May Day Revival!

There's some good stuff in this week's Reader Blurt and Citybeat's Locals Only, but nothing pleases me more than this:

Starlight Bowl is looking to make a comeback in 2007.

Susan Suffecool, director of the 4,300-capacity outdoor venue in Balboa
Park, hopes to lure both local bands and mid-sized touring acts back to the site
and has brought in promoter Christopher Leyva, who also fronts local band
Blizzard.

“I realize local performers won’t draw like touring acts, but there are
different stage configurations we can use,” said Suffecool. “This end of the
park isn’t visited as much as the central area. Hopefully, this will draw
attention to this corner.”

I think as a teenager I only attended two shows at the venue but one of them was MayDay in 1993... I would like to officially propose another MayDay-ish festival at the new Starlight Bowl. There were something like 40 local bands between two stages...an acoustic stage in the Hall of Champions and the Rock/Reggae/Punk music was in the Bowl. True, San Diego doesn't have a Lucy's Fur Coat or Drive Like Jehu anymore, but we have a strong scene and if bands play for free or cheap just for the exposure, say a $15 wristband could cover the venue expenses as far as security, etc. go, right? Only problem is there would need to be a better date...the weekend before May 1 is the same weekend as Coachella and this town turns into a ghost town, and the weekend after is Cinco de Mayo, which, if these people are smart, they will capitalize on with a Mariachi/Música Mexicana festival.

And since I'm in total fantasyland writing this, there would be only paid admissions. No band guest lists, no media passes, no radio station freebies. If everyone pays $15 or $20 bucks, then half the people aren't paying double for the other half to be there free, as seems to happen so often for any event. I'm just saying. I'll be first up with my $15.