Could be worse, they could've
misspelled HSAS…

Sadly, the Space Cowboy got his facts wrong in his story about the Marin History Museum's Demolition Dance Party ["Appetite for Demolition," March 5 and missed a big reporting opportunity.
First, Neal Schon was not in attendance. He blew it off due to the disrespect showed when they used his name and band name to promote his son Miles without his approval (and to the disdain of Miles who is working hard to make a name on his own). On top of that they spelled Schon's name wrong. Pretty lame. The Marin History Museum saw an opportunity to gain publicity from Neal's name instead of truly backing Miles.
Secondly, most of the restaurants who donated food and time were pretty upset by the weak support and display. The food tables were not maintained and no promotional materials or menus were left out for people to take. It basically was free food for the History Museum.
Lastly, all the local businesses and artists I talked to that were there were very upset that the museum begged support, donations and free stuff from local Marin folks and businesses, but has chosen to take that money and (over) spend it out of Marin. What a slap in the face.
The DJ? From Petaluma. The sound company? From Hercules. The interior designer? From SF. Same with the architect. Are you telling me that nowhere in Marin can all of these jobs be done? Bananas at Large offered to donate a PA system to the event, they were ignored in lieu of being over charged by Ultrasound for a PA system too big for that room. (As a sound engineer, I can tell.)
This is like a church asking for donations from its congregation, but then buying products from out of the state. How does that support your community?
Seems to me theme of this project should be changed from Marin Music to Marin Money.
I'm sure James Hetfield, Narada and the other musicians will be pissed when they find out the hard work they put in to support their community is actually harming the very community it is supposed to support, via bad decisions.

Matthew Regeant, San Anselmo


The following response to Matthew's letter and online comment was posted at www.pacificsun.com:
I am project manager for the Marin History Museum Music Center and Marin Rocks Exhibition. I put the Demo Dance Party together for MHM and also produced the Metallica concert last September.
I see that Matthew has some concerns regarding the event held on Feb. 27 and I hope that I can provide some answers:
* Technically it is correct that Neal Schon did not attend the party. He came by earlier during sound check to say hello and see Miles. This may be why it was mentioned in the article. Neal had told us previously that he would not be able to attend the party because he would be flying home from London on that day. It also turns out that Feb. 27 is Neal's birthday and he so he already had other plans.
* All of the restaurants who participated in our event indicated to us that they were very happy to be involved and thought the party was great! They are also very excited about the museum coming to Fourth Street and the potential business it will bring to the area. We did place placards next to each of the dishes indicating the restaurant that had provided the food and certainly did our best to keep things tidy. We had a professional catering staff overseeing the tables. People were really digging in!
* Our DJ actually lives in Sebastopol, but has been a Marin institution for over 10 years - producing the Groove Garden event every month at Fairfax Community Church. By the way, he will be playing this Saturday at Toby's Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station with MC Yogi. Check them out.
* Ultrasound was founded in Marin and now has its warehouse and offices in Hercules. Don Pearson and Ultrasound are an important part of the Marin Rocks story and have been great supporters of the museum. I've rarely met two sound engineers who agreed on what is the "right size" sound system (they usually they say bigger is better), but everyone is welcome to their opinion. I do know that the bands were thrilled to be playing through the Meyer Sound Labs system provided by Ultrasound.
* The interior designer... well I'm afraid that was me. I live in Glenwood.
* Our architect has done much of his work in Marin and the Bay Area and maintains an office here. He lives with his family in Boston, so as to be close to the Harvard School of Architecture where he lectures. He has been providing his services to the museum pro-bono (but probably wishes that money were in fact flowing out of Marin to Boston!)
I really encourage Matthew or anyone with questions or comments regarding the Music Center and Marin Rocks to contact Marin History Museum and feel free to ask for me, Alan. It's a really exciting project and I would be happy to speak to you about it.
The Marin History Museum is working hard to create a museum and associated events that represent and serve the community of Marin County and all input is welcome and important to us.

Alan, project manager, Marin Rocks

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