WEAR THE ATTITUDE, LIVE THE LIFESTYLE
The original DIRTBAG OFFICIAL VENUE comes to life
We are pleased to announce the birth of the first DIRTBAG OFFICIAL VENUE. The Looney Bin in Bradley, Illinois - otherwise known by its slogan, "Best Bands, Shittiest Place".
In our hunt to make a positive impact on performing musicians everywhere, we looked to the venues. Where artists spend their time cutting their teeth, performing their art, and trying not to get shafted by shortened sets, bad load ins, no communication, organization and worst of all terrible promotion. Come to this show/venue and witness how it's supposed to be done.
A HUGE thank you to NICK HUFFMAN for accepting the challenge of assisting in the development of the Dirtbag Endorsed Venue Program by providing a venue with the right attitude to test our ideas on how to make a performing musician's life venue experience better. We couldn't think of a more perfect venue to represent the values and ethics of Dirtbag Clothing and our commitment to support artists around the world.
This party is hosted by the one and only Dirtbag, DON JAMIESON.
Come celebrate with an ALL Dirtbag Endorsed Artist Bill.
Featuring:
QUOR - San Diego, CA -
Punch Cabbie - Chicago, IL -
On My Six - Rockford, IL -
A Silent Truth - Chicago, IL -
Gravel Switch - Jamestown, KY -
Don't miss an event for the record books. Dirtbags doing what Dirtbags do. Whether you are a rock 'n roll band or a rock 'n roll venue. Supporting each other and representing what a strong culture of rock 'n roll looks like.
From Nick Huffman:
This is a very cool opportunity that came to us last year that's been under wraps for a while (poorly, if you've been in and seen the floor), but, now it's officially out there.
Dirtbag Clothing currently endorses nearly a thousand original touring bands/artists, as they have since 1996. In the 90's, Pantera was definitely my favorite band, well into the 2000's, which is when I first became aware of them, thanks to Dime, who wore the shit out of their gear and now guys I have tons of respect for like Don Jamieson and one of my favorites in radio Shawn Sixx as well as a lot of the bands who play here, both regional and national.
Sometime last year, I got a call from Dirtbag Smitty, to see my thoughts of The Looney Bin becoming the first ever Official Venue of Dirtbag Clothing, which was quite an honor, make no mistake about it, just to be included the conversation and considered.
If there's one thing that I am not and the Bin is not, it's corporate. So, for us to be willing to drop a huge logo on our dance floor and front of building (when weather warms up), it's definitely something that I feel strongly about, not just because I wear their gear… Which I do. That reason is that Dirtbag Clothing sees the big picture in this industry, which, is that, yes. There are a lot of bad guys in it. We all know that. But, there are also a lot of good guys who do right by each other and help each other when the others fall, which is one of the things we've all preached as well as practiced here over the last nine years. Those are the kind of people who I like to associate with. I don't care if you're an owner, promoter, manager, publicist, press, musician, Radio, TV, etc., we all have our little space in this big game and the reason is because we love it. If there was any other reason, we'd all be out of our minds to do this to ourselves. The guys from Dirtbag/their Network are here to make this industry better. I can get behind that.
I couldn't have possibly been more humbled when we were approached/asked, and that feeling has not subsided at all. I couldn't be more grateful. It's still strange to me that people dig it here.
Oh yeah… Yes! We accepted! The official venue launch party will be on June 15. Our old friend Don Jamieson (That Metal Show) will be here, along with 5 very bin familiar bands. On My Six, A Silent Truth, Quor, Gravel Switch, Punch Cabbie (This post isn't intended to be an ad. I'll drop the event in the comments)
Huge thanks to everyone who had a part in this from day one until now. All roads led to here. No matter how big or small your part, please know that it's sincerely appreciated.
Please note: you won't see any big changes coming because of this, aside from in merch….(another day. Ball not yet in motion, but soon… Maybe now you'll all understand why I haven't ordered more shirts?…) and bigger things!
The artist for our floor was Jessica Carter of Art From The Heart, who I hired instead of using a decal. We did the piece over a few months and let Rock And Roll happen right on top of it, because we wanted it to look real. She nailed it…. FREEHAND!