LimeWire Music Blog

This is almost too easy… the proverbial “shooting fish in a barrel,” if you will. Besides the fact that they seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that the independent music scene has long been priced out of Manhattan and is, in fact, in Brooklyn, do the creators of The Scene… L.E.S. really think they’re going to find struggling artists on 1st and Ave. A? Do they think it’s 1992? Before I get ahead of myself, I give you the actual text of a casting call on Craigslist for The Scene… L.E.S., a new reality show slated to air on WNBC’s NY Non-Stop:

“The Scene…L.E.S” (Lower East Side) is a reality show that straddles the line between the music world and the real life drama of up and coming Singer-Songwriters who live around and play the circuit of performance venues on the Lower East Side of New York City. The program will primarily focus on 8-10 of the best up and comers following them through their successes, failures, struggles, relationships and ambitions as they navigate their way through the myriad of challenges that is the music world today.

The unique aspect of having REAL songwriters and the potential for exposure that this opportunity will afford to those Singer-Songwriters chosen to participate will add a “Realness” factor to the show that is absent in many other reality shows which tend to focus on sheer obnoxiousness and audacity to appeal to it’s viewership.

Participants will be chosen on a number of factors with their songwriting ability high on the list of pre-requisites. There will be a smartness and genuine empathetic tone that will permeate this series.

We are not just seeking songwriters, but actors, actresses, scenesters, …people who inhabit the L.E.S music scene. We want real characters who can bring an added dimension of interest and credibility to the forum. ie: bloggers, journalists, fans…etc.

Back up. “Songwriters chosen to participate will add a ‘Realness’ factor to the show that is absent in many other reality shows which tend to focus on sheer obnoxiousness and audacity to appeal to it’s viewership.” Trying to make it as a musician by living in one of the most expensive parts of Manhattan doesn’t seem very real to me. Besides the fact that even a mid-range income from a decent 9-5 office job won’t likely get you an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, some of the most iconic venues in New York have packed up and moved to Brooklyn, due to sky-high rents, and superior music venues open in Brooklyn every year. Exhibit A: the Knitting Factory, which forsake its original Manhattan location for Brooklyn, due to hater neighbors and exorbitant rent. Exhibit B: Brooklyn Bowl, a state-of-the-art green-built bowling alley/venue with a gourmet Blue Ribbon menu. In Brooklyn. Not Manhattan. Also, the former site of legendary rock club CBGB’s, on the Lower East Side, is now a John Varvatos store. I’m not sure how much more blatant the situation could be. It’s hard to say whether the show’s creators are just really out of touch or in cahoots with L.E.S. club owners looking to regain some street cred. Either way, I’m baffled.

Since the show will be on a local channel, The Scene… L.E.S. probably won’t inspire too many out-of-towners to move to Manhattan and try their hands at “making it” in the dwindling Lower Manhattan music scene. Starry-eyed Violet Sanford kinda took care of that in the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly. Should a few deluded souls still be misled, I can give them directions to a Bushwick-bound  J train, because at this point, even Williamsburg is too rich for most peoples’ blood.

(via Gothamist, Bowery Boogie)