Friday, August 31, 2007

Dive In


It's almost become a cliche to even have to point out the fact that CBGB's has been an institution not only of New York City and their music scene, but as a beacon point for bands and other venues around the country that have popped up since.

We can thank Hilly Kristal for that. He passed away on Tuesday at age 75. Kristal is proof that punk rock can and indeed did live on, but this entry is less about his impressive life and more about the general drive and motivation this man had towards his venue and the ghosts of bands who've graced the stage.

I spent a summer in New York City, spending most of my evenings after work doing the grand tour of all the great NYC venues: Webster Hall, Irving Plaza, Knitting Factory, Bowery Ballroom, Nokia Theatre, etc. So what was it about this venue, this relatively small venue that just so happens to be where you turn a corner off of of the 6 train stop, that made it a huge staple of the scene? Unfortunately, I wasn't born until 1986, so the odds were kind of against me as far as being involved in the original punk rock scene, but there was an eerie aura around the building, even against the chaos of the city. During my summer there I was determined to go to a show there, as it had already been announced that it would be moving to Las Vegas the following September. I forced myself to go to a ska show (yeah, I know) near the end of my stay there. Inside it looked no different than any other hole in the wall club here in Phoenix. Its walls were covered in stickers and probably sexually transmitted diseases. It's stage was high and narrow and its backstage extended awkwardly far back and accessible enough that I popped back to grab a few shots. I didn't go into the bathrooms, but use your imagination. The acoustics were awkward and the lighting so so, it just seemed like a place where you'd see any high school local band play on a Wednesday night to their parents and a handful of classmates. It was a dive, plain and simple.

But more than just its appearance was what it meant to these bands, not only the building itself but Hilly and whoever was involved in booking and taking care of bands such as Blondie, The Ramones and Patti Smith. It was obvious that this venue was created out of love, and sustained as long as it did because of the people who supported it. Our music scene in Arizona is still pretty young, going on a rollercoaster of momentum for a while now, changing bands and trends and more importantly : venues. Currently we have quite a few to choose from, a few 3000-4000 person venues, a couple 400-600 and a handful of 100-250 capacity art galleries and venues throughout the Valley, not to mention the arenas and concert pavilions. In the grand scheme of the music scene, things are really good right now and if you have the means and a good enough bill, you can put on a successful show at a decent venue. However, when I talk to people who have been around for a while, at least within the last 10 years, everyone keeps bringing up how much they miss The Nile. The Nile was a venue in Mesa that held around 1,000 people in their main room and as far as notoriety and ambiance, could be called the CBGB's of Phoenix. Jimmy Eat World even asked if anyone had seen them there at their last show. I get starry eyed just thinking about the nights where we'd round the Loop 202 and wait in line several hours before the show began to get prime spots and spend the night transferring between the floor and drinking water out of the sinks in the bathroom (you try going to a concert in AZ) It had stickers on the walls, the stage was too high an the acoustics were terrible, but The Nile gave a home to local bands and national bands that made it big, made contacts within the venue to make other bands to make it big, and was our very own beacon point and institution.

Aside from the lights and glare of all the hype with a place like The Nile and especially CBGB's, you just have to step back and look at it as more than just a room and a soundboard. The Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith and Jimmy Eat World were all local bands once too, and they had the opportunity to play there. It may be a drag to see a band in an art gallery now, but maybe 35 years from now, people will still be talking about it and the impact it had . . . and how much the sound sucks.

Song of the Moment: Head Home - Midlake

Ticket Masters

It was reported on CMJ.com that Ticketmaster, the concert admission gods (or whores, you know whatever) themselves are in the process of deciding to renew their contract with LiveNation, one of the largest national concert promoters under the umbrella of Clear Channel. This would then probably force LiveNation to come up with their own ticketing system, making their tickets unavailable at traditional Ticketmaster retailers (Macys, Dillards, some grocery stores and college campuses) as well as online. Its unclear if this is actually going to go through, and whether or not it will only impact nationally or internationally as well.

Good idea, Ticketmaster. You planning on changing to a 100% service charge to make up the difference when you go bankrupt?

I'm in no way advocating LiveNation here. It's widely known that they monopolize several large markets as far as concerts, grabbing hold on everything from huge artists like John Mayer and Tom Petty as well as festivals such as Warped Tour and the recent Projekt Revolution tour. In some markets, they are THE promoter, and the loss that Ticketmaster will incur in the first stages will be astounding. Not only in ticket sales but the fact that the House of Blues venue chain is owned by Live Nation. I mean, obviously I'm not in the board room here, I don't have a calculator out crunching the numbers in respect to what the contract outlines, so maybe it is for the best, but the effect on the music industry could be catastrophic. That, or it would free LiveNation and other promoters who may follow suit from having to pay ticketmaster a percentage of their revenue and make some of their own tickets, the flaw being that a large percentage of average concert goers might not know where to go other than Macy's for ticketmaster.

It got me thinking about the scene in Phoenix, specifically. We are an interesting market in that LiveNation, while probably making a large profit, isn't our biggest promoter. They'll front the cost of some of the larger venues and artists with bigger guarantees, but we also have two large independent promoters, Luckyman Productions and Stateside Presents. Each promoter has their niche, Luckyman bringin' in the pop punk bands, metal and pop rock while Stateside has cornered the indie rock genre, ranging from smaller folk acts like Okkervil River and Midlake to massive shows like The Shins and Modest Mouse. On top of that we have a handful of smaller independent promoters who bring mid-level bands to smaller venues. Live Nation doesn't even stand a chance with what I assume are complicated contracts as versus dealing with promoters who are more ingrained into the scene, not to mention that they don't own any of the venues out here. I'm not sure about other markets, and while I have my own qualms with promoters such as Luckyman (moreso their treatment of local bands, but thats another post), I can't help but be a little thankful that we don't have this monopoly. and that there are options to have more flexible ticket prices, albeit still with that pesky convenience charge (seriously, I'll go behind the counter and print them myself )

Its hard to say what kind of affect this is going to have on specific markets and LiveNation as a whole, but hoepfully this might encourage more Luckyman Productions and Stateside Presents to pop up, make their own rules and damn the 'master. Hell, maybe LiveNation might even do it themselves.

Song of the Moment : Big Casino - Jimmy Eat World

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Can You Still Feel the Butterflies?

There were a couple really good things I was going to write about today, one of which involving Ticketmaster severing their relationship with LiveNation (can we say, bankrupt?), and a couple other nuggets such as tour announcements, DMX's home search, etc etc etc, but all that came to a halt when I saw the following story on www.jimmyeatworld.com:
"it has been a while since i listened to the mixes of our new album. the verdict: still very proud of it and excited to get it OUT THERE. so...

tomorrow. tuesday, august 28th our first single "Big Casino" will be availible digitally. it will also be serviced to radio so don't be suprised to hear new jimmy eat world on the radio.
jim"
Yes, that is Jim himself (although not the namesake of the band, thats a long and nerdy story and the fact that I know it makes me a huge geek) I've been a big ball of nerves ever since the album release was pushed to October, so I was well overdue for this fix. I waited until 12AM east coast time and logged into my iTunes to download the first single from their forthcoming album "Chase This Light", "Big Casino" . I had heard them play the song at their most recent Arizona show, so I was familiar, but hearing it through my iTunes (over and over...and over) made it all the more real. It's hard to believe that a band as established as Jimmy would have to prove themselves anymore, but I feel like with every record they put out, there is a huge amount of doubt from either side of the spectrum: the super fans and the haphazard ones. I know several people who were disappointed with "Futures" , which is beyond me. Of course I see the cathartic necessity for an album like "Clarity", but is that how they will always be defined? Its an amazing record and there would be several bands who wouldn't exist now without it, but whos to say this new record won't do the same for a new generation?

People are so quick to be hip by not liking things, but my god, this single is just plain good. Does it sound like Clarity? Not really. Does it sound like Futures? I dunno, maybe. But I feel like a band, especially one as defined as Jimmy shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone, and can redefine themselves in whatever way they see fit. What was cathartic about Clairty in the 90s might not translate to Chase this Light in 2007, its all in how it speaks to you, and that goes for any band, not just Jimmy. If the first single is this good (typically the labels don't release the best best best song until a few months in to keep up momentum), then I can't wait to hear the rest of the record.

On a more personal level, I haven't been this excited about an album in a very long time. I get shifty and super excited and squealy just thinking about it, and I get extra nervous knowing I only get one peek at it. However, I'm thankful to still feel those feelings at all anymore when it comes to new music from old hats. If it isn't Jimmy Eat World for you, I hope there's something else that gets you this excited, too.

Song of the Day : Books Don't Make Good Covers - Alaska and Me

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Sunday SUNDAY Sunday

Since we're just starting out here, I'm going to go ahead and start a Sunday night tradition of letting you fine folks know what's going on this week in music, be it new releases, good local shows to check out (if you're in AZ, respectively) and other applicable information. I'll probably think of some catchy title for it, but for now, we'll do what any pretentious rock and roll kid would do and title it "UNTITLED" (dun dun duuuuuunnnnn) Now granted, this is all my opinion of what I think are probably good bets either for myself or what I hear the kids talkin' about, but I'm sure you have your own as well, so feel free to leave them in the comments.

New CD Releases for 8/28/07

from www.hoodlumsmusic.com
  • Aesop Rock : None Shall Pass
  • Atreyu: Classic in My Way
  • Ben Harper : Lifeline
  • The Honorary Title : Scream and Light Up the Sky
  • Emily King : East Side Story
  • Liars : Liars
  • Scary Kids Scaring Kids : Scary Kids Scaring Kids
  • Toots & The Maytals: Light Your Light
  • VHS or Beta : Bring on the Comets
Shows this Week (in the greater Phoenix metro area)
from www.silverplatter.info
  • 8/27
    • Marilyn Manson and Slayer @ Cricket Pavillion
  • 8/28
    • ASU Art Museum Welcome Back show f/Kinch @ ASU Art Museum
    • Real McKenzie's @ The Clubhouse
  • 8/29
    • Colorstore, Treasure Mammal and Soft Shoulder @ Modified Arts
    • The site also says that The Weakerthans is playing, but that's a dirty dirty lie. It's not until September, so don't get too excited, EH?! (get it...Weakerthans...Canada)
    • What Laura Says Thinks and Feels @ Last Exit
  • 8/30
    • Sweet Bleeders and Subterranean Jazz @ Rhythm Room
    • Dorsey @ Last Exit
    • Legendary Shack Shakers @ Club Red
  • 8/31
    • Okkervil River and The Via Maris @ The Brickhouse
    • Andrew Jackson Jihad CD release w/Kind of Like Spitting and more @ Trunkspace
    • Skybox w/What Laura Says Thinks and Feels @ The Sets
    • Soulfly @ Marquee Theatre (yeah, I just thought it was funny)
    • The Summer Set @ OnePlace
  • 9/1
    • Cartel w/Nightmare of You and Weatherbox @ Marquee Theatre
    • The Scenic Line w/Constellation Branch @ Rhythm Room
Other Points of Interest
  • What Laura Says Thinks and Feels on Good Morning Arizona 7AM Monday 8/27
  • New Times ASU Concert Series @ Memorial Union, Arizona State
Now get off the internet and go find some music.

No Seriously, Rap Rock Still Isn't Ironic. Or good.

So being an insomniac allows for some really great late night television viewing. I typically just park my remote on MTV and watch marathons of Exposed. Not only is it great for late night programming, but it's also great for trashy commercials ("Call us at 999-Love and talk to a real female today!"....not all of us are 45 year old single men, we just can't sleep)

That being said, I saw a low budget commercial for local band Kottonmouth Kings and their CD/DVD that is available. It seemed like a bad car audio commercial, with some sweet flash animation and lots of fish-eye view shots. A great moment is when they are openly bragging (or shamefully admitting, depending on how you look at it) that the album features collaborations with Tech-9 and of all bands, Insane Clown Posse. However, my favorite part when they mentioned the DVD, which features "the music video banned from all major music networks."

Is that just code for "they took one look at us and threw it in the trash"?

I mean seriously, look at these dudes. Sideways caps : yup, definitely still not cool.


Yeah, I'm sure it was your singer's stupid mask that was really controversial. It probably had nothing to do with the fact that rap rock died 6 years ago. Keep fightin' the man, homies. See you on cable access.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

"We're Forced to Assume Our Contestants Participation is Strictly Ironic"

First, due to popular demand, I changed the background color to make it easier to read. You're welcome, all 3 of you.

In the spirit of the weekend, tonight is just a quick video that I'm pretty much obsessed with now. The fact that I enjoy it means that it remains ironic...right? My god, this whole video is so dead on, its scary. I wish I thought of it first.

Hipster Olympics


Song of the Moment: The Great American Smokeout - The Snake The Cross The Crown

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Everyone's in the Parking Lot

I have been to a lot of shows in my life. My very first was Five Iron Frenzy at Phoenix First Baptist Church when I was 11 years old, and I have continued to attend regularly since. In high school, I was only allowed to go if it was a) A weekend night and B) If my brother was going. As I recall it was because it was "different for girls" and I, being a girl, wouldn't be able to handle it without his watchful eye. Looking back, I'm not sure how much trouble I could have gotten into at a New Found Glory show, but hey, it was understandable, not to mention that this part of the story is totally irrelevant to the point of my post here.

Now typically, as I only had so many resources to find music without the glorious entry of MySpace, I was there to see bigger bands who were the ones headlining. In usual fan girl fashion, I was always there early, clutching my disposable camera and making sure I had ample time for teeshirt buying, bathroom going and prime spot taking. (were any of us ever so young?) Id sit anxiously awaiting (insert pop punk band here), talking about how (insert probably better band here) opening "like OMG sucks" just because it was the cool thing to say. I re-established my punk rockness and didn't waste my mosh pitting skills for some opening band.

Now that I'm 21, have my own car and my own opinions (fancy that) the thing that's changed is showing up fashionably late as opposed to just openly ignoring opening bands. That way you avoid the awkward "in between set" conversation and/or if you end up going alone, theres less idle time, more rocking time.

Which brings me to Sunday. I was sitting at my desk, trying to convince myself that I wasn't going to have to go to school the next day. I took the time in which I should have been looking over my schedule to instead look up at my ever growing bulletin board of memorabilia...show flyers...signed things that do me no good....stickers, playbills, etc., not to mention a stupid amount of ticket stubs. My eyes fell on a ticket to a show for The Long Winters last fall. I remember showing up a little late, being irritated that underage kids were barricaded off to the side, not paying any attention to the bands who opened but instead gawking like a 14 year old girl at the fact that members of The Format were in the crowd. So it goes. I took another look at the ticket and noticed the opening acts listed. "Menomena" and "What Made Milwaukee Famous". It was at that moment I openly said "good god, I suck!" Those two bands just so happen to be two of my favorites, rotating frequently through my iPod. What if I had just paid a little more attention or gotten there a little earlier? This forced me to look through some of my old show flyers, thinking back to when we put on a show in high school that featured Scary Kids Scaring Kids that drew around 200 people, a band that is now signed to RCA records and playing to sold out crowds. How many bands have I seen that I wasn't paying attention to that maybe are some of my favorites? I've attended SXSW and CMJ respectively, and I don't even want to begin to think about who I might have missed there, so I'm not going to try.

Maybe there's something to be said about those opening bands and the general audience approach to them. Let's try not to shut ourselves out or be fashionably late anymore (we all know we're not all that fashionable anyway, am I right?) Come inside, uncross your arms, open your ears and experience something new. And if they actually do suck, you'll get a good laugh.

Song of the Moment: Let's face it. I'm watching High School Musical 2.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Para-Music Television



It's not news that MTV hasn't involved much of the "M" in a while. Now of course, I love The Hills as much as anyone (I wish I was kidding) but its been a longstanding joke of the industry that you're never going to get video play because they never show videos earlier than 2AM.


That's why I was caught off guard when last Monday I kept hearing the band Paramore between the shows and during the commercials. It wasn't just once or twice, it was every single break and even existing commercials that had had other bed music previously. They had filmed special acoustic sets (in the forest...still not sure why) and even had band interviews and live footage collaged in the ads for their programming. Now this was pre-school starting and during the summer I miraculously manage to watch MTV pretty much all day if I'm home, so after about 7 hours, I found myself wondering what they were up to. I mentioned it to my roommate and how I figured it would make me hate them, but in fact, I found myself
singing along and even to myself at certain points. For a long time I've believed in saturation when it comes to marketing a band, making sure everyone knows their name and they are constantly a point of discussion, but how much is too much? It almost felt like reverse subliminal messaging, reverse in the sense that it was completely and totally shameless.

I wasn't the only one who noticed this new "artists of the week" approach, and I find it almost a little sad that it should even cause any controversy at all that MTV is playing more music and openly recognizing bands as versus some faceless music supervision. Some people were left wondering "okay, so how much are they getting paid to play this all day?" I'm not going to make any speculation of payola, but is it possible that MTV is featuring them out of the sheer desire to
play more music? Here they are, taking this very hot and upcoming band and interacting them with their viewers, not only with the music but by introducing them as people and yet something STILL feels funny about it. They've since moved on to another new artist of the week, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and now I've found myself fascinated to find out who will be next or why these artists in particular are chosen. I'd almost rather have several bands they feature and open things up a little more, but maybe they have the right idea. Maybe you just have to keep slapping people in the face with something to get them to listen. In this day and age where music is almost TOO accessible, maybe it's time that these bands are featured as people and artists and instead of, 'oh, well I haven't really listened to them', they're making it easy for you.

However, if by next week the featured artist is Nickelback, someone deserves a swift punch to the crotch.

Song of the Moment: "Lessons Learned" by Band of Annuals
www.myspace.com/bandofannuals

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Truths in Words and Rhymes and Notes and All The Things I Wish I Wrote

"It's just a shame you missed out on rock and roll. It's over"
"It's over?"
"It's over. You got here just in time for the death rattle. Last gasp. Last grope."
"At least I'm here for that."

Yeah, I know, count on the emo kid to quote Almost Famous. What might be more cliche than quoting that movie for a music fan might be starting a music blog. It seems nowadays everyone has found a way to utilize their passion for music, be it starting a band, shooting show photography, sound engineering, club DJing, tight pants wearing, you know, the usual. So what does a 21-year-old girl from Arizona who grew up on punk rock, has no songwriting ability whatsoever and who dances like your grandmother do to live vicariously through music? Well considering I'm entering my fourth year of so called higher education, parading as a journalist and own my very own copy of the AP style book, I figured I'd take what I've learned and throw it towards trashy tabloid music journalism. I've spent the last three years writing hypothetical press kits on pretend clients, faux feature stories on house fires and other forms of journalism with actual substance, but really, I just want to write about this weeks releases and last night's show. Take that, Walter Cronkite, I want to talk rock-n-roll, thank you very much.

Not only am I "the enemy" (as
Almost Famous called rock journalists) but somehow, somewhere between drawing anarchy symbols on my binder and voluntarily listening to ska music, I became "the man". On the surface I am everything that is wrong with music. I am a radio DJ, making you listen to music I choose. I plan concerts, again making you listen and watch music I choose. I've dabbled in band management, producing a rock doc(umentary) and yes, I own more than one Dashboard Confessional CD. The icing on the cake is that I currently hold a business card as an employee of a major family of record labels. Yup, I'm THAT girl. I own a copy of "This Business of Music", subscribe to trade magazines and keep a close watch on release dates and tour announcements. I have a messenger bag full of stickers and postcards and sampler CDs just waiting for the consumers to consume at any opportunity. Like I said, on the surface, it seems like I'm everything I used to feel was wrong about the music industry. But maybe, I'm doing everything right.

Thats what brings me here. I'm not going to pretend that my experience and swoopy emo bangs somehow warrant me the right to come here on my soapbox and tell you what you want to hear about music. That's what my jobs are for. I'm here to dissect what it is that I've learned and try to figure out how to make the wrong the right. Don't get me wrong, I love my jobs, my bosses, the artists I've worked for and everything involved, but I know there has to be more to what I'm doing than stickers and tape. I made it my goal when I was 16 years old that I wanted to tell the world why I love music, so here I am. Since 16, I've moved on to not only telling people why I love music, but why they should love music and how to make music and make it work. I feel like I owe the bands I've worked with that much. I owe myself that much to take what I've learned and try to change things, and I guess the first step is recognizing them. I'm not going to go in great detail on everything that goes on, but just enough to keep you educated as well as myself on what works and what doesn't and what I feel makes great music. Because after all, that's what it all comes down to: Great music and the great people who make it.

Cheers.

Song of the Moment: "On a Freezing Chicago Street" by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
www.myspace.com/margotandthenuclearsoandsos