do what to nyc?

[Joda]

they do megabus on the east coast? that shit rules , i got a bus ride for 6$round trip chicago to milwaukee

it's new, and maybe limited so far, but it does nyc<->philly.

I dunno what megabus is, but a couple years ago I got a bus in Chinatown (NYC) that took me to Baltimore for 20 bucks. Very confusing ride, the bus was marked for D.C. but they said they stopped in Baltimore, but really they just pulled over on the side of the highway and I fortunately noticed a broken neon sign in my periphery that had most of the letters to spell Baltimore lit up, but still.

[faster]

I took that bus. Dropped me off in front of a McDonald's or some shit. Ruled.

[jkudler]

they do megabus on the east coast? that shit rules , i got a bus ride for 6$round trip chicago to milwaukee

it's new, and maybe limited so far, but it does nyc<->philly.

I dunno what megabus is, but a couple years ago I got a bus in Chinatown (NYC) that took me to Baltimore for 20 bucks. Very confusing ride, the bus was marked for D.C. but they said they stopped in Baltimore, but really they just pulled over on the side of the highway and I fortunately noticed a broken neon sign in my periphery that had most of the letters to spell Baltimore lit up, but still.

oh you canadiens, with your quaint notions of things functioning smoothly.

naw. . . megabus and boltbus are essentially trying to take the chinatown bus model and "class it up," subtle invocations of racism that might imply and all. boltbus is actually owned and operated by greyhound, though they obscure that fact. both don't have ticket counters and do mostly online booking, where the tickets get more expensive the closer it gets to departure. so you can get $1 tickets if you book a few weeks in advance. they also both have wifi, and at least the last i took them, were really clean and not very crowded.

-j.

[RFKorp]

just wait. once the bolt bus pushes the chinatown buses out of business greyhound is suddenly gonna jack the prices....

[jkudler]

just wait. once the bolt bus pushes the chinatown buses out of business greyhound is suddenly gonna jack the prices....

i know! you figure that has to be their business model, but. . . . chinatown still seems to be going strong, and demand seems to be there, absent trains getting much more efficient and cheaper.

-j.

[jon abbey]

wait, $1 tickets? seriously? that must be a typo, no?

[jkudler]

if you do it way way in advance. megabus had free rides as a promo the first week.

wikipedia says only one seat per bus is $1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoltBus

[jon abbey]

wow, that's an awesome tip. see, my ranting was useful after all...

back to the main discussion, here's part of a note I just got today from someone trying to set up a show in NYC for a band touring the US, who asked me for additional ideas besides the ones he tried and was unsuccessful with, and I responded that I couldn't think of any other good alternatives and with some of the similar sentiments I've expressed here. this is someone who's been in NYC for a long time and is deeply involved in the music world in numerous ways, tons of contacts:

"the response or lack of it is backing up everything you're saying, which is incredibly depressing. One doesn't want to think about New York being "over," but christ, if it can't sustain little shows like these at all..."

[deathtrumpet]

next stop bridgeport

[howsthatsound]

fuck. this is depressing. i had no idea things were that difficult in nyc. almost sounds like philly! (a couple years ago anyway)

so anyone have any ideas as to what is the solution? or at least an idea?

[jon abbey]

more people like bryan e. and andrew lafkas, who spend tons of times setting up shows and trying to build a community, but maybe from a slightly different perspective (since we already have bryan and andrew).

and sorry to say it, but more interesting musicians moving to town would help a lot.

[jon abbey]

nmperign tour:

november 13: ithaca
november 14: buffalo (unconfirmed)
november 15: oberlin
november 16: philadelphia

[Richard Pinnell]

I don't care if it only costs $1, there is no way you would ever catch me on something that describes itself as a "megabus"

[faster]

Snob

[hatta]

I'm more of a Catbus kind of guy myself:

[Richard Pinnell]

Snob

Nah nothing to do with snobbery... I'd have no problem being on a bus that only cost $1, damn I wish that option existed over here... but a megabus? Do you get to travel large for an extra dollar?

[jon abbey]

I'm more of a Catbus kind of guy myself:

so bummed that the shuttles to the museum didn't look more like this, and that yuko wouldn't pose for an illegal picture with the giant one on the top floor.

[Alastair]

Snob

Nah nothing to do with snobbery... I'd have no problem being on a bus that only cost $1, damn I wish that option existed over here... but a megabus? Do you get to travel large for an extra dollar?

http://megabus.co.uk/uk/

[AlbionMoonlight]

nmperign tour:

november 13: ithaca
november 14: buffalo (unconfirmed)
november 15: oberlin
november 16: philadelphia

Whoa whoa whoa. Is that Oberlin date true? Yowza if it is. Please bring that beautiful racket to Ohio, we need it badly.

[jon abbey]

Snob

Nah nothing to do with snobbery... I'd have no problem being on a bus that only cost $1, damn I wish that option existed over here... but a megabus? Do you get to travel large for an extra dollar?

in Tokyo, I needed to buy a belt because the pants I'd bought just before the trip kept falling down. not surprisingly, the normal range in Japanese stores was too small, so they directed me to their equivalent of the "Big and Tall" section, which was called the "Superman" section. I thought that was kind of brilliant.