Tag Archives: Luke Burbank

Retroactive Taxes Could Put a Hurt on Local Music Venues

Dance taxIn a spirit of surprise welcomed by absolutely no one (except, maybe, regional tax collectors), multiple music venues throughout this state are facing retroactive tax bills for allowing the ‘Opportunity to Dance’ in their venues.

The obscure tax made its debut in the 1980s as a method of generating income from aerobics studios, Jazzercise classes, and other decidedly non-rock-and-roll recreational activities. And for years, most Seattle music venues have gone through audits (and readily paid the usual barrage of state and local taxes), without any knowledge of this particular law.

The state government, however, apparently considers most music venues in Washington state subject to this tax, and in a bid to generate revenue, they’re asking local venues to pony up. The time-honored Seattle tradition of passively head-bobbing at a music venue apparently isn’t safe, either: Venues who don’t offer any sort of dance classes or so-called “Dance Music” are being taxed because they have open floors, where the ‘potential for dancing’ exists.

All of this has come as quite a surprise to many local venues, with several club owners and operators being held accountable for tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in retroactive taxes.

Some local venues have already taken huge hits thanks to the newly-discovered tax. Capitol Hill’s Century Ballroom is currently holding a fundraiser to cover their massive retroactive tax bill ($92,000). And other clubs who’ve already  fulfilled their taxation obligations are also being dinged for additional sales tax on admissions. Another Capitol Hill fixture, Neighbors, was audited twice: For the first audit, the Opportunity to Dance Tax never even came up. For the second audit, Neighbors was held accountable for retroactive taxes of $300,000. Those kinds of figures are more than enough to kill most local clubs.

According to opponents, if it’s allowed to stand as-is, the ‘Opportunity to Dance’ tax could provide consumers with a real slug to the pocketbook, too: Ticket prices could jump ten percent on local venues’ admissions to accommodate payment.

Legislators and venue operators aren’t taking this sitting down. Neumo’s co-owner Steven Severin went on Luke Burbank’s KIRO Radio show to get the word out, and State Senator Ed Murray has introduced a bill, SB 5613, that’s made its way to a hearing, scheduled tomorrow at the State Capital. The bill’s drawn support from the SNMA, Local 76 Musicians, The Recording Academy, and the WA State Arts Alliance.

Even with the impending hearing, SB 5613’s supporters could use some added voices in their favor. Music fans can contact their district legislators (a list of legislators can be accessed here) to weigh in, and if you’re unsure which district serves you, just go here. A quick note (with your home address included) will get your voice heard.

 

Sasquatch 2012 Line-Up Announced at Neptune Launch Party (Photo Gallery)

Sasquatch!
Luke Burbank, at the Sasquatch 2012 Launch Party.
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.
Nada Surf's Matthew Caws.
The Physics at the Neptune.
The Physics at the Neptune.
The Physics at the Neptune.
The Physics.
The Physics.
Junip.
Junip.
Junip.
Junip.

(photo by Tony Kay)

Luke Burbank cuts up at the Sasquatch 2012 Launch Party. (photo by Tony Kay)

Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, at the Sasquatch 2012 Launch Party. (photo by Tony Kay)

Matthew Caws of Nada Surf. (photo by Tony Kay)

Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, live and solo at the Neptune February 2. (photo by Tony Kay)

The Physics get the crowd activated at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

The Physics at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

The Physics, rhyming about how they heart beer, at the Sasquatch 2012 Launch Party. (photo by Tony Kay)

The Physics, rocking the Sasquatch Launch Party crowd. (photo by Tony Kay)

Call-and-response with The Physics at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

Jose Gonzalez of Junip, live at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

Junip. (photo by Tony Kay)

Junip at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

Junip at the Neptune. (photo by Tony Kay)

Sasquatch! thumbnail
Luke Burbank, at the Sasquatch 2012 Launch Party. thumbnail
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf. thumbnail
Matthew Caws of Nada Surf. thumbnail
Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. thumbnail
The Physics at the Neptune. thumbnail
The Physics at the Neptune. thumbnail
The Physics at the Neptune. thumbnail
The Physics. thumbnail
The Physics. thumbnail
Junip. thumbnail
Junip. thumbnail
Junip. thumbnail
Junip. thumbnail

After weeks of fevered anticipation, rumors, and speculation, the final line-up for the 2012 Sasquatch Festival was revealed in an appropriately festive Launch Party at the Neptune Theatre last night. Tickets go on sale next Saturday, February 11, at 10 a.m., with a two-day Live Nation pre-sale taking place the previous Wednesday, February 8. Go to sasquatchfestival.com/tickets for more info, and you best be quick on the draw: It’s sure to sell out.

The final line-up for the epic Memorial Day Festival’s tenth go-round in as many years upholds Sasquatch’s usual heady mix of indie rock, hip hop, folk, electronica, and soul. There’s pretty much something for everyone among the army of acts overrunning the Gorge for Sasquatch, and the crowd packing the Neptune burst into spontaneous applause as the final roster unspooled.

The Launch Party, hosted by Too Beautiful to Live’s Luke Burbank, preceded the grand unveiling with a pretty stellar evening of live music. Matthew Caws of Nada Surf opened up the party with a solo acoustic set heavily weighed by selections from his band’s newest full-length, The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy. The solo turn was his second of three live shows yesterday: Nada Surf played a gig at the Triple Door that afternoon, and the band zipped over to Ballard to play a sold-out Tractor Tavern show immediately after Caws left the Neptune stage. The Launch Party crowd was gifted a stripped-down, emotional set that framed Astonomy’s pop jewels in a sparsely-gorgeous backdrop, and Caws frequently brought to mind a less-caustic, more winsomely romantic Alex Chilton at several points (that’s a big compliment, incidentally).

Seattle hip hop crew The Physics followed up with the evening’s most party-centric stretch. The band’s crowd-stoking energy belied an almost mellow melodic and lyrical flow, aided immeasurably by swaths of funky guitar, lush backing vocals, and an assemblage of beats that favored subtly-flowing grooves over throw-down rhythms. Their sound should make for great hip-shaking and head-bobbing at Sasquatch (The Physics, as it turns out, will be playing the festival this year).

Closing act Junip come off as the shyest bunch of guys ever to step onto a rock stage, but the Swedish quintet sounded superlative in a live setting. Divorced from the detached sheen of their studio recordings, their blend of dreamy vocalizing, chiming guitars, warm analog synths, and insistent (real) drums and percussion wove a seriously hypnotic and oddly sensuous spell. It was so immersive, even the drunken blonde who bum-rushed the stage mid-set didn’t harsh the collective mellow.

So, yeah, the Launch Party live show sorta ruled, but the big pay-off remained the final announcement of the Sasquatch 2012 line-up. Below, please find the complete(-ish) roster of acts gracing the 2012 Sasquatch stage.

Music Acts:

Jack White
Beck
Bon Iver
Pretty Lights
The Shins
Tenacious D
Beirut
Girl Talk
The Roots
The Head and the Heart
Portlandia
Feist
Silversun Pickups
Metric
Explosions in the Sky
The Joy Formidable
Mogwai
Nero (DJ)
M. Ward
John Reilly and Friends
Childish Gambino
St. Vincent
The Civil Wars
Jamey Johnson
Little Dragon
Tune-Yards
Wild Flag
Blind Pilot
Wolfgang Gartner
Beats Antique
Apparat
Imelda May
The Sheepdogs
The Walkmen
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Mark Lanegan Band
Spiritualized
Blitzen Trapper
The Cave Singers
Shabazz Palaces
Fun.
Grouplove
Tycho
SBTRKT
STRFKR
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Deer Tick
Alabama Shakes
Imelda May
Dum Dum Girls
The Helio Sequence
Kurt Vile
Cloud Cult
Ben Howard
Here We Go Magic
Zola Jesus
The War on Drugs
Shearwater
Cass McCombs
Active Child
Trampled by Turtles
Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires
Araabmuzik
Starslinger
L.A. Riots
Com Truise
We are Augustines
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
I Break Horses
Walk the Moon
Dry the River
Allen Stone
Pickwick
Hey Marseilles
Gary Clark Jr.
Purity Ring
Yellow Ostrich
Nobody Beats the Drum
Electric Guest
Coeur de Pirate
Lord Huron
Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside
Beat Connection
The Sheepdogs
Hey Rosetta!
Said the Whale
Howlin Rain
Gardens and Villa
Felix Cartal
Awesome Tapes from Africa
Craft Spells
Vintage Trouble
Poor Moon
Black Whales
Gold Leaves
Greylag
THEESatisfaction
Dyme Def
Fresh Espresso
The Physics
Sol
Metal Chocolates
Grynch
Spac3man
Don’t Talk to the Cops
Scribes
Fatal Lucciauno
Fly Moon Royalty
Katie Kate

Comedy Acts:

Nick Kroll
John Mullaney
Todd Barry
Beardyman
Rob Delaney
Pete Holmes
Howard Kremer
and the proverbial more, more, more…