Do you hate my review?
**Note to any band that sees this that would like to print a rebuttal or response to what I wrote, PLEASE feel free to get in touch…I think it would be pretty interesting and it would give you a chance to get your opinions out as well. I’m happy to correspond via email if you want to keep it private, or there is a “Leave A Comment” button below each post if you’re OK with a public forum.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to be honest and constructive…I’m sure I step over the line on occasion and am not above trying to correct an error in judgement…
How NOT to advertise your show
This is a bit of a cautionary tale. Some of you that frequently lurk around the Craig’s List musicians section might be familiar with this story. There were a bunch of postings over the past week advertising a particular show. That in itself will get some people irritated because it begins to seem like spam to some when it is posted day after day…but the real thing that got the interwebs in a tizzy was the tone of the ads…
“Come out and help XXXvenueXXX ‘grow a pair’”.
“XXXbandnameXXX and 3 soft bands have been lumped together. LOUD ROCK might OFFEND the sissies.”
“If this [ad] is making you pissed off you wouldn’t enjoy the show either.”
…etc.
This misplaced bravado provoked a response from Craig’s Listers. In a town with such an interconnected music scene as Portland’s is, the last thing you need to be doing is making yourself look the fool and publicly insulting other bands. By the day of the show XXXbandnameXXX had posted an apology blaming the offensive posts on someone associated with, but not in the band. Regardless of who had been doing the postings, it was obviously not kosher and they realized the mistake. By the night of the show they were contrite and seemed genuinely apologetic. The other bands on the bill were accepting of the apology and everything seemed copacetic. The ROCK heals all wounds… Lesson learned, turn the page.
***
A further lesson was learned by yours truly. I have decided that it was inappropriate to leave this post up without redacting the band name. As I said, I think they learned their lesson, and nothing further is gained by leaving this out to be potentially stumbled upon in the future when someone searches their band name… the other lesson I learned was that “Monarch” whiskey is NOT GOOD. I can usually enjoy almost anything…not Monarch.
Metropolitan Farms – Red Room – Nov. 19, 2009
This middle aged power pop trio can be summed up with two words…”pleasant surprise”.
The Red Room tells people “Don’t Fear the 82nd” but honestly the 82nd does seem like a LONG way from home…physically and figuratively. It’s a little bit of a different world…with different kinds of businesses and folks…which got me thinking…what REALLY goes on at a live lingerie show? I doubt I’ll ever find out first hand, but I’m curious. So, if anyone has experience feel free to let me know.
Now, back to Metropolitan Farms. I arrived as they were beginning to set up and it was a real test of expectations based on appearance. Three mid 40 30′s-ish guys setting up at 11pm on a Thursday at The Red Room conjours assumptions of mid-life crisis denying rock cover bands that should never leave the 2 car garage… Don’t get me wrong, I DO think those types should get together on Sundays and enjoy playing music, but sometimes they need to realize the “big-time” does NOT await them at the end of the concert rainbow… just to be clear, that was the kind of the misguided assumption I was setting up BEFORE they played.
Once they started playing, my dumb preconceived notions melted away quickly. Metropolitan Farms live play catchy power pop tunes with decent harmony vocals. There is an upbeat, sunny quality to the sound of the tunes even if they are about “flesh eating bacteria and double negatives”. Watching these guys made me smile which is a GOOD thing.
The intriguing part of this band is the fact that, in a lot of cases, three older guys singing sunny pop songs with high harmonies would come off as horribly wrong…like they never wanted to leave the glory years of their 20′s…or they enjoy stalking young girls*…that would be disturbing. But for Metropolitan Farms there is a genuine comfort and relaxed nature coming from the band, especially the singer/guitarist, that I just enjoyed. The drummer’s playing was really spot on as well…he makes it look easy. These guys are who they are and they’re not trying to be anything that they are not. It’s refreshing.
This show was definitely a pleasant surprise and I’d be happy to see them in the future!
I had a couple minor complaints about the mix at this show. With the harmonies being a focal point, I would have liked to see the vocals brought up a bit. Also, the drums and bass were a notch higher than guitar…I’d have liked a little more meat and volume from the guitar…but I’m nit-picky on sound as it is.
http://www.myspace.com/metropolitanfarms
*For the record “young girls” is always relative…in this case I mean early 20′s…
City Of Ships – Ash Street – Nov 15, 2009
I was very lucky to have visited SCRAP recently and picked up a handful of disposable earplugs. This east coast power trio was LOUD. I mean, I go to a lot of shows so I know volume when I hear it…they’ve got the volume part covered.
When this band was setting up the bass player started hitting some seriously distorted notes and I knew I was in for something interesting…if not necessarily good… He played with a number of effects from time to time, but it was always set to buzzsaw mode. The bass also seemed to be the driving force behind the excess volume.
The drummer looked to have a huge kick drum which he put to good effect…especially when he hit a switch and it lit up bright white for the whole set.
The singer/guitarist was sporting the ironic “D.A.R.E.” t-shirt which was pretty funny like 15 years ago… He also played in buzzsaw mode with effects. The singing was a lot of Cobainesque screaming and groaning.
The tunes themselves were frequently too busy for the instrumentation. There was a lot of arppegiating happening in the bass that was just impossible to distinguish. When you throw a shit-ton of distortion on bass then start picking arpeggios and chords on it…it ends up sounding like a rats nest of fuzz…totally lacking drive, groove, and definition. I like distortion on bass when it’s done right, but it was just too much.
The bass and guitar also had some tapping sections which came off to me as being inserted just to show off the tapping chops. The bass player played like a guitar player that got stuck on bass in this band. No idea if that’s true or not, but his playing didn’t fill the bass role as much as this music would have liked.
There were also a couple of spots where the dynamic came way down to the guitar picking some chords that seemed out of place…like they were kind of bolted onto the song…they did not work.
This band was at their best during the few times they locked in and bludgeoned us with power riffs… It would have been a lot more fun to just get pounded in the forehead with those sections rather than having to try to mentally untangle the cacophonic overplaying sections.
Now, I’m not sure if any of you have ever been around a large pipe bomb explosion…or any BIG guns. In the instant following that kind of detonation it always seems like there is a miniature vacuum of sound which is pure warm silence…there was a moment like that when their set ended. Everyone stood for a moment in stunned semi-paralysis, recovering from the auditory beating we had just received. Then there was some applause that was hard to hear through ringing ears…
Looking to be reviewed?
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of requests to come out and review shows. That is awesome. Being a musician myself, I understand the value of:
1. Getting honest, constructive feedback about a performance so that it can be made better.
2. Getting possible quotes for marketing package.
3. Getting massive publicity from appearing in some fat, old guy’s crappy music review blog.
So, if you’re interested in getting an honest review and you have reasonably thick skin, feel free to message me here or email to: fat_old_guy.portland@yahoo.com Offers to buy me whiskey in return for a favorable review won’t work, but if you’re willing to put the “fat old guy” on the list to avoid a cover…I WILL take you up on that! Obviously I can’t promise to go to every show, and I also can’t promise to like your band, but if you’re consistent about letting me know about upcoming shows I will eventually make it out.
Thanks!
F~O~G
Mosquito Bandito – Kelly’s Olympian – Nov 10, 2009
In my experience, it is not unusual to find people who are very technically proficient on their instrument but lack the intangible spark of connection that can happen between audience and performer. It is much rarer to find a situation where those qualities are reversed…specifically where a performer is merely competent on their instrument(s) but they manage to create a real, solid, energetic connection with the audience. I’m not sure why this happens, that’s the magic of it. Perhaps it is just the right mix of charisma, bravado, with a dash of “I don’t give a fuck” thrown in…but whatever it is, Mosquito Bandito has it.
Mosquito Bandito is a loud one man band primarily playing electric guitar, singing/screaming/mumbling, while also playing kick, snare and beating the crap out of a hi-hat with the headstock of his guitar. A lot of the songs sound angry and he did tell everyone in the crowd that if he didn’t personally know them they could “fuck off.” I took it as tongue in cheek, but who knows, maybe I was closer to a beating than I realized… There were humorous crowd interactions, a little story, and plenty to witness. His playing is adequate and works for what he’s doing. Fairly straight forward solo punk rock while stomping on drums. Sometimes the timing of the drums isn’t right there, but it’s good enough for what he’s doing and I’m sure he would tell me it didn’t matter and to stop being an asshole if he were here sitting next to me as I typed this.
There is a perfectly natural, visceral energy that comes off the stage when he plays…there’s also quite a bit of spit flying. Moquito Bandito is obviously from the punk tradition and there was a fair amount of spitting into the crowd during his set. I positioned myself and my drink out of harms way. I only saw one audience member spit back in his direction but I imagine on a rowdy night it could get pretty disgusting…
I love great musicianship and technical virtuosity…but most of all I love to see a band and audience connect, especially when everyone is having fun in the process. You wouldn’t come to see Mosquito Bandito for a display of guitar mastery, but if you want to jump around and have some fun, it’s a hit.
He’s heading out on tour after next week’s show at the Twilight Cafe… so if you’re intrigued you’d better see him then.
Dixon Bendejo Trash – Ash Street Saloon – Nov 10, 2009
A serious cold kept me down and out over the weekend, but I was getting a little stir crazy so I decided to head out in search of cheap random music. Tuesdays are usually free at Ash Street so that’s where I headed. When I arrived I was:
1. Surprised at how many people were there on a Tuesday.
2. Uncomfortable with how freshly scrubbed all the faces looked. I think it looked like some sort of weird singles mixer…and I felt a little out-of-place since I haven’t showered for a couple of days because I’ve been in bed sick.
Anyways, the band setting up, Dixon Bendejo Trash, was a trio with 2 acoustic guitars and electric bass. That instrumentation most of the time means some sort of indie / folk thing and that’s pretty much what it was. Singing and strumming. Unfortunately, it just came off as really sloppy and un-rehearsed. It was pretty apparent to me that some of the songs were not known by everyone on stage and even the ones where they were basically all together were essentially solo performances by the leader with a little back-up by the 2nd guitar and bass.
In fact, the 2nd guitar player was playing without a pick up until his hand began to bleed from strumming, at which point they got him a pick and he was still barely audible… Between the weird singles bar vibe and the music I only made it through 1 whiskey before it was time for me to move on.
Overall, I think this band needs to either work on the arrangements and songs to get more involvement from the additional musicians or the lead singer might be better off going in a solo direction. That’s not because I don’t think the other players are good, but rather because I don’t see how they are furthering the songs in a way that couldn’t be done solo. I think they also need to get together and just practice more to get tighter and more familiar with the stuff they are playing. I hope that Dixon Bendejo Trash don’t think “¡El viejo tipo gordo es un bastardo para escribir este!”
http://www.myspace.com/dixonbendejotrash
**I usually don’t to listen to the myspace material before going to a show because I’m trying to evaluate what’s happening live with a clean slate…that said, I like the studio stuff by these guys better than the live performance. I’d love to see them try to create more of the recorded sound and feel live.
FILMUSIK: Gamera vs. Guiron – Hollywood Theater – Nov 6, 2009
This lies slightly outside the strict definition of “Portland Music” but there were live musicians and it was cool!
For this show, they project an old Japanese monster movie on the screen with no sound. Then, a group of pit musicians, voice actors, foley artists and a choir create the soundtrack and dialogue for the movie live as it plays. It was great. People were cheering heartily for the Glorious Hero Turtle – Gamera as he fought the knife-headed monster dicer Guiron who was under the control of an extra-terrestrial race of “space-babes”.
It was definitely a different type of movie-going experience and fun was had by all. My favorite scene was the bad monster’s ginsu-esque demonstration…chop chop! There are a couple more shows next week and if you have a sense of humor, you should check it out!
http://pdxpipeline.com/2009/11/02/filmusik-hollywood-theater-gamera-vs-guiron-nov-4-6-11-13/
WULF BANE – Ash Street – Nov 3, 2009
Metal up your arse from Costa Mesa, CA! So, technically not part of the local music scene, but since I ended up seeing them, I figured I’d do a quick write-up.
This band took me back to my jean-jacket wearing youth. My jacket had a really sweet Iron Maiden back patch (this was before it became retro-cool to wear Iron Maiden stuff), a Metallica patch, and I bolted some metal mailbox letters across the top to spell Motorhead. I still have a polaroid of that coat somewhere…
What was most impressive to me was that at least a third of the 15 member audience at this show looked like they had lived through the metal explosion of the 80′s and had been living the lifestyle ever since. Also, since there were 2 other bands on the bill, 1 from Texas and one local, I think that most of the audience was made up of the other bands and crew…In fact, I think I might have been the only person there not somehow associated with the band. In all honesty, that’s a real shame. I know not everyone is into metal, but for those folks that are, this was a great show for them to see.
Wulf Bane was appropriately full of energy, posturing and volume while playing a set of balls out metal. There were plenty of entirely un-ironic fists pumped into the air and everyone had a great time headbanging along. The musicianship was tight and tough and there was plenty of blistering lead work to keep the shred worshipers appeased. In short, this was a great, honest metal show. No fucking around! Too bad all the local metalheads were home asleep…
Kyrstyn Pixton – Mississippi Pizza – Nov. 3, 2009
It’s really easy to fall in love with Kyrstyn Pixton. Men and women alike find it hard to resist her faerie-ish appeal and glittered eyes. It doesn’t hurt that she is quite talented as well. Her soft, warm voice wraps itself around you like your favorite winter blanket. She just makes you feel good.
I’ve seen Kyrstyn play live a couple of times at Mississippi. She does a lot of live looping of keyboards, washboard, beat-boxing and vocals. It’s a really eclectic mix of sounds that work well with her voice. The quirky instrumentation along with a really approachable delivery definitely feel uniquely Portlandy.
This show was a little different from others I’ve seen. It looked like she had a new vocal tweaking toy that she enjoyed playing with. I like the addition. The tone of the set was more down tempo than I have seen before. The quirky goofiness was still there, just not as out front as usual. She seemed to be singing from a quieter place. Since I’m a fan of the more over the top silliness, it wasn’t my favorite show of hers, but it was still good. The other thing I didn’t see last night was the washboard…I love the wash board… MORE WASHBOARD!
Folks should check out her myspace. The recordings are a little rough but give an idea of where she’s coming from. The live presentation is quite a bit different due to the looping involved…and I like it.
