by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
Issaiah Trejo said he hopes Mayor Martin Ch†vez doesn't have his way with a proposal that would eliminate all-ages venues that serve alcohol.
"I think it's kind of dumb," Trejo, 16, said. "If there are no all-ages shows, kids will be going out and getting drunk."
Trejo was among more than 100 people who gathered Thursday evening at Civic Plaza Downtown hoping to prevent all-ages shows from getting shut down.
The Keep the Music Alive rally was organized for people opposed to Ch†vez's proposal to eliminate alcohol sales at all-ages venues. At the event, four local musicians entertained the crowd and organizations such as the League of Pissed Off Voters and Young Women United came out to support the cause.
Nick Ward, an organizer of the event, said the mayor doesn't understand how vital the underage crowd is to Albuquerque.
"Most of the time when you have an all-ages crowd, you just barely get enough money to cover the performing band," Ward said. "If there are no alcohol sales, how are business owners going to pay their employees?"
Cheryl Hooks, founder of the Albuquerque Music Association, said the event was held to gain momentum for the public hearing today.
"We're trying to get the community jazzed up to what's going on," Hooks said. "And, of course, we are trying to make a statement."
She said the association conducted an informal survey and found cutting all-ages shows would hurt Albuquerque's economy if the proposal were to go through.
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"Our local music scene generates $8 million a year," she said. "It would definitely hurt the economy if we were to stop all-ages shows."
The chairman of the Bernalillo County Green Party attended the event and said his party is not happy with the proposal.
"It's a whack law they're trying to pass," Thomas Prando said. "We're out here to show that we are not for it."
Ward said the event was relatively cheap to fund because all they had to pay for was the rental of Civic Plaza, which cost $295 for the two hours the event was held.
"Private members of the music community have given their time and money for the event," he said. "Eclipse Production has lent us a PA system that normally costs $1,500."
Ward said as soon as he found out the public hearings were being held, he began organizing the event.
"We just stepped to it early last week when I found out when the hearing was," he said. "This event will show what one week can do."
Ward said although the event turned out well, he said he wished more supporters had participated.
"I wish we had more people show up," he said. "Albuquerque needs to realize they need to get out here to keep our music alive."
