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Tuba lovers find a venue too late By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Southern Oregon's heaviest brass concert band won't be oompah-ing through "Jingle Bells" next month after efforts to find a venue for the annual holiday tuba-only show fell flat Monday. Despite an 11th-hour push by the Rogue Valley Manor to host the Southern Oregon Heavy Metal Music Society, the society on Monday canceled its Dec. 8 concert after failing to find a free location. "We're out of luck this year, but that's life," said Ashland musician Mike Knox, one of as many as 60 tuba blowers in the society. "I'm a little bummed that the kids won't get a chance to hear us. But there will be a next year." The society is made up of tuba players from Southern Oregon and Northern California who get together for one annual concert as a fun way to highlight what society members consider the hidden musical magic of tubas. For the past decade, the Rogue Valley Mall has played host to the Heavy Metal Music Society and its assorted groupies for a 90-minute melody of Christmas carols. But complaints from mall merchants over the noise of the tuba show and other concerts enticed mall managers to ban all instrumental acts in the mall this year. That left the tuba players in a lurch. With a need for spacious quarters with an acoustically forgiving ceiling yet no rental fees, the society could not drum up a new venue. "Three churches came forward, but nothing that's been offered to us was big enough," Knox said. That almost changed Monday, when Rogue Valley Manor administrator Kevin McLoughlin was able to pull some strings so the tuba players - who include two Manor residents - could perform for free Dec. 15 at the Manor's Skyline Plaza. But McLoughlin was unable to swing the deal in time. He notified the society that the concert was a go Monday about 90 minutes after the group mailed about 100 newsletters announcing the cancellation. The tuba-maniacs may still hook up with the Manor for a concert next Christmas, McLoughlin said. "We're not giving up," Knox said. "There's always next year." Despite ending up with nowhere to go and blow, the society did generate a little Andy Warhol-ish attention. Knox, and his tuba-playing son Eric Knox, both played to critical acclaim on various radio talk shows last week as far east as Kansas City. "I was a little worried they were going to make fun of us, but they were legit," Mike Knox said. "It was at least one minute of my 15 minutes of fame. "And I got 14 more to go," he said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.