Its been a long ride. For the last 12 years I have been throwing these shows, and its now time to move on. As much as a loved it, I dont love what it has become, or where its going. Due too current situations including.... lack of venues, too much competition, no support, and lacking financial backing, I can no longer keep doing this. Only a few short years ago, I watched the scene grow and expand. When I was running the Citadel/O Event Center, the underground shows were thriving. locals events like Kiss My Bass & Mayhem were drawing 700-800 people, and shows like Whiteout and Kandyland were getting 2000+. When I lost the citadel, and the city CNOed me, I took the big gamble, and did the next Whiteout at Tacoma Dome. It was the biggest endeavor I ever took on, and unfortunately I was about 6 months too early and the scene wasnt quite ready yet & I took a huge financial loss on that show. This drastically affecting my ability to finance my events because, I paid for all my own shows (including the $80,000 I spent on the Tacoma Dome show). After this, I found Kings Hall & we (the promoters) felt like this would be Citadel 2.0, nicer, cleaner, slightly better location, still at a light rail station, but the crowds didnt support the venue. Every show done there struggled, most lost money. This brought us to the current era of, Showbox, Neumos, & Studio 7. Showbox is very expensive, Neumos I tried & got killed. Everything I tried struggled or failed. Worsening my financial situation. Studio 7 was a challenge I took on knowing it would be an uphill battle. When shows like Kandyland w/Darren Styles was a sell out, the vibe was thick, and people left floating on cloud 9, I was sure we turned the comer with that venue. That people would see it can be great if you make it great with great people. Sadly, didnt happen, and Blackout & Pajama Jam both were failures. The Mayhem shows were loosing ground & the numbers were declining on everything, unless you booked the right, expensive headliner. These constant losses with no real wins have depleted my ability to continue. While me & the promoters like me have been struggling, getting beat up, and coming out behind on just about everything, EDM is bigger then ever, and festivals here get better numbers then EVER before. So what that tells me is its time to let it go. That brings us to the current situation. I just cant and dont want to fight for it anymore. I made more contributions to this scene over the last 12 years then most. I brought MULTIPLE new venues to the table, brought countless acts many for the 1st time to seattle, some for the 1st time EVER in the US! I help grow the scene to what it is today. With where I am, and where its grown too, I just cant compete. That being said, I am making one last play. My final gift to the scene. If this works out, I will go out with pride. If not, I gave it one last real effort. If this and I do STRESS IF..... this will be something you dont want to miss. If it cant work out, Whiteout 12 will be my last event. It is currently booked for Studio 7, but if this works out that will change. This is why whiteout has nothing booked right now. Two completely different shows depending on how this plays out. I should know in the next week. Till then I wont tell you what it is, or what I am doing so dont ask. If you were going to know, you would know by now. Thank you for 12 years of memories. Lets make one more together, one to last a lifetime, one that reminds us of where we came from, how we got here, and what we lost along the way. Because we did loose something, that something was amazing and more then one person has told me how those night changed their lives forever in the most positive way. MarQ CEO Phase 3 Events LLC
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 23:44:38 +0000
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