Fugazi - Song#1

it's Fugazi, for christ sake, play it LOUD

Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus? - Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon

Little Things Matter

In these days of busy schedules, working long hours and shuttling kids around to school and sports and all the other happy horse shit, it's rare that I actually find the time to make it out to a show.  That's why I was looking forward to CT Fauxchella.  I was excited about the chance to see a bunch of local talent on one night in one place!  It was a dream come true.  I even purchased a VIP ticket...  Two in fact.  The VIP ticket was not that expensive, it was $30 as opposed to the $15 regular ticket.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am not really interested in getting my ass kissed or being catered to.  I can stand amongst the hordes of tattooed freaks (and I mean that in the most endearing way), dancing or just nodding along to the hip-hop contingent.  I can wait to purchase a nice craft beer.  Waiting actually helps me control my consumption.  I don't need much, in fact, to help me enjoy myself.  Being there listening to music and absorbing the atmosphere is pretty much reward in itself.  But, that being said, there was absolutely ZERO included in the VIP cost.  So, I paid double for a ticket for no other reason than to just get a different color wrist band.  I didn't give it a lot of thought at the time, I was just happy to be out of the house for an evening.  But now, after the fact, I can't help but feel slighted. Not that they give a shit what I think, I mean, who am I?  just some geek with a pencil and a laptop.  But really.  I'm twisted about the whole thing.  I'm on the mailing list for the production company that puts together some of these shows, and today, I saw that they are offering a VIP ticket for another show, and all I have to say to anyone who's thinking about purchasing said VIP ticket, DON'T!!!  Ultimately I think that it comes down to the fact that they really don't have their shit together yet.  They are a bunch of kids that are putting together shows, and I am not saying that with any ill will.  I'm not really criticizing them for anything more than that they're not really to the point of pulling something that ambitious off.  I enjoyed the music and really got down and shit, but I feel like a numbskull for actually paying more for no reason.  I mean, throw me a t-shirt, or a free beer or something...  anything!  a handshake, or even a priority bathroom line.  Poorly produced events leave a mark.  And that's coming from someone who generally likes the events that this particular event producer does...

Angry Samoans Live L.A. Early 80's

OutKast - Hey Ya!

To hell with you if you don't agree, but I think that in time, Outkast will be viewed as one of the most influential bands of it's era.  time will tell.

deviant behavior

There's a movement toward the idea that everyone should be honest and forthcoming at all times, that a politician should be an honorable man or woman in order to represent the people.  There's shock and horror when this truth comes out.  When the true deviance of an individual is brought into the light.  It's easy to sit at home and think "how dare they lie to us!"  We hold these people to a higher standard, and expect that they are looking out for our best interests at all times.  We forget that they are human and suffer from the same flaws and fallibilities as us.  And when it gets really vile and lewd, we think "what a monster!"  But really, what's the sense?  Is honesty really a character trait we want in our elected officials?  What would get done?  For what would the public say of any of us, if we were to have our lives scoured through, and that our every move and action should be part of public record?  I know that for one thing, I have made mistakes and have had lapses in judgement, but I'm not running for office, nor do I hold a position in public office.  What's the difference though? I want someone that I can relate to in office.  But, then again, maybe I don't.  I'm not naive enough to think that those who desire to hold office are saints, and are impervious to the pitfalls that normal citizens are subject to.  I have thoughts and feelings about what is right and just in society, as I'm sure most people do, however, how can we assume that politicians should not only acknowledge these things, but also be held to this higher standard, and actually live this life of morally superiority as opposed to moral turpitude?  Be a part of the solution by getting involved.  Know what you're talking about when you're complaining about your local elected official.  In essence, pull your head out of your ass!  We are but human, with all the good and bad that's associated with that.

pop music

I have gone many years having utter contempt for the term "pop music" because of my interpretation of what that actually means.  In my younger years, I took that to mean teeny bopper/bubble gum pop. Things that were around when I was a young man, like Tiffany, Madonna and Debbie Gibson.  Then later there were acts like New Kids On The Block.  There are some that are pop, and there is no debate.  they are pop stars and there is nothing more.  but, then there are artists that are really pop, but are categorized in a different way.  I read the novels of Nick Hornby and my views of pop music became skewed.  It made me think about what the term "pop music" really means.  In some circles the term has become a dirty word.  Certain types shun the idea, and want nothing to do with the idea of being pop.  But, if that were the case, what would the point be of creating music?  I understand that there are people out there who write music for themselves and don't give a damn if anyone listens to it, or likes it for that matter.  They have something inside that they feel that they have to get out, but realistically, 98% of people that are making music really want to make money and have fans.  And, isn't that in essence really what defines "pop" music?  The fact that its "popular"?  There is no set parameter with whom any particular music is popular with.  We classify pop music as being popular with a specific demographic, but this is absurd.  Considering that bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Beatles were all considered pop music, especially the Beatles who early on in their career were teeny bopper, bubble gum pop.  I mean, unfortunately this would put One Direction on the same playing field, which really isn't right, but only in the context of their larger body of work.  If you look at their early career, they were just as annoying as any boy band out there, but what differentiates them from the rest are the the raw facts of their progression.  That they wrote their own music, and their ability to transform and remain relevant in the face of radical change.  Not only in the music industry, but in the world.  They evolved, and embraced change.  Bob Dylan, Traffic and Pink Floyd.  All considered pop music, but all had a message.  whether it was antiestablishment or anti-war.  It was protest music that defined a generation.  Pop music needs to evolve and become relevant.

where has it all gone?

I don't want to say that there is no good music out there any more and that there will never be another time that will come close to that magical time between 1966 to 1969.  I don't want to say that there will never be another time like that of the late 80's and early 90's where there was a cultural shirt as to what pop music meant, or what it was supposed to be.  It's impossible to say that there will never be another time that will challenge the status quo, and shake us out of complacency...  There is enough turmoil and political unrest to fuel a decades worth of relevant music, but that's the problem... it's not.  While there is music that's decent enough, there is nothing out there that is really embracing what's going on in our world.  There isn't the social conscience of the 60's and there is no angst of the 90's.  There is contempt, and apathy.  It's a reflection of the state of our society that there is virtually no protest music.  It's an indictment of the youth culture that almost all of the bands and musicians are so narcissistic and nihilistic that there's no room for meaning.  Not that all music should have a deeper meaning, there is always a place on the airwaves for bubblegum pop, but it seems that that's all there is these days.  Granted, I'm old and insignificant, and continually getting older and more irrelevant, not to mention I'm not out at the rock clubs and bars the way I used to be, but I can still feel the movement of the tide.  There are rumblings i suppose, but there isn't anything worthwhile.  Where are the Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and the Beatles of our time?  Where are the Mothers of Invention?  Where's the Neil Young and Pete Seeger?  There's no real movement in the music world.  It's stagnant.  There needs to be a major overhaul of what's acceptable.  I'm tired of hearing about breakups and getting drunk at the "club".  I'm tired of hearing about nonsense.  I recognize that there is an aspect of nihilism inherent in rock and roll music, but where is the substance?  Where's the message?  I want to be a part of the next movement in a real and beneficial way.  I don't know what that will mean, but there it is.  Let's turn this shit around!  Let's make the music relevant again.  There certainly is enough fodder!

Trey Anastasio & LA Philharmonic 3/10/12 Stash

Midnight at the SFT

There is a place here in the town in which I live that has sat vacant for as long as I've been here.  I don't exactly know how long beyond that, but it's been vacant for a long time.  It once was a destination for theater lovers, and was a beacon for Shakespeare lovers.  There is a movement to get the Stratford Festival Theater back up and running, but funds need to be raised in various ways.  My thought and dream is to do weekly midnight acoustic shows for a small admission fee/donation.  I was thinking that there could be beer served by the local brewery, Two Roads, with the hope that they would contribute to the revitalization of the old girl.  I was planning on booking local acts, but not limited to Connecticut, but artists from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and anywhere close enough to want to be a part of it.  I would hope that the artists would do this for the exposure alone and that there would be limited overhead since it's acoustic and that it's realistically for benefit purposes.  Due to the nature of the facility, in that it was intended for performances of shakespeare, the acoustics are phenomenal, and would be the perfect venue to showcase the talent of the singer/songwriter.  I want to help bring back a once proud venue into the new world.  I want the shakespeare theater to be a vibrant destination for the arts.  I want it to be a place that fosters the independent spirit.

Maxwell's no more

The best rock and roll clubs are born out of  poverty and destitution.  They thrive in the area's that have little else going on.  They're cool because there is an inherent threat that lurks in the neighborhoods in which they dwell.  The bowery of the early 70's through the 80's was loaded with junkies and riddled with crime and inhabited by miscreants and monsters.  The best rock clubs were in places that you had to have a reason to go to.  You went there for the love of the music.  And the clubs fostered young talent.  Hoboken in the late 70's and 80's was a working class industrial town.  Rent's were cheap and it was a community.  Struggling artists and musicians were able to live while perfecting their craft.  And there were places for them to perform, like at Maxwell's.  The space was tiny and it was loud, but it was special.  The way that CBGB was special.  Gentrification is the death of rock and roll clubs.  When you price out the artists and musicians, and you open a lot of places that are more concerned with making a profit, and you pander to the hip and moneyed, you kill the soul of the movement.  You take away the need to create and find yourself by being down and out.  Pushing through the filth and slop to do what you love.  The indie art/music world is now backed by corporate america, and filters out the creativity that made the bowery of late so insane.  There will never be another "no-wave" movement.  There will never be another birth of punk, because punk has grown up and gotten a job.

Pavement - "Stereo"