Let’s start: The musicians you don’t know will bore you to death. Maybe you’ve been dragged to the show of a random band and were totally blown away. It’s happened to me! Maybe three whole times, across my entire life. But from a probability standpoint, any given stage will contain far more charisma-deficit oafs capably playing songs you have no emotional connection to, with harmonies that make you pinch your own arm for fun, and with sound run by a guy who is probably preoccupied by a flamewar he started on the local sound-guy messageboard. And you will watch all of this while having a stranger’s entire beer spilled on you. There is no target audience for Dude In Hat Spilling An Entire Beer On You, and yet that’s what we built this entire discipline of art upon.
ok-cleek
I guess I could use some rearranging
Nonsense. All of it. Cleek, check out my favorite local act “Herzog” their latest release “Boys” is magnificent. Noisy power pop. I think you’ll like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVYcS5Urz3Y
i can’t argue with the complaints about sound guys and obnoxious crowds and headliners that don’t start until 11:00.
BRB, kids on my lawn again.
—
yeah. i like them. good stuuf
stuuf.
my new favorite word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6gFNOYXlk
another.
damn, that lead singer’s got a fast strummin hand!
really like this one.
Get hold of the newest record, it’s pretty darn good.
As far as the article goes, I have seen hundreds (thousands?) of live shows and I don’t agree at all. Sure, you’re gonna run into some crappy audience members but that’s not enough to indict the entire experience. I’ve been to plenty of shows where the sound wasn’t perfect…but again i wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Sounds to me like the author is just another spoilt brat who complains if everything isn’t perfect. Would I love to see Built to Spill (or insert the name of *any* band here) in a room of 20 like-minded individuals, with perfect sound, sightlines and free beer? Sure I would, but I’ll “settle” for them in a room of 300 with good sound, cheap beer and reduced sightlines. Why? Because the magic they make at that moment in time can’t be duplicated. Also, sharing that magic with your friends and loved ones is its own reward.
I, for one, won’t mind if that guy doesn’t show up to any of the shows I go to…a little more room for me!
(I’m with you on the 11:00 headliner thing–unless it’s on the weekend or at a festival) It’s a lot harder to get me to a Monday night show than it was when I was 22!