Rock 'n' Roll (Will Never Die)
Seems they're going to close Merriweather Post Pavilion -- used to be an okay place to go see bands during the summertime. In the past, it attracted its share of big names, as well as plenty of has-beens and soon-to-be-has-beens. It offered a relaxed, boozy outdoor setting, a change from the quasi-fascist intensity of the concert arena. Not a bad way to spend an August night, if you didn't mind the mosquitoes and the occasional nearby brawl. I saw Peter Gabriel perform there, at the height of his career, and also the hero of my youth, Ray Davies -- not at the height of his.
Word is it's being done in by a nefarious confluence of interests. The way to make money off real estate in Howard County these days is to build lots of houses and townhouses on it, not hold rock concerts. The Rouse Company, the development behemoth which owns the venue, has announced a new plan to downsize the pavilion, eliminate its parking lots, and turn it into a more modest, sophisticated venue to be known as "Merriweather Theater". In other words, don't just close it outright -- first, replace the unprofitable use with an even less profitable use that nobody cares about, and then quietly administer euthanasia-by-bulldozer.
The other player here is Clear Channel, subcontracted to operate the pavilion. It's been accused of siphoning business to the Nissan Pavilion in Virginia, which it both operates and owns. Denials have been less than convincing. "To make the assertion that Clear Channel had signed on with the intention of running Merriweather into the ground is incorrect...Clear Channel is one of the premiere companies in the nation," as a Rouse official put it. Sure, sure. Smile and nod.
What's interesting is the way New Economy-era greed intersects with old fashioned snootiness: there's always been a certain strata of people who disliked the fact that rock concerts were being held at a site originally intended to host the National Symphony. Instead of wine and Dvorak, you had caravans of the shoeless and longhaired, clogging up traffic on Route 29 and Broken Land Parkway. Amplified bass sounds, with their incredible acoustical properties, drifting through the stretch of woods known as "Symphony Forest." How did it get to be a rock venue in the first place? Same reason it's being killed off. Profitability.
Tonight's show: an intimate evening with Mariah Carey. Pavilion seating only.
9:14:04 PM 
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