As I stood in front of the stage at the Paradox, I glanced over my shoulder to count the 15 others surrounding me. While the meek audience members took interest and bobbed their heads and tapped their toes, I survived by finding humor in the fact that under the dim lights, the bassist resembled the oldest Pete from one of my favorite TV shows, The Adventures of Pete & Pete. (Remember the episodes with Iggy Pop? Man, those were classics.)I hadn't heard of any of the bands on the bill that night, but, honestly, I wasn't there so much for the music. I was there to explore the controversy surrounding the show, the so-called "Local Show," which is the Paradox's new experimental concert series.

"The Local Show is a concept that we put together to try to focus more on local bands," said Bubba Jennings, the 26-year-old promotions director for the Paradox. "We wanted to give bands who can't get shows anywhere else a place to play."

Where's the controversy in that? Well, it lies in the fact that this place to play comes with a price. Or at least, that's the rumor.

Back in August, when the Local Show began to take form, Bubba sent out a mass e-mail to many local bands who were interested in getting a show at the Paradox. That e-mail outlined the basics of how the Local Show would work.

"Before show date each band will sell 25 tickets for their show," read Bubba's e-mail.

That's what made it hit the fan. Somewhere in the middle of the Local Show's wildfire, the term "pay to play" also got spread around. Apparently, a band would have to cough up $125 (equivalent to 25 tickets for five bucks apiece) to get on one of the bills. But if the band did sell 25 tickets, like requested, but for seven bucks a pop (which the Paradox encouraged) instead of $5, it not only wouldn't have to pay $125 of its own money, but would also be making $50 up front. The idea was to cover the Paradox's expenses no matter what the turnout. (That night, for the first installment, Bubba says none of the bands actually had to pay money. They just had to do some of the "footwork," like fliering, selling their own tickets, etc.)

"The Local Show is not an attempt to try and make money," said Bubba.

So then why do it?

"We are just trying to do something wacky that we've never tried before to see if it works," said Bubba. "We've got five Local Shows booked. We're going to do these five, and then evaluate them and see how they work."

"So this is just an experiment that got blown out of proportion?" I asked.

"Yes! Exactly. That's exactly what it is," said Bubba. "Maybe this isn't a good thing, maybe this isn't going to help bands out. If it doesn't help, then we're not gonna do it anymore, we'll try to come up with something better." MEGAN SELING

megan@thestranger.com