Video: North Carolina advances to NIT semifinals over UAB.
Basketball season has ended for the state of Alabama. UAB lost its quarterfinal match to the defending national champion, North Carolina, 60-55. The Blazers ended the season Tuesday with a 25-9 record in front of a sellout crowd at home.
Birmingham News: Game summary
Also:
The original Five Points Music Hall made it 8 years. The new one didn’t make it 8 months.
Wade on Birmingham has learned that a Five Points Music Hall manager or owner has cleared out its tables and alcohol Tuesday night from its Southside location. No word as to what happened or what’s next for the space. The Web site lists shows for this weekend and April.
Five Points Music Hall re-opened in July, after the previous tenant Banana Joe’s closed in 2008 following a double homicide in the club’s parking lot.
Also:
Hat tip and photo credit: Eric McGinty of Birmingham band Avery Ellis Exhibits.
UAB defeats North Carolina State.
The UAB men’s basketball team defeated North Carolina State on Saturday at home, 72-52, in the second round of the NIT.
The Blazers face the 2009 champions, the Tarheels of North Carolina, at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bartow Arena. The game will be available on ESPN and streaming audio. Tickets are $15 and available online; sales were moving briskly on Sunday.
Update March 22: The game is sold out.
The Samford women’s team lost its second-round NIT game to Missouri State on Sunday, 75-54. The Bulldogs finished 23-11, tying the school record for wins in a season.
Also:
Photo: UAB Sports
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The lineup is complete for Birmingham’s sole music festival. According to the official site, the lineup for the 2010 Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil will be …
April 30
May 1
Tickets go on sale Friday through TicketMaster; prices to be added. $35 for a two-day pass or $20 for one day.
The festival takes place next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex [satellite view].
Video: “Beautiful,” Akon,
featuring Colby O’Donis, Kardinal Offishall
Video: “Whatcha Say,” Jason Derülo
Video: “Shimmer,” Fuel
Video: “Slide,” Goo Goo Dolls
Video: “So Much Love,” The Rocket Summer
Video: “Down,” Jay Sean, featuring Lil Wayne
Video: “Gasoline,” Seether
Video: “Santa Monica,” Theory of a Deadman
Video: “Hey, Soul Sister,” Train
• • •
Send us your news tips.
Men’s basketball
UAB defeated Coastal Carolina 65-49 Tuesday at home, sending them to the second round of the NIT. The Blazers play North Carolina State at 4 today in Bartow Arena. [game audio]
Meanwhile, Troy lost its opening round game to Ole Miss Wednesday, 84-65.
Women’s basketball
Samford had better luck against its Ole Miss counterparts, winning in the last 5 seconds 66-65 at home. The Bulldogs travel to Missouri State for their second-round NIT match, playing at 2 p.m. Sunday. The game will be available on WVSU (91.1 FM) and through the station’s online stream.
Also:
The Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil has let slip another act for the 2010 lineup: the B-52s. The Athens, Ga., band is best known for its quirky rock hits “Rock Lobster” and “Love Shack.”
The B-52s will play April 30 May 1. The two-day music festival previously announced its first act, Alice in Chains.
Update: The Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis also lists the B-52s for that same night. That might mean that the B-52s aren’t scheduled to play at the Crawfish Festival until May 1, or not at all.
Update March 18: Confirmed. Despite the mock-up graphic above, the B-52s will play at 6:20 p.m. May 1.
The festival takes place April 30 and May 1 next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex [satellite view]. No word on ticket prices yet.
Video: “Rock Lobster,” The B-52s
• • •
Send us your news tips.
Video: “Man in the Box,” Alice in Chains
The Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil, perhaps the last music festival in Birmingham, has announced its first act: Seattle hard rock band Alice in Chains.
The 2010 event will be three days instead of two days in 2009, April 30-May 2 April 30 and May 1, (updated to reflect change on official Web site) next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex [satellite view]. Ticket prices have not been announced.
• • •
Send us your news tips.
The Blazers have pulled off the seemingly impossible: They’re the only men’s college basketball team from Alabama playing in a post-season tournament.
Update: As Jeff pointed out in the comments, Troy is also headed to the NIT, playing Ole Miss in Oxford at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Our thanks to him.
In 2009, Alabama State lost in the NCAA tournament play-in game. This year, zero teams from the state are in the Big Dance. The lone bright spots are Troy and UAB in the National Invitational Tournament. UAB plays at home against Coastal Carolina 7 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $15. No broadcast information is available.
The 2009 NIT tourney invited UAB and Auburn, which fired coach Jeff Lebo after 6 years and a 96-93 record.
The NCAA women’s tournament teams will be announced tonight.
Update: No state women’s teams are headed to the NCAA tournament. Instead, Ole Miss will play at Samford in the first round Thursday in the NIT’s first 64-team tourney.
Larry Langford will spend the next 15 years in prison.
The former Birmingham mayor was convicted in October on 60 counts of bribery, conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler handed down the sentence this morning in Tuscaloosa. Langford owes $120,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $242,000 in forfeiture.
At the sentencing, Langford told Coogler, “I am sorry all of this has occurred.”
He also faces 3 years supervised release after his prison term. Langford had faced up to 30 years possible sentence. He would be eligible for early release after approximately 12 years and 9 months in prison.
Langford is ordered to report for prison on noon April 5. Until then, he will wear an electronic ankle bracelet, report twice a week to a probation officer and must remain within Jefferson County. Langford plans to file an appeal.
Langford, elected in 2007, entered office under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for his role in providing bond business during his service on the Jefferson County Commission.
Also convicted in the scheme were Langford’s friends Bill Blount and Al LaPierre, who were sentenced to 52 months and 48 months in prison last week.
Carole Smitherman, president of the city council, became interim mayor, until succeeded by new council president Roderick Royal in November. William Bell became mayor in January following a special election and runoff.
Updates to follow.
• • •
Complete coverage: The trial of Larry Langford from Wade on Birmingham.
Illustration by Herman Henderson
Larry Langford’s friend Bill Blount will be in prison for 52 months.
Larry Langford’s other friend Al LaPierre will be in prison for 48 months.
Both were sentenced Friday in Tuscaloosa by U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler. Both had testified against their friend Langford during his federal trial in October.
He faces his sentencing on Friday in Tuscaloosa. Langford, who was convicted on 60 counts of bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and fraud, faces up to 30 years in prison.
Not surprisingly, prosecutors are asking for the 30-year sentence plus more than $360,000 in fines ($241,843 in forfeiture and $119,985 in restitution). Langford’s defense attorney expects the worst, likening a long sentence for his 63-year-old client to a “death sentence.”
We’ll have Coogler’s decision on the sentence Friday on Wade on Birmingham.
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Complete coverage: The trial of Larry Langford from Wade on Birmingham.
The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival has made major moves for 2010. Its parent organization, the Alabama Moving Image Association, has filled out its event calendar, shuffled a festival and made room for two new positions. Executive director Chloe Collins shared the details via e-mail.
• Birmingham Shout, the organization’s springtime gay/lesbian film festival, will move to fall, specifically Sept. 24-26. So, both Shout and Sidewalk 2010 will take place on the same weekend in downtown Birmingham.
Collins says that the move allows for “exciting cross promotions, audience development, important interactions and a stronger focus on serving each event’s mission.
“Though the dates and footprint will be the shared, Shout and Sidewalk will be distinct events with unique marketing, community steering, volunteers, parties, events and, of course, programming. Shout will have its own venue — screening films both Saturday and Sunday — allowing patrons more opportunities and flexibility compared to last year which offered two screens on one day, forcing patrons to choose one film experience over another.”
Shout started in 2006, having grown and shrunk in its previous four runs. (Coincidentally, Sidewalk started in 1999 as a spring festival before moving to the fall the following year.) The festival’s revenues and financial health remain unclear.
Collins and other staff members will oversee Shout, while the festival’s programmer will be Billy Ray Brewton, co-founder and president of Theatre Downtown.
Two-day passes will allow entrance to both festivals. Filmmakers submitting movies with gay/lesbian themes will choose which festival or festivals to enter, rather than the programming committees. Collins added that the two festivals will work together to avoid double-programming any film.
• With the approval of the 2010 budget, Sidewalk is looking to hire a development/communications manager (a newly created staff position) and an education and outreach coordinator (a contract position).
The festival terminated the project coordinator position, most recently held by Natalie Hummel.
After the 2009 event, the organization went from a $10,000 deficit to a $20,000 surplus.
Update: Rebecca Pugh is the new development/communications manager. She previously worked as an assignment editor at NBC 13 before spending the last 3 years in a similar role at Tampa’s ABC affiliate.
• Upcoming Sidewalk events include:
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Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.
Live 100.5 is no more.
On Monday, Citadel Broadcasting switched the format for Birmingham’s WWMM from alternative to talk radio. More than 20,000 fans rallied on Facebook.
Mobile culture blog Mod Mobilian published an essay Thursday about the lessons from Live’s demise and corporate media. It is reprinted in full below with permission.
• • •
The radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools …
by Mod Vowel
“Tryin’ to anesthetize the way that you feel.”
Wow. Are we to keep learning from Birmingham’s mistakes?
This mistake can’t fully be attributed to the city though. This atrocity lies at the feet of Citadel Broadcasting, which feels that talk radio is more important than keeping Live 100.5, a Triple-A format station similar to Mobile’s 92 ZEW, on the air. The big difference between Mobile’s and Birmingham’s Triple-A stations is that 92 ZEW is locally owned and operated, the way radio should be. Before we get any further, let’s define the Triple-A format: Adult Album Alternative.
From Wikipedia:
A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established sometime during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive. The radio format has a broader, more diverse playlist than most other formats and tends to appeal more to adults than to teenagers. Less-played tracks are also common.
Musical selection tends to be on the fringe of mainstream pop and rock as well as many other music genres, such as indie rock, alternative rock, jazz, folk and blues. The musical selections tend to shy away from hard rock and rap music. Some Triple-A stations bill themselves under such slogans as “World Class Rock,” “Quality Rock” or “Finest Rock.” Music selection also includes tracks from albums that are not singles, which leads to the enhanced and larger playlist.”
Basically, Triple-A is radio for educated music lovers. The music lover that cannot stand Creed or Nickelback (or as I hear some people call it, 3 Puddles of Creedleback). This includes music snobs as well. The demographic generally encompasses 25- to 54-year-old listeners with a median annual income of $50,000. And if you didn’t know, radio runs on advertising sales. This is a highly coveted demographic, since these are the people that can afford to be patrons of a variety of businesses.
‘What is happening in Birmingham is tragic.
They have no other outlet
for good music in that city.’
What is happening in Birmingham is tragic. They have no other outlet for good music in that city. Live 100.5 will be flipped to a talk radio format. Outrageous, huh? Well, about 15,000 people agree this is outrageous.
The “Save Live 100.5” Facebook group, which was started by a fella who advertises on Live’s station, has more than 15,000 members as Mod Vowel types this column. With such an impressive show of support for something they all love, you think the suits at Citadel would think differently about their decision. No, no, my friends. Talk is cheap. Birmingham will get more talk radio on the FM dial.
“I don’t know if I’ll be back,” host Scott Register said near the end of his show. “I do know that I’ll probably be the last human voice you’ll hear on Live 100.5.”
Live 100.5 going away means more than just a high quality radio station disappearing from the airwaves. It means high quality programs like “Reg’s Coffee House” leaving as well.
Reg is one of the last tastemakers in the country. And he has his finger on the pulse. Many times, he has featured some of Mobile’s finest musicians on his program over the past 13 years: El Cantador, Eliot Morris and Will Kimbrough, just to name a few. The only other place you can hear those artists getting airplay? The last Triple-A station in the state, 92 Zew.
Live did what 92 Zew does which is what radio should do: Reflect the community. Zew has survived two “funerals.” But Mobile’s overwhelming support of the station was the CPR it needed to come “back to life,” if you will. Also, a big part of Zew coming back to life is because it has been locally owned and operated since its inception.
Live has not been so fortunate. When you have heads of a corporation in an office in New York calling the shots, they could care less about community support. Live was not given ample time to establish a listening base some might say. But then again, 15,000-plus people are very sore it is going away. These 15,000 people support the concerts that Live brings to town, support the advertisers whether it be a independent clothing store, record store or bar/music venue.
Mod Vowel got in touch with someone who grew up listening to Birmingham radio and is now a part of Mobile’s radio scene, Emily Hayes of 92 Zew. Emily is a self-professed music snob. She has used her Facebook to help spread the word about what is happening to Live 100.5 and offered up this bit on the subject:
“I grew up listening to Birmingham radio. We had some good stations when I was a kid like 107.7 the X, which was the alternative station. Many of the folks involved with the X came back to be involved with Live, like Dave Rossi. He was program director at the X. That station broke so many bands and did great things for the community like “Live in the X Lounge,” live performances in its studios that sold a limited amount of CD’s: The proceeds went to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham.
“With people like Dave and Scott Register of ‘Reg’s Coffee House,’ there is no reason why this station would have not succeeded. People like Reg and Dave inspired me to get into radio. They shaped my musical landscape if you will. Birmingham is suffering a huge loss in my opinion. But it’s times like these that make me even more grateful to work for a mom-and-pop station vs. a company that has no idea what is happening in that market.”
Living in this digital age, it’s easier for folks in the newspaper industry to pick up on the hot topics in town. Folks over at AL.com have been following what’s happening with the demise of Live and got in touch with the group’s creator, who also is an advertiser with the station.
Jeff Tenner, who owns Soca Clothing in Homewood and advertises on the station, launched the Facebook group “Save Live 100.5!” Thursday morning.
“I’m an upset advertiser, and I’m also just an upset music fan,” Tenner told the Birmingham News. “Basically, I put my money where my mouth is.”
As far as music goes, because after all this is blog is supposed to be music oriented, we’ve learned to tough lessons from Birmingham.
After all, to quote that lovable power ballad by Cinderella: “Don’t know what you got, till it’s gone.”
Mod Vowel is the self-described crabby Mobile music blogger teetering on the brink of elitism. Or whatever.
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What are the lessons for Birmingham from this radio format change, if any? Leave a comment below.
William Bell will be the next mayor of Birmingham.
Jefferson County commissioner William Bell defeated attorney Patrick Cooper in today’s Birmingham mayoral runoff election. Bell marks the third time in a row in which the underdog mayoral candidate in Birmingham’s general election upset the leader in the runoff.
Bell received 25,354 votes, or 53.6 percent, while Cooper picked up 21,979 votes, for 46.4 percent. Voter turnout was 41 percent, much higher than in December’s general election.
Bell will succeed acting mayor and city council president Roderick Royal, who succeeded Carole Smitherman in the same capacity, who took over after former mayor Larry Langford was convicted in October in federal court.
Currently serving on the county commission, Bell previously served on the city council as its first black president and as interim mayor. He ran for mayor in 1999, 2003 and 2007. During this campaign, Bell touted selling the Birmingham Water Works for $200 million that went to school improvements, known as the Bell Plan.
Bell will serve the remaining 2 years on Langford’s term, until the next regular election in 2011.
Video: Bell’s victory speech
• • •
More Vote 2009 coverage.
It comes down to today, the runoff election to select Birmingham’s mayor for the next 2 years. After …
we are down to two finalists, Jefferson County commissioner William Bell and attorney Patrick Cooper.
Voting takes place until 7 tonight.
Where to vote: Call Jefferson County at (205) 325-5550. Or try AlabamaVotes.gov and click on “Search Your Polling Place.”
Join us tonight for election results
on Wade on Birmingham.
Remember, if you have problems at your polling place:
Additional stories:
• • •
More Vote 2009 coverage.
Birmingham mayoral candidates William Bell and Patrick Cooper have answers. At least, they did when each one took callers’ questions separately for an hour Friday on WBHM (90.3 FM) Friday.
You can hear their responses below, in case you still haven’t decided …
William Bell:
Patrick Cooper:
Also:
And last but not least, a shout out from Vacant Manifesto during a WBHM “Tapestry” interview (at the 1:45 mark) …
The runoff election takes place Tuesday. Look for results Tuesday evening on Wade on Birmingham.
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More Vote 2009 coverage.
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