Nice work, City of Philadelphia. Nothing like letting a couple of political insiders derail what could have been a pretty cool event.
And before people start commenting about how I don't know all of the details about the logistics of such an event, all I can say is that other cities make things like this work. Austin has been thrown around as the poster child for attracting young, smart, creative types, mostly because that city was willing to think outside the box and reinvent itself as a place for them to be.
Our city will continue to be held back as long as we keep seeing excuses like this:
"The Fairmount Park Commission worked tremendously hard," [C3 partner Charlie Jones] said. "I had full confidence that it was going to happen. We just ran out of time. . . . Unfortunately it got caught between the current administration and the new administration, and for whatever reason, it kept getting tabled. But we're still in a venue where we can service Philadelphia and its surrounding communities."
and especially this:
C3 partner Charlie Jones: "We were going through the process with the city and the commission was very motivated and excited about having this done. But, unfortunately, some of the political things that happened in Philadelphia got bogged down with the current administration."
Dan Gross had more about those "political things":
We were the first to report on the proposed concert and the drama and politics behind the scenes after C3 approached the Fairmount Park Conservancy.
Electric Factory Concerts/LiveNation followed with a proposal, which people in the concert industry and some involved in the negotiations believed had been intended merely to keep C3 away.
We told you that Wolf Block partner Alan Kessler - longtime attorney for Electric Factory and its chief Larry Magid - was lobbying city officials and the Park Commission to support the EFC proposal.
Good morning, everyone.
Comments (1)
The media in this town is just awful. All they do is whine, bitch and moan like eight year olds.
I guess it wasn't the city of Philadelphia that pulled off a little event called Live 8.
I guess it wasn't the city of Philadelphia that pulled off a similar called Live Aid.
But don't tell me I don't the details of those events. After all they could have those same events, and many, many others just like them in Vineland, NJ.
Piss, moan, bitch, grunt, wail, whine....Welcome to the Philly media.
Posted by Fante | November 28, 2007 11:03 AM