffCamber
July 2, 2010

We enjoyed a walk on a nice evening, stopped in, and donated.

Way better time than this discussion.

Urk
July 6, 2010

@grongo
- I realize that I’m just arguing for the sake of arguing here, and I don’t really care whether George’s donated any beer $ or not. if you recall, i was originally arguing that this event was a good thing, tho finding out that the recipient is/might be BP connected gives me some pause. Putting that aside, I think it’s good for bars to host benefits, but I also don’t think we should overstate how generous an act that usually is. And, I am actually thin- skinned and petty enough to argue about what’s involved when a bar “donates” their venue for a benefit, just because I think i’m right. Silly, I know.

so, here’s the deal. On an ordinary night, with a band who’s playing for the door, the bar pays out for the help-bartenders, waitstaff, soundworkers (if the bar provides PA, as Georges does) cleanup, etc. And they pay out for that night’s rent, utilities, supplies, (including liquor), advertising and so on. They get revenue back for selling alcohol, and, depending on the venue, maybe for some bar-themed merchandise. Those are the out/in revenue streams for an ordinary night.

On a benefit night where the bar is “donating” their venue and the venue only, they still have exactly the same revenue streams going in and out. There might be 6 or 7 bands, but it’s pretty rare for the soundperson to get paid any extra for that, and the same for the waitstaff. They aren’t donating their staff or facility if they still have the same incoming revenue generated to pay for those costs. And, because the people promoting the cause usually do much of the publicity, this can (sometimes) save the bar a tiny bit of expense money as well as generating good-citizen publicity. So, for something like this, on the average, we have the bar coming out maybe just a tiny, tiny bit ahead or doing exactly the same thing they’d do by being open that night anyway.

Obviously, there are complications: the bar is giving up a night it could book bands of their own choosing. This is why bar benefits are rarely held on Fridays or Saturdays, when they try to book bands with really big draws. On most other days of the week the benefit will draw at least as much as a band they’d book, and you can generally gauge how successful a given bar thinks a given benefit might be by looking at what night of the week they offer for it. Putting this on on a Thursday shows that they think it will draw pretty well, but it also shows some real concern for the cause. A well publicized benefit like this one, on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday can actually bring in more money for the bar than a regular night, along with that good publicity.

Now, one area where bars do stand to lose a little on a benefit is that benefits sometimes draw customers less likely to drink than your average bar patron. This can cut into the bar revenue input, tho in my experience its usually harder on the waitstaff in loss of tips than it is on the bar. Anyway, it’s unpredictable and depends on the nature of the cause, but it rarely makes a huge difference either way.

So, as long as it’s a night where the bar is open already, and where the band would be playing for 100% of the door then the bar isn’t really “donating” very much at all and might even come out ahead a tiny bit. Now, I’M NOT SAYING THAT IT ISN’T A GOOD THING WHEN A BAR PUTS ON A BENEFIT! Making your space available for someone else’s event is a nice gesture even if it doesn’t really cost you anything. it can help build community solidarity, and sometimes bar owners and bar staff really put alot into these events. I don’t mean to discount that. And I especially don’t mean to knock Georges, a place that I have many fond memories of working at. Georges may not be hip and edgy enough for some folks commenting here, but it’s a bar with a serious and long lived local brand, and when they lend their name to a cause, that’s not meaningless. And, putting it on on a Thursday night, when they would safely do pretty good business anyway, is not a mercenary-minded move at all. So, unless of course the cause is a total sham, yay Georges.

BUT, in general, it’s naive to overstate how much a bar is donating simply by holding a benefit. And it’s not required that a bar donate some percentage of the liquor sales in order for this to count as an act of generosity, but it’s hardly unreasonable to suggest that either, given that the night is likely to end up being the same or better on their end anyway.

Lynn Kristle
July 9, 2010

I went to this benefit just to mix my entertainment with “charity”. Just wanted to support the clean up efforts in any way possible. It was nice to see that everyone there was concerned about the pollution and there was a nice feeling of unity.