Save The Music By Saving A Local Concert Venue

In November 2005, two teenage girls in Green Bay, WI by the names of Laura Kniess and Desiree May decided to do something they thought was quite simple. They renovated Laura's basement to hold a concert. About 15 people showed up and that was that. A one time deal.





Or so they thought.





A few weeks later, demand for another show was coming up and the two girls decided that this wasn't just a one time deal. This was something for teenagers in their community to do other than go out and party. It was totally legal, substance free, free of cost and it provided a safe and social atmosphere that the girls felt was what their city needed. So they set to work on making this something real.





Over the course of two years, they girls held shows about once a month free of cost and had a great following throughout Wisconsin. Bands from all around the state began to contact them off their website on MySpace asking to play at thier venue; it wasn't even considered just a place for basement shows anymore. In fact, the demand and name became so great that bands from other states as far as Louisiana were asking to stop by and play on their nation-wide tours. The girls knew they had done something remarkable for their city.





They created a concert venue, met tons of new people who realized the same thing they did: this is exactly what Green Bay needed. Free entertainment that allowed friends to come out and meet new people in a safe, substance-free atmosphere and recognize local musicians from the area. The girls were doing this for those musicians. Bands were trying to get their music heard, and what a better way to do that then to play free shows where over 60 people would regularly come out and support what they were doing.





Bonds were created, a non-profit business was started and the girls knew that this was the best things they could do with their lives.





But it all changed when the neighbors decided to revolt by calling the cops and getting the shows shut down. Bands from Milwaukee and Madison who had traveled all the way up to play a free show were sent away with a simple, "I'm sorry." The girls, the fans and the bands had enough.





They tried to set up a block party to show that this was more than noise one a month from about 5:00pm until 10:00pm. That people around the state demanded these shows. But they were speaking to deaf ears and everyone who had ever heard the name Spackle decided they had enough. They needed to speak out and be heard so that maybe someone would understand what they were doing and why they felt this type of entertainment was needed.








IF YOU FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT LOCAL MUSIC, OR ANY MUSIC FOR THAT MATTER, AND WANT TO SEE IT THRIVE AND FIGHT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION. ALL WE WANT IS TO KEEP THIS ONE THING GOING IN GREEN BAY BECAUSE IT SIMPLY DESERVES TO BE THERE. IT HAS BUILT UP A REPUTATION AS AN ACTUAL BUSINESS AND BANDS, FANS AND RANDOM PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO COME AND SOCIALLY INTERACT DURING THE CONCERTS. WE'RE DOING NOTHING WRONG, SO WE FEEL WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO KEEP THIS GOING.





SO PLEASE, SIGN AND SPREAD THE WORD. WE LOVE WHAT WE CREATED AND WE'RE NOT READY TO GIVE UP ON THE FIGHT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT.








Thank you for taking the time to read.