The Placebo

Last night will relaxing and watching a bit of late night TV I got a call from a friend informing me that Out of the Sun, a friendly arcade and all-ages venue in Fortuna, had it’s music permit revoked. If you’ve never been to Out of the Sun then you are certainly missing out, the venue was a shining beacon of light in a community with little for youth to do. Not only was it a positive place for Fortuna kids, but for many of the events held there many of the attendees were kids from Eureka, Arcata, and other cities in Humboldt.

Tina, the friendly woman who runs Out of the Sun, published the letter she got from the city on the group’s myspace account…

“The city realizes that you and your husband have taken numerous steps to keep night time activities to a level where young people can have fun and yet the neighborhood is not seriously impacted. Nonetheless, a determination has been made by the City Manager in consultation with the Chief of police that continuing problems arising from the nature of the bands, the numbers of young people involved, community complaints, and required police intervention has reached a level that cannot continue.”

She advises kids to sit down and write a letter to the Fortuna City Manager (Duane Rigge, 621 11th Street, P.O. Box 545, Fortuna, CA, 95540 - OR drigge [at] ci [dot] fortuna [dot] ca [dot] us) about how much they enjoy Out of the Sun and their positive experiences with the place. She also informs that for kids who would like to also speak out about how they feel the Fortuna City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month at 6 pm at Fortuna City Hall at 621 11th Street). If you have trouble finding the words with which to express yourself, The Professional Superheroes have prepared a sample letter:

“Mr. Rigge,
I have a question for you.
I’ve just heard that Out of the Sun has had its music permit revoked. I’m sure that you are aware that the shows at Out of the Sun provided Fortuna’s youth with a reason to get together, have fun, and make new friends. With that in mind, I’m sure you can agree that the shows at Out of the Sun were more than just live music events, they were youth events, being held specifically to give kids living in Fortuna a chance to have fun together.

 My question to you:
How does stopping youth events in Fortuna help the youth of this city?

Thank you”

Help fight the all-ages ban! Keep the scene alive!

We’re looking for spaces to hold our January shows and will let you know as soon as we find them. This week we got some support from the local press. If you’ve ever had a positive experience at The Placebo or our warehouse mates and fellow Ink People projects, Synapsis and E2, please help us stay alive. Contact the Eureka City Council and email us if you’d like to know more or help in other ways: gimme_info at theplacebo.net.

In the North Coast Journal, Bob says:

Hardworking folks like those behind E-2, the Placebo and Synapsis should receive praise for shining a light in a dark corner of the city; they should not be run out of town. Forgive me if I repeat myself, but, in the words of Pink Floyd: “Hey … Leave those kids alone!” And show them some support in the weeks to come…

The Hum, Bob Doran, NCJ, Dec 28, 2006. Read the whole article

And in the Eye, Jasmine reports:

It’s sad to think that amazing shows like [the Jason Webley perfomance] are under threat…. The Placebo has endured three periods of homelessness, each one taking a bigger toll on the group, and there’s nowhere left for the group to go. But it’s not just The Placebo that’s being threatened, it’s the entire trio down at 47 West 3rd: The Placebo, Empire-Squared, and Synapsis. All three are all-volunteer-run nonprofits, and all three need your support…. If you like that there’s a place in Humboldt County that puts on all-ages drug and alcohol free rock shows, let the city of Eureka know by writing a letter to them. Help keep the scene alive.

Station, Jasmine Loucks, Arcata Eye, Dec 26, 2006. Article not yet available but should be by next week. Read it here

So our building has been closed by the fire marshall. This should be temporary, but in the meanwhile things are kinda up in the air. We’ll let you know what’s happening and where it’s happening.

Help make the scene happen.

When: Sunday, October 1 at 5:30pm
Where: The Placebo - 47B W 3rd St
Cost: Free and open to everybody

Hah! I lied. September Fools! You’ll never know when the Yard Sale is from this website. Seriously folks, we’ve been looking for a site and a couple of places have fallen though. I don’t want to post any more scheduling disinformation here, though, so you and I will just have to look for the signs up around A-Town. The Placebo does still need Yard Sale donations. (They’re all tax-deductible, if you swing that way.)

Nope, we still don’t know where, but we do know when:

Saturday September 30th to Sunday October 1st, 9am to 9am.

That’s right, 24 Hours of Cheap Second-Hand Goodness brought to you in the form of a benefit for The Placebo. Poetry on demand, strange haircuts, random acoustic music and who knows what the H else. Somewhere in Arcata.

We seek donations of the non-disgusting kind; email gimme_info[at]theplacebo.net to arrange drop-off or, possibly, pick-up.

It’s been a whole month since the last one, so we have a lot to cover:

The Sorts of Things We Might Talk About

• Check-In (everybody gets a chance to say what’s up with them)
• Announcements (often not separated out from the above)
• Past Shows (stuff that happened since our last meeting)
• Bummerfest (lot more to talk about here than just our average show, lemme tell ya)
• Upcoming Shows (this is where anyone who’s putting together or who hopes to book a Placebo show lets us know the details)
• 24 Hour Yard Sale (when/where is that going to be, now?)
• Street Fair!
• Web Stuff (I could use some help here. Anybody?)
• Other Stuff
  • General Ideas for cool stuff to do
  • Practical stuff to make the Placebo/E2 space more better
  • Whatever it is YOU want to talk about

When: Sunday, Sept 17 5:30pm
Where: The Placebo - 47B West 3rd St, Eureka. Need a Ride? Carpool leaves from Sacred Grounds in Arcata at 5pm

Cost: Free and open to the public!

It’s that time of year again. Get cheap good stuff, hang out, have a poem written for you and help out The Placebo while you’re doing it.

When: POSTPONED Saturday Sept 16 to Sunday Sept 17 9am to 9am

We’re moving this back a few weeks cuz what were we thinking scheduling the yard sale 2 weeks after Bummerfest? Oy.

This Saturday from 2-4 pm at Empire Squared you can learn how to run the P.A. at The Placebo. This workshop will teach you everything you need to know to run almost every kind of P.A. for various size shows, from House Shows to Bummerfest. Learn how to hook it all up, and make your favorite band sound their best.

See you there,

Abe

Summer’s coming and we want to put on a lot of events for people who’ll be spending it in Humboldt. At this Placebo Board meeting we’ll be talking about skillshares, shows, Bummerfest, BBQs and other excellent all-ages things to do and see in the next few months. As always, everybody is welcome.

When: Sunday June 4, 5:30 pm
Where: Arcata at Julie’s and Mike’s house. Email gimme_info at theplacebo dot net for directions and/or if you need a ride there.

Come help decide how Bummerfest 2006 will go down: book bands, talk decorations and theme, get zany.

When: May 31st, Wednesday, 6 pm
Where: Redwood Yogurt, 1573 G St. Arcata (map)