Champaign Rock

The rumors are true….

Most of you have probably heard the rumors about Cowboy Monkey; that starting in 2008 there will be no more live music at the Monkey.

Over at the CU Jazz Blog, Ward was quoted as saying, “CM is NOT booking any bands after the 2007 calendar year…” and that “…there is NO current plan to remove the stage…”.

This has come as a shock for many people. I know I’ve come to appreciate experiencing the club half-full while some band played their heart out. I learned a lot of things about the music scene/business (and its audience) at Cowboy Monkey.  Many things I would almost consider spiritual, or “life-lessons”. It won’t be the same as a restaurant.

The important thing to remember is that the people aren’t going away. All of the same bands are still in town, all of the same promoters and concert-goers.  We’ll just have to go somewhere else. It’s sad because of the long history that this establishment has had with the rock scene in Champaign (since at least the middle 90’s when Ward was still booking there but it was called the ‘Blind Pig’).

As Ward was quoted as saying, the positive spin is that this will (hopefully) cause The Highdive to be open more often.  The environment at The Highdive is a bit different than at Cowboy Monkey, but it’s still a great rock venue.

I’m sad to lose the Monkey as a venue, but hopeful that this change may help to revitalize the local music scene. You can bet to see me at the remaining 2007 Cowboy Monkey shows. I’ve got to get my fill while I still can.