a link to the full lineup might help ;)

also Rye Rye is playing

Lauryn Hill and Kanye West Headline? Wow, how awful, two of the worst at being on time and professional.

Oh, and BTW, the blog sucks now. Its all link bait about crappy bands, and the occasional half hearted review of a bar that you are too cool to like.

I was mad about it for a while, I got upset about it really, but not anymore. Now, I dont care, I have moved on, which I can only assume was your ultimate goal. I only check out of habit now, soon that habit will be gone.

There are no more conversations, no more camaraderie among the commenters. Way to ruin a once halfway decent blog Erik.

Move it from "Entertainment" blogs to "Special Advert Blogs".

@anon: see you Thursday at Don't Know.

Wonder if any of the whiners will show up Thursday and have a discussion with you about the blog, Maza. My guess is most of the prefer the anonymity of sitting behind a keyboard and flexing their internet muscles.

Maza, with your love of DC, how did you leave out local faves THUNDERBALL (DC based DJ/live act on ESL Music), who are playing on Sunday @ Coachella?

@Sun Sets I admit sometimes I check just to see how many posts have garnered 0 commments, quite a few it seems.

I'm not in town for the Mixer thing but if I was I wouldn't go, don't like the location and I'm not a fan of the blog much anymore.

@foo: i am crestfallen that you won't be at mixer. A note about traffic though: comments on the blog don't signal interest in an item; as the majority of traffic these days is filtered through facebook, a lot of the commentary happens there. Though Im ambivalent about discussing traffic, whatever, because, the blog's been doing well, there's no reason to not talk about it: traffic is up 34.6% this month over the same period last year. Most trafficked items: Midnight Sun-specific posts about Select Lounge (like Councilman Cole commenting on the shooting, news of the club's re-opening; news of Tipsy Taxi's ridership NYE; news that Wild Goose would resume production soon; interviews with Dan Deacon and Francis Ford Coppola, which we had before everyone else. Anyway, blah blah blah - looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

You seem to not understand that just traffic does not equal interest in a blog. It just means you post such a variety of topics that you show up on more Google searches and thus get more hits. It has no correlation to whether people like your writing or your blog. It just means people are clicking on you, not clicking with you.

When you promote dialogue with interesting topics, it becomes a much more worthwhile read. Local hot topics written with personality that people want to discus. Something people can get behind and state their opinions on. When you just post about any band you can think of, with a link in every sentence to a Sun site or to another one of your posts, of course your friggin traffic is up over last year! You are either in complete denial, are completely clueless or just don’t care what you write about as long as it gets hits. I think the latter. Your traffic may be up, but your repeat readers, I bet, are down.

It’s obvious that the point of this blog has changed (along with most Sun Blogs) from providing insight on local bars and music, to bringing in as many hits as possible to increase revenue for a dying industry. I can’t blame the Trib for wanting to make money, and I can’t blame Maza or Sam for doing what their bosses tell them. It just sucks that money has destroyed a once informative, local, interesting and FUN blog, into a link baiting, impersonal, smug bulletin board. Maza has no personality in his writing and people can’t connect with him, but that isn’t the point anymore, the point is hits and traffic, not a following. The get together is a isingenuous attempt on Eriks part to seem more approachable and fun, but in reality it doesn’t matter what he is like in real life it matters what he writes.
I don’t see a problem with you writing this blog, I see a problem with you still calling it Midnight Sun. This isn’t Midnight Sun anymore.

@anon: I respectfully disagree, and Im sorry you feel that way. I hope to have you back on board soon. If you can make it Thursday, great!

If Kanye and "Ms" Lauryn Hill stick to their usual festival shenanigans, than Coachella 2k11 is in for a PR nightmare just like Bonnaroo and Rock the Bells had to deal with. If Geezy can not drive the 35 miles to a DC show than none of us should be informed about DC shows! BTW Matt Davis missed you at the last Noise in the Basement presentation. I caught Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears at the Rock n Roll Hotel on H street NE in DC last year and had a blast. I love Bmore, but the promoters need to step up their game.

@Adam -- I remember someone saying that Joe Lewis show was awesome. I think I was in DC the same night but had to review another show, like Black Eyed Peas or something. I'm definitely gonna catch Joe Lewis the next time he's around.

Interesting, I wasn’t going to say anything but the constant linking of every third word in the blog in really annoying.

Look at the above post, 7 links in 1 paragraph?! Is that really necessary? Seems like a weak effort to raise traffic, google ranking, and page views to keep the banner ad folks happy. Though it’s not as bad as those Week in Review posts that are clearly a ‘steaming pile of traffic bait’

In regards to Facebook, if a friend shares one of you posts on his wall and I comment ‘the blog has gotten really bad’ does that count as traffic?

Terps vs. VT tickets Thursday, sorry won't be meeting you.

I was at that Joe Lewis show. It was great. The RnR isn't a great venue when crowded though.

What's the link to the Facebook page?

Hey Sam haha that was me that made that comment haha I'm surprised you remember but glad it caught your eye they are a great band certainly worth checking out.

@ Sam

Black Eyed Peas!!?? Worst! My first intro to Black Joe Lewis was from Brad Selko and the Hot August Blues Festival. I had to catch them after the little I heard. Hope they get back here sooner than later. Great seeing ya check in.

@Adam -- I mean, the Black Eyed Peas are what they are. You pretty much know what you're getting into, and they know how to put on a show.

Also, Brad Selko's one cool dude.

Who the hell is Sam Sessa???

Exactly.

Stern played a little of Lauryn Hill "performance" in NYC on his show yesterday. She showed up 3 hours late, and walked off early before announcing to the crowd she was finished playing any of her "old stuff". Village Voice said she now resembles a "homeless Shirley Hemphill". Do you think the organizers of Coachella are counting on her to even post?

Hey Sam,

You're right on both fronts regarding the B.E Peas. Pop music has it's place. You know exactly what to expect. I worked with Brad on the Sowebofestival as well as HOB. He's a true voice of reason that got me through a lot of grinding production meetings. C-ya around.