Agnew: "I Think Brooklyn is Super Obnoxious."

SEAN AGNEW OF R5 Productions, a local indie music promoter, spoke on campus last week about the Philly music scene and the coverage it receives. In case you didn't catch his visit, here are a few things that he said:

- He used to see a bump in ticket sales after the alt weeklies previewed his shows. He doesn't see that bump anymore.
- He promoted more than 300 shows in 2009. "Seeing that many bands is awful," Agnew joked. "Nobody should have to do that."
- Philly has a pretty terrible radio scene except for WXPN, he said.
- Pitchfork pretty much dictates what will be the next cool band.
- The Philly music blog he reads regularly is The Deli. He also checks out Brooklyn Vegan. Sadly, both of those websites are based out of Brooklyn.

- There is no definitive music blog in Philly, Agnew said.
- "I think Brooklyn is super obnoxious," Agnew said half joking. He was referring to all the Midwest bands who uproot, move to Brooklyn and claim hipster cred. Ick.
- Philly could have Brooklyn's music reputation if there were media documenting the scene, he said.

He also gave some background on his career:
- He started promoting shows in the 1990s because there were few places where underage kids could hear live, local music cheap.
- His first venue was Stalag 13, an old warehouse they used for illegal punk shows. There was a half-pipe in the backyard and a barbecue on the roof.
- "People used to lose their mind if the show was more than $5," Agnew recalled.
- He just traveled to Asia with Diplo. In Jakarta, 3,000 kids knew every word of every Diplo song, Agnew said.
- Sometimes, the bands he books ask to crash on his apartment floor.
- Raekwon recently performed at the First Unitarian Church. He told Agnew that he needed to pray the next day because he was cursing while performing ... inside a church.