Courtesy of Shwaz, the St. Augustine Record reported the other day that St. Augustine's recent passage of a Human Rights Ordinance played a huge role in the city landing a stop on the Gentlemen of the Road tour, a major two-day concert featuring Mumford & Sons and various other bands.
The tour's planner Mike Luba approached St. Augustine about their capability of hosting such a large concert, and was impressed with the town's history. "More important", however, Luba needed to make sure the community "fit ideologically with the band members' personal values". According to City Manager John Regan, the fact that St. Augustine has passed an ordinance protecting people from housing discrimination based on their sexual orientation "rang very heavy in [Luba's] decision" to select St. Augustine.
The concert will be the first ever Florida appearance for the hugely popular Mumford & Sons. It will draw a crowd of 25,000 and is expected to contribute around $5 million to the local economy. Considering how heavily the Human Rights Ordinance played into the decision, Jacksonville would have been knocked out of the running after the first conference call thanks to the decisions of our City Council and Mayor Alvin Brown. Just another example of the types of cultural and economic opportunities that will pass us by thanks to our leadership.
Let's make sure they hear about it.
From Stuart Korfhage at the St. Augustine Record.
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-09-07/one-email-started-mumford-mania#.UjDRq3_yB8F
Just looking at a comment that seems to have credibility from the St Augustine Record. Just putting it out there.
The reason St Aug was approached is that the band Dawes toured with Mumford for about a year and recommended our city to them. Dawes has family here and vacation often. (you might remember Dawes as they played the Amphitheater twice, with Bob Dylan and Allison Krauss)
So while Jax definitely should have passed the law on giving everyone their rights, regardless of sexual orientation, I kinda have my doubts that this is Mumford/St Auggie connection is 'Exhibit A' on why Jax didn't have this concert here. Again, Jax should have passed that equal rights law.
I agree. I highly doubt that is the main reason they came to St. Augustine... I would imagine it had a lot more to do with the town's unique history/appeal and ability to house and feed a large amount of people coming in to see the show.
Quote from: I-10east on September 11, 2013, 10:42:44 PM
Just looking at a comment that seems to have credibility from the St Augustine Record. Just putting it out there.
The reason St Aug was approached is that the band Dawes toured with Mumford for about a year and recommended our city to them. Dawes has family here and vacation often. (you might remember Dawes as they played the Amphitheater twice, with Bob Dylan and Allison Krauss)
So while Jax definitely should have passed the law on giving everyone their rights, regardless of sexual orientation, I kinda have my doubts that this is Mumford/St Auggie connection is 'Exhibit A' on why Jax didn't have this concert here. Again, Jax should have passed that equal rights law.
I didn't say it was (in fact, I said it wasn't). The point is, St. Augustine having the ordinance "rang very heavy" in landing this event. We would have been passed over pretty quickly, and we can look forward to more of the same in the future.
Quote from: acme54321 on September 12, 2013, 07:18:04 AM
I agree. I highly doubt that is the main reason they came to St. Augustine... I would imagine it had a lot more to do with the town's unique history/appeal and ability to house and feed a large amount of people coming in to see the show.
There are dozens or hundreds of towns that fit that bill that weren't chosen. St. Augustine
was chosen and we have the City Manager himself telling us that the ordinance is one of the major reasons. I don't know how the writing on the wall could be clearer.