I have a cat called "Wolfie".  Here's the funny thing, no matter how much I call my cat Wolf, it doesn't make the cat a wolf.  It's still a cat.  The Lubbock Music Festival is funded by a surcharge on hotel rooms. Now the people involved will tell you that's not a "tax", but it sure sounds like it to me.  Who goes to hotel rooms?  Well contrary to popular belief, it's not mostly people in town for a business trip. It's our friends and relatives and neighbors, in-laws,  and other friends of friends who come to town to visit and shop.  So, if I buy batteries and seven and eleven and they charge me extra with that money going towards "public services" (the government) that's called a tax.  If you charge me an extra fee with my hotel room, it's a tax.  Since it's our friends and relatives and even ourselves paying it, we are being taxed (let's not to mention other hotels in other towns instituting similar fees that we now have to pay when we go there). It's a tax plain and simple and I can't believe anyone thinks we are too stupid to recognize it.  More after the jump.

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So what about this hotel/motel tax?

Well it was instituted to fund more tourist type events, so they could rent the rooms all over again and charge a new group of people the tax.  Now once again, this really isn't a really bad idea but, as the old saying goes, "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining".

Sorry, But The "Bad Guys" Are Wearing White Hats.

I would LOVE to take my own advice: if you don't like it, don't go to it.  I've got a better idea, if I don't like it, how about I help change it for the better? Or if I don't like it, why do I have to pay for it.?

One reason I've spent so much time on this topic is I actually like and care about the people who put this festival on.  I just think they lost their way.  I also don't like the fact that they are seen as " community leaders" for the work they do.  These people contribute no more time and effort to "the cause" than the owner of a gas station or a plumber.   They perform a service and they get paid, and in my opinion, they are way over paid.

How To Get Paid.

Here's a great way to get paid.  Charge for booking the acts.  Charge for your venue. Charge for your sound. Charge for managing the events.  Basically, hire yourself to provide the stuff you need to put the festival on.  Even better, we can get community volunteers to help out for free, so we don't have to pay for professional rigging.

Weren't You A Part Of This?

Yep and as Seether says in "Country Song" -"I can't shake the taste of blood in my mouth".   Well, yeah, to a degree.  This is pretty much the same folks as the 4th on Broadway people, and we did the 21 and Under Battle of the Bands (the most attended tent EVERY YEAR I'm proud to say).  We put that event on many years and for the first 3-5 we paid for the sound and we paid for the band prizes (naively thinking this was a "community" event and we were "doing our part").  In subsequent years the festival paid for the sound and the prizes  and leaned on us heavy to find sponsors for the stage (we always demurred and let them handle that at that point).

Why Doesn't Someone Say Something?

It's politics and backslaps and so on.  None of the media outlets want to risk their relationship with these festivals or the people who put them on (or the people who get paid). Me, I could give a sh!t.  Being involved made me feel dirty so I quit and I don't want to go back to either of them.  Here's a simple challenge to all involved: show us the books.  It's that simple.  Show us where the money is going.  I'm amazed none of the t.v. stations have the balls to take on this story.  You guys in t.v. need to realize that these people are going to always grease the same people, so if you're not getting greased, then why not take on this topic?

Also, PLEASE, if you have proof I'm wrong on any of this, please post a rebuttal. This is all just my opinion, If you have facts, I'd love to hear them.

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