Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I could give a shit what people think (don't you love when people say that?)...

We've all say it. It's the cool thing to say. Hipster. Confident in skin. etc.etc. Bullshit.

As Saint Rocke has grown, I've had my head to the ground, and I'm the first to admit that I'm sometimes oblivious to trends, ignorant of current popular culture, and hard-headed in my ways. I like things a certain way, and I've come to a peaceful position that I hope people like what I do (how Saint Rocke looks, feels, etc.) or I'm out of business. I can't fake it. I can't be "that guy" when it comes to certain things in the bar business (if you want a definition of "that guy" just let me know), and because of that, I've had to develop thick skin. I can't tell you how many times I've heard -- "yeah, this sucks. You should...."

Most of the time, I politely listen, and then walk away. But I care, I really do, about what other people think. And even though I say I dont, I do. So when we got #1 venue from the Easy Reader, I have to admit, I was pretty excited. Now, I'm not supposed to say this, but usually the voting in these is rigged. From either (1) small businesses that stuff the ballot, or (2) the editor being biased based on who advertises with them.  But in this case, we totally dropped the ball, and I didn't even vote, much less did we activate our fanbase. And (2) we don't advertise in the Easy Reader, but other venues do.

With that, I have to admit, at the cost of potentially not being as cool, that I was super stoked, and humbly grateful when we got this. It's nice to know that the sweat and tears we put into bringing music & culture into the South Bay is not going unnoticed. Even our happy hour - when we started programming music during happy hour - we immediately saw a difference. Right on. That's all I can say.

So just wanted to say thank you to all those who believe in Saint Rocke, and appreciate our efforts, and also to say keep the suggestions coming. If you don't like something, be vocal. If you do, BE VOCAL. We love it on both ends. In the end, the product is that we deliver a better experience.

Oh yeah, one more thing. In the spirit of hating on the Yelp world, if you post a REAL response/critique of a great experience at Saint Rocke, some tickets might just come your way for a show of your choice :)