NYC ilxors: I am calling you out

I might see Ned at On Land in September, though not the first night because I'm gonna see Arab on Radar. Like a lot of festival line ups, there are one or two bands I want to see, five or six that I like but that I see regularly at smaller shows, plus some that I'm not familiar with, and others I'm too familiar with to want to endure.

i don't go to big shows or festivals, but i would maybe if the right situation came along. thought about going to the wilco thing at massmoca, but all i really wanted to see there was richard bishop and i saw him last year at a tiny bar in turners falls which is the next town over. i like small shows. or random music. next week lucas abela and keith fullerton whitman are playing up the road. might go see that, but the idea of seeing lucas makes me feel a bit squeamish. last week was a good example of the kind of live music experience i like. after work we - maria and rufus and cyrus and me - went to see a free thrash metal show at the skatepark. about a block from the store. lich king was headlining and they are really good. we caught them and then we walked into a new club about two doors down from my store where a sierra leone afro-pop band was jamming for free. we hung out for a bit and then headed home. it was nice. no fuss and no muss.

plus, i have my store which is nice. i just got back from there. there was an outjazz improv horn + percussion group playing tonight, and noise nomads did his awesome thing, and rufus and cyrus sat in with surreal performance freaks cave bears for their set. a lovely time. free to one and all. lots of places to sit and plenty of room on the couch!

half of sonic youth came to the last show at the store and it was a humdinger! you can get really loud in that basement of mine!

there was an outjazz improv horn + percussion group playing tonight,

who were they?

xpost

scott, your store sounds like an incredible place

"who were they?"

they were all western mass people. they play in different groups and solo, but tonight they all got together for some improv. Jack Callahan put the show together. he does really cool experimental percussion/drum stuff. he and his friend are on a bike tour. they started tonight in greenfield and they are going by bike to boston and worchester and other places to play.

if you search *John Doe Jr. Greenfield* on youtube you will find past insanity at the store. some good stuff on there! and all i have to do is keep the place open. i feel lucky. cuz i'm as lazy as anyone else and traveling to gigs far away has never been a favorite thing of mine.

western mass is so amazingly full of out-there music types in my experience

PS the ATP we had here was up in the mountains at a SKI RESORT - beat that

OK I will... The last ATP I went to was on the Queen Mary ocean liner.

the last festival chuck was at was on the titanic

Ha actually I can point exactly to when I really stopped going to shows; it was when I started doing more classical music. Singing in a church choir = early night in on Saturday so you don't feel like death the next day, plus symphony choirs and opera ensembles will pull you into a ton of rehearsal.

I will say, though, that touring with the BSO was A++++ and I recommend everyone who can swing it do it at least once.

I don't have a problem with festivals in general, I go to one or two every year but I wouldn't cross the street to see this line-up.

I still go to shows often, but mostly 100-200 seat clubs. Most of the time now I only want to see folks I haven't seen before.

BTW, playing in a steadily gigging band gives you a significantly lower tolerance level for waiting through a band you don't like.

how many of these ATPs are there, anyway? can you buy a franchise like a kentucky fried chicken? i'd like to hold a yearly ATP in my backyard.

i will have Toy Box perform Fantastic in its entirety.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5VmaqUq4vtM/STsN1ynVjPI/AAAAAAAACxQ/8B4KVZLCYvo/s400/Toy-Box+-+FanTastic+-+Front+(Special+Limited+Edition).jpg

the only time i ever saw the full album thing was lou reed on the new york tour. i wanted to shoot myself. it it wasn't for the feelies opening up, the evening would have been a total bust.

would give at least a finger or two to have seen that show.

last festival chuck was at was on the titanic

I saw a couple SXSW sets a few months ago, do those count? Otherwise, let's see...a few Siren Fests, maybe? Those were fucking torture. Definitely went to a couple Ozzes and Lollapaloozas (reviewed one of those in Kansas City for Spin iirc) and even a Warped. And, uh, Family Values Tour once, does that count? And others. Can't think of any I really enjoyed.

Totally agree with Scott's idea of late afternoon/early evening shows with the kidz though -- those rule. Preferably outside. Punk, noise, norteno, coffee shop singer-songwriters, Girls Rock Camp bands (kids love watching bigger kids play music!), doesn't matter. Also doesn't matter much if the music is any good; seeing music with your little offspring is just fun, period.

hah i saw lou on that tour, too, at the london palladium. i remember the bassist was playing a horrible electric stand up bass and there was a really feeble 'set' that amounted to a bit of graffiti on some bricks. we didn't get the feelies, either.

amazingly, i then saw lou on his next tour, at the hammersmith odeon, when he did the whole of magic and loss! needless to say, i haven't seen lou since (was quite tempted by the raven gigs, mind...)

Btw Scott, when Rufus and Cyrus sit in, what instruments do they play? Or do they just yell and bang on things? (Also, which Sonic Yoofs come by your store -- the married couple, or the other two?)

Ozzes [...] Lollapaloozas [...] Warped [...] Family Values Tour [...] Can't think of any I really enjoyed.

Maybe you are going to the wrong festivals?

Eh, I'm sure there were better ones out there, now and then, but not that much better. I generally went to ones I didn't have to pay to get into. Also saw tons of CMJ shows (again, if "Music Marathons" count as festivals), for years, when I was at the Voice and going out to see music several nights at the week, and could expense a taxi home when it was over in the wee hours. Which was fine, sometimes, but feeling like you have to go out all the time = work, and I don't miss it much.

"...several nights a week..."

Anyway, like other people have said, I don't begrudge people who enjoy festivals or going out to see live music all the time in general; more power to you, if that's your thing. Just don't assume it's some litmus test for "loving music."

Actually come to think of it I may have liked the couple Guiness Fleadhs I went to more than any of those other ones I named. (A high point of one was Patti Smith yelling at people for drinking too much from the stage, somewhat cognatively dissonant at a festival named for Irish beer.) Oh, and actually didn't hate this one folk festival I went to once in Pennsylvania, oddly enough. Not that I'd do it again, probably.

This one was really good:

http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/images/1405_user4550_100204-195258.jpg

Sort of thematic: L.A. comes to L.I. Also Jesse Colin Young, Tom Scott & the L.A. Express. My 16-year-old self dug it mightily.

oops

http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/images/1405_user4550_100204-195258.jpg

Yeah, I really want to lie and say I went to California Jam II when I was 17 (Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Foreigner, Heart, Mahogany Rush, Bob Welch w/ Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood), but no way was I cool enough for that shit then. My older brother definitely bought the soundtrack, though. (Cal Jam I, 1974, had Black Oak Arkansas, Sabbath, ELP, Rare Earth, Deep Purple, Earth Wind And Fire, and the Eagles, but even my older brother wasn't cool enough for that one yet.)

"Btw Scott, when Rufus and Cyrus sit in, what instruments do they play? Or do they just yell and bang on things? (Also, which Sonic Yoofs come by your store -- the married couple, or the other two?)"

rufus and cyrus sang last night. and played percussion and maybe some keyboards? rufus on lead vocals was amazing last night. you can tell he is related to a bunnybrain. total control. he kept screaming "AUDIENCE! I WANT YOU TO MOO! MOOOOOOOOOO! I WANT PIE!" over and over like a maniac.

this is from last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efAXZoyAWLg

oh and married couple. their daughter was friends with the first band. who ruled! high school kids and it was their first show! just raging mix of metal and punk. couldn't believe they had never played in front of an audience before.

and its funny how from the time of that show last year to last night rufus has gone from silly kid to crazed noise vocalist who totally knows how to craft an improv performance. i'm not even kidding. he's a quick learner. wish i had footage from last night. better than a lot of goofy freaky shows i have seen. everyone was good though. i just like the local we're-putting-on-a-show-for-our-friends-and-our-own-amusement kinda shows. you can do a show anywhere around here and at least a couple of people will show up. with some beer.

this is my kind of show. 6 bucks and close to home. plus, i don't know what to expect! that's a big plus with me. (this is at the flywheel in easthampton. a COLLECTIVE owned by everyone, man!)

8:00 $6

J. GRAF
Coming up from Baltimore, the amazing electronic noise magician who has done fabulous work with the duo Metalux and many other collaborations and solo works of note.

...OUTERSPACE
John Elliot from Emeralds.

DRAINOLITH
Alexander Moskos from Aids Wolf.

SALAMANDER WOOL
also from B'more is Carson Garhart from Sejayno. Both of his projects have an LP on Ehse Records.

ralph white and dredd foole show at the flywheel should be good too. again, only six bucks.

i could be crazy but i think one of the hidden benefits of the destruction of the record industry is a new local yokelism. people doing more stuff on their own for local folks and not caring - or even hoping anymore - that they are gonna hit it big anytime soon. so there just seems to be more of an emphasis on DIY fun. people putting out their own stuff, selling their own stuff, booking their own shows. and when people tour its more of an excuse to take a vacation from their day job than an opportunity to become discovered or be the next big thing. everyone who plays here just seems genuinely happy to be playing for people and they don't really want anything more. they certainly don't want to be the next lightning bolt or whatever. i'm sure there are still lots of people out there with ambition and drive for glory, but with so few pots of gold over the rainbow out there people have become more realistic in a sense. playing for laughs and for your friends is way more satisfying than jumping through hoops for some label schmuck if you ask me. and i realize this means that a lot of great musicians get stuck working at whole foods or giving tons of guitar lessons instead of touring the world, but whole foods isn't that bad and SOMEONE has to teach bored kids how to play the guitar. also, people are less and less willing to pay big money for big shows. so they are seeking out the free folk festivals and jazz in the park afternoons and whatever else is nearby and free. and i think that's great. i really do.

i could be crazy but i think one of the hidden benefits of the destruction of the record industry is a new local yokelism.

instead we have 100,000 wantrepreneur chillwave morons fighting for valuable altered zones space

feelin sympathetic to all the NYC ilxors who got called out on this controversial thread. keep your chins up guys.

thanks bro - woke up feelin guilty about my insufficient love of music

I knew you would see it through.

i could be crazy but i think one of the hidden benefits of the destruction of the record industry is a new local yokelism. people doing more stuff on their own for local folks and not caring - or even hoping anymore - that they are gonna hit it big anytime soon.

Very much seeing that out here. Around my neck of the woods alone Acrobatics Everyday pretty much willed something like it into existence.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/7d/e2/7e5181b0c8a053be97ac9110.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

yeah scott is otm on that - and people do listen. like i was telling ned my teenage son digs up weird homemade freak-folk singers and obscure DJ mixes out of nowhere to supplement his top 40 diet.

i could be crazy but i think one of the hidden benefits of the destruction of the record industry is a new local yokelism.

I've been thinking the same thing, that it's gonna go from "Hey, have you heard this record?" to "There's this guy in my town who's a really great guitar player."

this thread speaks to me cuz there was just this big 2-day music fest in town with lots of acts i liked and i was all, ew, stand outside for 2 days listening to bands with my friends? and then later, i felt regretful

^ true story

last time i saw live outdoor music it was a terrible local metal band (sounded like pantera if none of the members had learned to play in unison yet and if their equipment kept shorting out every five minutes) at a motorcycle event. on the plus side, i got to have funnel cake.

i sympathize with peeps who dont like all the detritus of going to show if your buds arent around. then again missing bands i like always makes me feel guilty for missing LIFE and shit.

dilemma imo

yeah but at the same time i can count the number of LIFE CHANGING GIGS i've seen on six fingers and would need a calculator and a 20-year calendar to count up the total number of gigs i've seen and after a while the cost to effectiveness ratio starts to fuck with an older gentleman.

not that EVERY show has to be "life changing" but still.

oh ya totally. but the same thing goes with parties or any social events... what if its THE ONE

maybe Dylan going electric would've gotten more fan support if funnel cake had been served.

i'm also at that point where show-going isn't an all-night (or all-day) socializing activity for me, and so with the "let's all hang out!" aspect removed, if the bands suck (or are just faffing their way through it), i get kinda cranky.

jesus what are you going to be like when you are actually old? i shudder to think.

scott i have been waiting to be old since i was like 9. don't think this is me complaining.

too lazy to read this thread and c'mon, we're new yorkers, we're supposed to be jaded. I probably won't even go see neo-Neu! tomorrow night, though I will probably go see the XX. But in the end aren't we all too busy sitting around trying to figure out how to pay the rent? I don't know, i stopped going out regularly around 7 years ago, and for the record that was BEFORE I met my girlfriend. I did go to TWO shows at Bruar Falls last week though, so maybe I'm coming back.

Real answer: Not enough chairs at shows.