Free Thoughts 3/24/14

I recently went to a concert at the Stanhope House.  It's basically a large bar that has a stage.  Apparently, it's mostly a Jazz/Blues venue, but I went with my brother to see Pharoahe Monch, a rapper.  And because he's a rapper, the opening acts were also hip-hop... all of them.  There was 8 opening acts, each performed 3-4 quick raps and were gone.  I would have much rather had 2-3 opening acts with longer sets, but as it was there was a good variety, by which I mean more white rappers in a single room than the 8 Mile movie auditions.

The M.C. of the night was also the first emcee of the night, an overweight Irish rapper with a vibrant red beard... and he was impressively good.  There was also an angry ICP (look it up) reject with red and white face paint on.  Even more interesting was his hype man was garbed in all black and wore a chromed out baby mask.  His hype man wore a mask and couldn't say anything! Not sure they understand the point of a hype man, but I will say he provided the comedy for the night when he turned his back to the crowd so he could lift up his mask and drink from his beer while Face Paint continued with the show.

My real reason for writing about this night is to acknowledge how hard it must be to get on stage and perform your art like that.  I was watching as one particularly bad performer was on stage, and despite not having a good flow or even decent lyrics, he worked the mic like he owned it with a confidence that's needed in this world of music.  No matter what type of music or the size of the venue, these musicians (whether good or bad) are putting themselves on display in a way other artists typically don't have to.

Authors, we write privately, edit our own work, then facelessly submit our work online to a publisher we'll likely never meet, who accepts or rejects us in an email, usually in what's called a 'form letter', which means they basically copy and paste the same rejection they gave the previous author.  Then we, as authors, make some adjustments and send it on to the publisher.  Rejection for an author is a faceless infraction that usually results in a better piece after more editing.

Musicians on the other hand, have to preform face to face and look their audience in the eyes as they either cheer or boo.  Even their practice rounds have to be live for feedback on whether or not their getting better or not.  I practice on a sheet of paper, and if I'm not happy with it, I can crumble it up and throw it away (sorry recycle).

All this to say, I'll always respect musicians for performing regardless of quality while I sit here behind my pad and a pen.

Free Thoughts 6/1/13

I recently went to a Fall Out Boy concert, two nights ago to be exact, and while most everything I say in this post will point to the contrary, the fact is I really enjoy going to concerts.  The problem is there's so much that bothers me about them.

The major thing that gets me is this:

Didn't we first build walls so we wouldn't have to cram together like this? It's unnatural, it's not fun in the least, it's not comfortable, and honestly it can't be too healthy either.  I don't understand the concept of squeezing as many bodies as physically possible to try to listen to the band/singer over the throngs of people screaming around you.  God forbid you want to piss or get a drink.

Which brings up two different issues.  No where are bathrooms filthier than at concert venues.  I'd rather poop at a McDonald's in Times Square than at a concert venue.

And while I understand a venue charging an obscene amount for drinks, I can't fathom the point of actually spending so much on alcohol that your body is just going to sweat out of you before you can feel any affects.

God forbid if you show up only five minutes before the doors open, now you're stuck either sitting on speakers rendering you deaf for the next three days, or you're behind a pillar and can't even see the stage, meaning you just spent a minimum of $50 to listen to a live album you could have heard on youtube.com.

For all the concerts I've been to (and it's been a good amount) I can't remember a single one where the average age of attendees was over 18, let alone over 21... Correction, I went to a DJ show with Q-Tip and Jazzy Jeff and that was a more mature crowd, and ironically none of the complaints I have here did I have to deal with then.

Also at this Fall Out Boy concert, something that's boggled me at nearly every other concert I've been to, is females crowd surfing in the most inappropriate clothing.  I'm talking about tube tops, spaghetti strapped tank tops, and/or skirts.  I'm a hetero guy, I enjoy seeing the naughty bits of (most) females, but if you're going to get upset about becoming exposed, have a little more common sense (I know, I know 'sense is no longer common' but come on) and dress the part if there's even a chance you might crowd surf.

Aside from FOB and the opening act, New Politics, putting on really good shows, the best part of the show (and I wish I had video of this) was watching the already packed crowd shift towards the front in waves.  Then throughout the show you can watch the ripples of one person move to the right cause the entire section to sway with them.  I looked down from my balcony perch in scientific amazement believing scientists could study the effects of the moon on the tide simply by watching a crowd at a concert.

The temperature of the room was absurd, so hot to the point security at the front of the stage was actually giving away free bottles of water the entire show.  I saw two people carried off, presumably because of heat exhaustion.  The effects of which were only made worse in my elevated position an arm's length away from the speakers.  My goal after leaving the concert was to take my pants off as soon as legally possible.

Which reminds me, no one looks good after a concert. Can't wait for the next one.

Heartbroken MP3 Player

Apparently, my MP3 player either just went through a bad break up that I don't know about, or it likes to rub in the fact that i'm single.  The following are the last ten songs it played in order.

The Police - Bed's Too Big Without You
Portishead - Sour Times
Case - I'm Missing You
Bobby Darin - Lover Come Back to Me
Mary J Blige - Ain't Really Love
Al Green - Tired of Being Alone
Solomon Burke - Let Somebody Love Me
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
Eisley - I Wasn't Prepared
Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

Oddly enough I felt better once the Prodigy song played... not that I'd ever condone that.