‘You look tired’. I am an introvert with slightly downturned features who struggles with chronic anemia, so yes, I know. I really wish perfect strangers would stop mentioning it. You might be well-intentioned, but it always comes off as rude. No, I was not up unusually late last night. No, it’s not really any of your business. This is just how I look. And right now, I can guarantee you, however bad it looks, it feels way worse. I have fallen against the front door or the kitchen counter more than a few times this weekend. But, life must go on, right? Right.
At least, within reason. To make a long story much shorter, the Steampunk World’s Fair imploded shortly before it was supposed to happen this year and, after various twists and turns, what replaced it was a community organized COGS Expo, and a Refugees of Steampunk concert up the road. My original plan for the weekend was both. I knew Friday night was impossible, but I’d planned to check out COGS Saturday and the concert on Sunday.
Honestly, it was a relief when the schedule for the COGS Expo went live and a I realized there wasn’t a lot on it that I wouldn’t be able to see the following day at the concert. Let me rephrase that: there wasn’t a lot on it that I was strongly interested in. So, I decided to take Saturday as a recovery day. I’ve been suffering for a few days and I knew, at the very least, I was in no condition to wander around a festival all day. If the things I wanted to see were close together, it maybe would have made sense to go for an hour or two, but in the end, as much as I would have liked to check it out, there was just no way I had the energy.
Today was better, but not by a lot. I slept a perfectly average amount, and soundly, which basically means I feel like I’m running on about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. But, there was a very long concert, and I really wanted to go. There were a few bands I’d seen before and/or follow, and others that I just kept missing over and over again. Every time I tried to check out Montague Jaques Fromage before today, something happened – the weather mucked up a stage, or he was scheduled opposite something else I absolutely didn’t want to miss. In spite of all efforts to the contrary, this is the first time I’d get to see both halves of the Eternal Frontier in the same place, at the same time.
So, I didn’t really care if I was tired. I was going. I hauled my butt out of bed, got all ready, made a bit of breakfast…and stained my only steampunkish t-shirt in the doing. I absolutely didn’t have energy for costuming, so I knew that crap wasn’t going to happen, but I was like ‘oh! I have a t-shirt with a raygun on it! Perfect!’ …it would have been, but I had to wash it before it stained, so couldn’t wear it and ended up just grabbing whatever was clean instead.
Mercifully, the drive was a little shorter than I expected, so the fact I ended up getting going a little later than planned due to my last minute wardrobe change didn’t really affect me much. But, holy shit, Dunellen, what is wrong with your roads?! There are more potholes than pavement!
The concert was good, though, and it was a relief that I could sit for it, and that they had food that the venue had food that probably wouldn’t kill me. I went with their sort of untraditional nachos. They were tasty, and I was able to casually pick at them all day, but the brisket definitely sat a little heavy on my overly sensitive tummy. Still, probably worth the cost, in the long run – red meat may be a bit heavy, but the anemia’s bad enough that heme iron will do more good than harm as long as I can keep it down.
I’m going to gloss over a lot in this post for two reasons:
I’m tired.
I’ve seen a lot of these acts before, so I’ve already talked about them on this blog.
I came in to the tail end of a performer playing tv themes on keyboard. They said her name several times, so I feel bad that as I type I can’t seem to grasp it, but I do remember something about a radio station called ‘In Goth We Trust’, so maybe google that and you’ll get more info. I should be doing the legwork for you on this, but I just can’t right now. Sorry about that.
What a cool looking venue, though! Roxy & Dukes Roadhouse just has the perfect vibe for a steampunk show. The decor is sort of…gothic circus kitsch? I’m not sure if that gives you quite the right mental image, but it’s the best description I’ve got for the moment. Maybe I’ll come up with better adjectives later, when I’m a little less haggard.
After that we had Montague Jaques Fromage, doing a short set of “steampunk funk”. I genuinely had no idea what to expect from this, but it turns out it was sort of a combination of storytelling and what I’m going to loosely define as rap. It was fun – will look him up again later when I’m fully conscious.
Montague Jaques Fromage/Steampunk Funk Bizarre
Next was opera singer Nicole Oliva, who I won’t say much about on the grounds that I talked about her last year, and that I still know fuck all about opera. Her voice is pretty, but I really don’t have the knowledge necessary to tell you much beyond ‘soprano’.
Nicole Oliva
Scott Helland was next, and it’s no secret how much I love his stuff, so there’s not really much to say here, either. He’s awesome and you should check him out if you haven’t yet. That is all.
Scott Helland
Interspersed throughout the performances, Coveilance Dance Project would come up and do their thing, or fill the time while the stage was changing. I can’t really give you any more info about dance than I can about opera, I’m afraid. I’m sure they’re great, but I don’t care about dance, so it really just looked like well-choreographed jiggly girl bits to me. I have no culture at all, I know.
Coveilance Dance Project
Next up was the Eternal Frontier. This was another one I seemed to have an ill-fated relationship with until now. Either there was a scheduling conflict, or something happened and one of them had to cancel. So, I’d seen Professor Adam Smasher once before, but I’d never actually seen them in the same place at the same time. They were adorable – which, for the record, coming from me, is the highest form of compliment.
The Eternal Frontier
Next was A Halo Called Fred, who I’ve talked about enough that I don’t think there’s a lot new to say. They’re silly and fun and make the world a brighter, happier place to be in, at least for the duration of their set, so you should look them up. Also, they seem entirely incapable of completing a set without calling sidekicks to the stage, which is part of their charm, really.
A Halo Called Fred
The day finished off with Victor and the Bully, from the UK. I’d seen them last year, so I already knew they put on a good, high energy show, and they didn’t disappoint. They have a new album out, and while I do usually buy albums at the venue, I’m on pretty tight purse strings until payday; so I decided I would just have to be patient and grab it off Amazon at the end of the week.
Victor and the Bully
By the way, the only reason I haven’t mentioned any of the acts having albums until the end is that I’m already up to date on all the ones I’ve been following except that last one. They all have things, though, and you should look them up.
So, that’s that. I don’t get a recharge weekend until the end of the month, and I want a nap, but it still a good day.
This post is so overdue that it’s not even funny. The event was in May, FFS! I have no excuse. I’m just lazy. But, because I’m lazy, and this post should have happened 2 months ago, it’s going to be an overview of the bands I saw rather than any sort of in depth analysis.
As a preface –we had a fuck ton of rain this spring. In fact, as I write this post, it’s misting. This is relevant because it rained so much that the first day of the festival I was nearly flooded into my development (seriously, I should NOT have driven through water that high. I thought my car was going to turn into a submarine), and the Courtyard Stage was completely defunct because of all the wet, which derailed my original plans a bit. Some of the stuff I planned to see I didn’t get to see. Other things I had to reschedule. Some sets I only got to see part of. SPWF scheduling is always an adventure, but the weather added a level of hell to trying to figure out when and where I could see some of the acts I’d been planning on.
That scheduling is why my first musical performance of the festival was OPERA, of all things.
Nicole Oliva
I am not cultured, guys. I can tell you Nicole Oliva was a soprano and had a pretty voice and that she changed her costume a billion times, but I can’t tell you that her performance won me over to the art form, really. It was neat, but it’s not like I’m going to start researching operas now. Fun fact, though: opera sung in English is no more intelligible than opera sung in foreign languages, it turns out. I still can barely make out a word of it.
Scott Helland
I spent the next while at educational things, not because I had a strong desire to do them, but because half of Day 1 was supposed to be spent at the stage that wasn’t working, so I ended up wandering and ending up browsing vendors or in panels because I couldn’t find the things I’d expected to be doing. And so, as I was wandering by Frenchy & the Punk’s stand, I overheard the conversation that Scott Helland’s set had been moved to the lobby of one of the hotels, in a different time slot. I wanted to catch that, because his only other solo set was pretty early in the morning, and I didn’t want to force myself out of bed just for that, when there wasn’t a lot else I wanted to do the following day before late afternoon. So, I got to watch him set up 10,000 pedals with a steampunk dalek. The dalek didn’t help at all. I think he was just there for moral support.
Prosspekt
I am going to admit here that this is a band I had no intention of going to see, but the schedule shifting meant there wasn’t a heck of a lot going on at this hour of my Friday night, so I decided ‘what the hell?’ Normally, at SPWF, I prioritize bands from foreign shores, but I admit the description of them turned me off. It was something about electronic dance music and a stuffed bunny mascot. I almost always hate electronica, and I certainly don’t like dance music, so this wasn’t so much a point against the band as it was the fact it just didn’t sound like something that was going to be to my personal preference. But, they were pretty good, guys. I don’t think ‘electronica’ or ‘dance’ are words I would personally use to describe them. They were much closer to my rock music happy place than I expected them to be.
V is for Villains
This is the set I wanted to stay on Friday to see, and the entire reason I lingered in the misty damp around the main stage for Prosspekt. Their Saturday show conflicted with…something…so I wanted to get this out of the way on Friday night to avoid making tough decisions. I was worried though, guys. I really was. As much as I love music, I’m an absolutely terrible audience member. I’m not bouncy. I don’t dance. I clap quietly, and I loathe audience participation. I’m not even kidding. I’m that audience member that stands there, takes a few photos, and mostly just stare. I’m that person who looks like they might not actually be enjoying themselves, even when I’m totally into it. So, when I found myself, right before the show, as literally the only audience member, I was worried for the band. I was crossing my fingers that the bouncy people would come along soon. Very soon. Eventually they did, but it didn’t end up being a very big crowd. Blame the weather. They were worth a little bit of misty rain.
Scott Helland (again)
I ended up catching part of Scott Helland’s set on a proper stage in the morning anyway, as I was waiting to meet up with a friend.
Sarah Donner
The courtyard stage was open on day 2, which meant I didn’t have to divert my plans very much. I was stationed there for a few hours. I wanted to check out Sarah Donner, knowing almost nothing about her other than that she plays guitar and likes cats. Really enjoyed this set. Also, there were newborn kittens travelling with her, so it was a double win, because music AND kittens.
A Halo Called Fred
I have this ill-fated relationship with Halo shows. Every time I try to go to one, SOMETHING happens. Sometimes, it’s someone’s birthday and I can’t get out of it. Sometimes, the weather is so abysmally bad it’s impossible (this hasn’t always stopped me. I remember one show that I drove through the fury of heaven to get to.), sometimes they – for reasons unknown – close down half the roads in the state, making it almost impossible to get to the event the show is happening at. Sometimes I’m just too damn poor for the festival they’re performing at. And, sometimes, they have to stop their set in the middle because the Cake Boss is filming ten feet away. Fucking Cake Boss. So, I ended up only being able to see half of their set at this year’s SPWF. They have another show this month though, with another band that I miss every darn year at SPWF because the fates of scheduling hate me, and I’m hoping to go to that – if the Universe permits.
Eli August & the Abandoned Buildings
I think Eli has a different number of abandoned buildings every year. Sometimes, the stage is so full they barely have enough room for elbows. Sometimes, it’s just three dudes from an ever-rotating list. It’s always a good show though, so I make sure not to miss it.
Frenchy & The Punk
I see Frenchy & the Punk every year. It’s always a priority on my to-do list, and every year they’re still awesome. Also, they’re one of the few bands both me and my usual SPWF cohort enjoy so, even though it’s later than she normally stays at SPWF, she stuck around with me for the show.
Jeff Mach
(yes, I know this is a terrible photo. the mic was literally in the middle of his face the entire set from my angle though, so this is actually as good as it gets…)
I wholly admit, that while I enjoy all of Jeff’s songs, really, 90% of the reason I go to his set is just to listen to this one song he has about a steampunk accountant. It brings me such joy. And, if he won’t record the darn thing so I can buy it, seeing it live as often as possible (which is basically once a year) is my only option.
Victor and the Bully
This was my final set of the weekend. I was pretty much burning out by this set, but I was determined. I’d missed them the day before because of my schedule adventures, so the end of Saturday was my only chance.
In the end, in spite of the chaos a closed stage caused my grand plans, and only getting to see partial sets of a few things, I did manage to check out almost everything I wanted to.
I might only have one more year of SPWF in my future, as I understand after next year they plan to move to a new location. While it’s normal for festivals to move to meet growing demand, how far it moves, and to where, will determine if it’s still practical for me to go. But, I don’t have to worry about whether or not one of my annual traditions is going to die (for me, anyway) until after next year, and with any amount of luck, next year I won’t be so lazy as to wait two months to post about it. (Seriously, I’m not usually THIS bad. geez…)
I was at another show last night, so I should (theoretically) write about that in the very near future. And I’m hoping to go to another mid-month, if all goes according to loosely made plan (see: totally have not made a plan at all, but I think I clicked the ‘interested’ button on FB, which kind of almost counts).
On the learning curve, not much to discuss at this moment in time. Still on and off working on barre chords and progress is steady, but not solid enough that I feel like I want to move on to something else just yet.
I do have new songs in the works and/or just waiting for me to get off my lazy butt and record them, so I should, possibly, maybe share some more new stuff with you soon.
So, there’s a fair amount in the works, at least, if not much that I feel strongly compelled is worth a blog post just yet. Stay tuned.
I’m going to say some things in this post that some people aren’t going to like. Suck it up. I’ve just been kicked in the head well over a dozen times and might wake up with a fat lip; I’m understandably a bit cranky.
So, allow me to cut through all the fluff and get the complaints out of the way first. Let’s face it, at a concert, modes of socially acceptable behavior are altered from what they are in our day to day lives. People get riled up and stop thinking straight. Then, you add booze and it gets worse. I’m going into this through that lens, of ‘okay, people are going to be dicks. They’re going to elbow me in the spine a few times. There’s going to be shoving. At a punk show, multiply that by a factor of 50, at least. You’re going to be standing front and center in the pit? Yeah, things could get a bit rough.’ That’s normal and expected. But, there are a few behaviors that tip the scales and say ‘it’s not the show/energy; it’s you, douchebag.’
Ready for some pro-tips for not pissing off your fellow audience members too much? Here are a few pointers from that short chick who only chooses to be close to the stage because it’s either that or not be able to see anything at all(seriously, I’d rather not be in the pit, honestly. But if I can’t see the band at all, I might as well stay home and listen to the album):
If you think you might crowd-surf at the concert you’re going to, if there’s even a 1% chance, please don’t wear the clunkiest shoes you own. I know, they look cool. But you know what? They fricking hurt when you’re getting kicked in the head by them. I know, I know, you weren’t planning to kick anyone in the head, but if you crowd surf, you’re going to. Shit happens. And if you happen to clip me with your chucks, or generic athletic footwear when I’m too sandwiched in to move my arms or duck to avoid your gargantuan beast of a foot, I can shake it off. Whatever. I’m at a punk rock show and this is the sort of thing that happens. But, when you’re wearing some heavy duty, military grade, ten pound boots, I’m going to be seeing stars for at least the rest of the song and have multiple security guards ask if I’m okay, which – fun as it is – gets old fast.
More on crowd-surfing: if you, as a single person, account for 50% of all crowd-surfers that surf the audience during a show, people are going to notice and hate you for it. I’m not that annoyed when someone clips me once, but if you’re the guy who sails over my head 6 or 8 times in less than an hour, and when you land in front of me and I see it’s THE SAME GUY every time, I fucking hate you, dude. Seriously. Go drink yourself into a stupor and fall asleep in a pool of your own vomit – it’s that kind of hate. The feeling is especially strong after I’ve been kneed in the cheek and had my nose make a close, personal relationship with an iron bar. The more times I see you, the more likely I am to deign you my arch nemesis for the evening. I would thwart you, if I had enough personal space to move my arms.
It is never acceptable to use the person in front of you’s back as an impromptu drum set if you did not come to the concert with them and/or do not know them at all. There is literally no benefit to beating on a stranger’s back like it’s a drum unless this is some new bizarre form of massage you’re practicing – in which case I think it’s still good manners to ask first. (Then again, what do I know. It would hardly be the first time I’ve been dragged into a situation where I get repeatedly hit in the back in a semi-rhythmic fashion for no reason. …that’s a weird story. I’ll leave it to your imagination.)
With these three tips, you should be well-armed to not be a complete concert douche. That said guys, it was a good show. Really. I’ve just got this concert problem where I think I’m getting too old for the right up against the stage seating due to the extreme levels of jostling about, but I’m also kind of too short to see pretty much anywhere else. I haven’t figured out the right balance for that, but I have figured out that if I go to another Bad Religion show in the future, I’ll hang toward the back where I’m less likely to get kicked in the head.
I thought I had a great spot when I got there. I was excited because I thought it meant I would get a few really good photos. I don’t take many, and I’ve learned it’s best to get them out of the way in the beginning of the set, before the energy level really kicks up, but I like taking a few snaps of the band. It’s the main appeal of being right up against the rail. I mean, acoustics tend to be clearer further back, so if you don’t care if you can see, it’s not really worth it to be smashed up that close, in the thick of it. I was really happy to have a leaning post that could help me keep my balance when things got rough later in the night, and to not be behind that 6+ ft tall guy who somehow always ends up directly in front of me at concerts. But, man, I took a beating for it at this show. I was under at least a dozen crowd-surfers. I got kicked in the head by a shoe at least 4 times(I lost count. I remember two that hurt rather a lot. The others didn’t leave a lasting impression, so to speak.), I got kneed in the face once, and then an utter failure of a crowd-surf had my face pressed into the barrier so hard that for a few moments I wasn’t sure if my nose was bleeding or not. I had several different security guards ask if I was okay, on several different occasions. I must have looked pretty rough. One of them offered me a bottle of water (which I declined. I wasn’t thirsty. I was just seeing stars from being kneed in the cheek only moments after having my nose all but smashed in, and water wasn’t going to help that. If they’d offered me an ice pack, on the other hand…).
One thing I did notice was that periodically, right when the crowd was a bit too hyped, when the crowd surfers were coming too quickly…there would be a calm, slightly extra long intro to a song that eased everything up just long enough for me to re-calibrate before the next round. I don’t know if that’s pure coincidence, or the work of an experienced genius at gauging a crowd, or just happened to coincide with points where the band squeezed in a moment’s reprieve from playing, but whatever the case, it was amazing every time. Because I wanted them to play, I wanted to hear all these songs I grew up with, but I also wanted my head to stop spinning long enough that I could actually enjoy hearing them live, and that’s a bit hard when you’re experiencing head trauma every 90 seconds.
Now, having got through my complaining, and being in the house for a bit, having iced my poor nose/lip and had a little something to eat, I think I’m ready to break out the individual bands and show you some photos. I’m not sure if I got pics of all the members of Bad Religion. I tried, but due to the lighting and the fact it took all of 10 seconds of them being on stage before the crowd was so riled up that I couldn’t keep my hand steady to get a decent shot, I think I might have missed one guitarist and had a very hard time getting a decent shot of the other. I did, however, thanks to all the bouncing and not having arm mobility enough to put my phone away, delete four photos of my hand and the underside of my nose.
Dave Hause
Out of context, this seems like an odd opener for a punk show since it was just two guys with guitars and a keyboard (in context, he apparently played with several punk bands through the 90s, so there’s the connection). I dug this set. Without bass or drums it was pretty mellow considering what we all knew was coming, but I really liked what I heard and will most likely be picking an album to buy once I have hearing in both of my ears again so I can decide what I want.
Also, his partner in crime this set was his brother, Tim. The family that plays together, right? Or something like that.
Against Me!
This is actually the 2nd time I’ve been to an Against Me! show – actually the 2nd time I’ve been to an Against Me! show at the Starland Ballroom, come to think of it. The first time, I forget who was opening for them, but it was some emo band guy that apparently is all the rage with the high schoolers. I remember that being a cause for disdain for me, because of the crowd, and because the crowd was all quite young (and annoyingly teenaged. lol). I thought opening for Bad Religion it would be better for me, less bubbly screaming teenagers, a more age-mixed crowd. And, while that was true, I still managed to somehow end up standing next to teenagers. I guess that’s just my lot in life.
Still, while the crowd was riled, it wasn’t so riled that the jostling prevented my view, which was much better than the last time I saw them. So this was a win for me. I got to see the stage clearly for them this time. Yay.
On a side note, their bassist is seriously bouncy. I’m convinced the only time you can get a picture of him that doesn’t turn into just one giant mostly human-shaped blur is in those rare moments when he’s at the mic.
Bad Religion
I was actually kind of surprised by the amount of younger people at a Bad Religion show. It’s not a complaint, but I was definitely expecting a crowd from around my age on up. I think it was fairly mixed, though. Here’s a ‘showing my age’ sort of story for those of you too young to remember what the world was like before a computer in every house. While a lot of my classmates did have computers at home, we didn’t get one until I was in college and couldn’t possibly do without one any longer. So, in high school, the way I discovered new bands was mostly by taking note of the patches on the jackets of my classmates. If I saw a patch of a band or two I knew I liked, I mentally recorded the other bands that person was wearing to look up later. And, that’s how I discovered Bad Religion back in the day. I ended up buying one of their greatest hits albums because it had the most songs on it so was therefore the best deal for a high-schooler living on limited cash, and just playing the death out of it. By the time I got my first ipod, I ended up having to replace several of the tracks because the CD was so battle-weary from overplaying that I couldn’t digitize about 1/4 of the album.
They ended up hitting on a lot of my favorite songs in this set, which was cool for me. They’re one of those bands I love, but somehow still managed to lose track of over the years, so I didn’t know if I’d be going into a set of mostly songs I’d never heard, or what, but I heard most of my favorite tracks, which was pretty cool, all said (in spite of repeated blows to the head).
On a side note, the Starland Ballroom has added metal detectors, which I find a little odd when put into the context of other, similar venues in higher-risk locations still being satisfied with bag checks and a pat down. I also notice more security guards every time I’m there. It’s true the Starland’s crowd tends to be rowdy, but more ‘should have worn a helmet and/or padding’ kind of rowdy, not ‘concealed weapon’ kind of rowdy. It’s not that big of a deal, but be aware that going in you’re going to have to empty your pockets completely. They’ve got a sign above the door telling you what to take out and what to leave in, but they’re going to make you empty your pockets of everything anyway during pat down, so you might as well just throw that hair tie and chapstick in the bin at the start so you can avoid digging through your pockets twice. I actually stuffed my things directly into my pockets to streamline the process – it was just hair tie, chapstick, a bit of cash, a pack of gum, my ID and phone, and earbuds (which I just forgot to take out of my pocket from earlier in the day). A quick pat down usually goes faster than opening up even my little wallet-sized handbag for them to dig through, but having to empty my pockets actually took longer than a bag search would have, so next time I’ll just use the bag and save myself twenty seconds of trying to remember what’s in my pockets when the security guard asks.
Actually, every time I go to Starland there’s a shiny, new security protocol in check. I get big, bad, crazy world, etc etc, and it doesn’t hurt to be cautious. As it stands, it’s really not that big of a deal (I just find it peculiar, really, given the area and demographics, when put into the context of other, similar venues.). I’m just saying that if they add any more security protocols, I might have to make sure to wear slip-ons. As it is, having a cup of water in the pit instead of a bottle is such a nuisance that I just don’t hydrate at concerts anymore (this is also normal. I’ve noticed all the venues do this now. I have no idea why. Was there a water-bottle throwing riot that I don’t know about? And, if so, why are people so effing weird?)
Anyway, that’s really more than enough of my rambling for one night. I was planning to upload a bunch of pictures today, but got as far as putting them on my desktop before I ran out of time. Getting my phone cleared up and uploading the mobile photos to instagram took longer than I expected it to. Maybe I’ll get around to uploading from the camera to the blog tomorrow, but given how many things I still have to do, I don’t suggest holding your breath waiting. I was also planning to record the new song this afternoon, which also did not happen. I have a lot to do over the weekend, but hopefully I will manage to tackle at least something from the blog to-do list.
Okay, so I forgot I didn’t post this oh…uh…almost a month ago. I wrote it on the sly from work, and then I forgot about it completely. Now, as hiking weather gives way to suffocating heat (seriously guys, I have central air, but my bedroom still gets pretty darn warm due to the vent not being enough for the room it’s in and there being none on the side of the room nearest the window, which is where my chair and bed happen to be. The past several days have been an unbearable sauna.), I look back and go ‘oh, shit. I never posted that. I thought I posted that.’
So, what comes below was written ages ago, and I’ve forgotten most of it, and I might not even still think the things I thought at the time, but whatever. So here goes…
Yet again, the universe conspired against me trying to get to a Halo Called Fred show. Those of you who’ve been following my blog know my track record for seeing their shows reads something like: torrential downpour, dad’s birthday, entire town of Piscataway closed – drove halfway across the state getting wrong directions from traffic cops the entire way, scheduling conflict. Oh, look another scheduling conflict. And, that one time that I just felt like I was going to die.
In other words: things always go swimmingly.
Seriously though guys, the fates conspire, and this past Saturday was no different. Once again I had a scheduling conflict. I’d been planning on probably going to the Halo show in New Brunswick, also got invited out with friends to an outdoor movie. Being well and truly broke, the latter was tempting only because I didn’t have to pay a red cent to do it, but in the end, since I missed most of the Steampunk set I did decide to go see Halo in the end, and just, you know, get creative with the odds and ends in my cupboards this week (mostly joking, things are not THAT dire, but the parking fees in New Brunswick border on extortion.).
So, yay, going to a concert. It’s a beautiful day. I went for a nice hike earlier in the day and got some nice photos of the reservoir. I couldn’t be bothered to do anything about my kind of ratty ponytail, and the closest I got to makeup was unearthing a tube of emergency chapstick, but whatever. Everything from here should be fine, right? Wrong. The GPS on my phone suddenly decided to flake out on me for no reason. That’s right, the phone, which was tracking me properly IN THE WOODS a few spare hours earlier (the same exact woods it refused to track me in last week) suddenly couldn’t find me on a major highway. For no reason. So, I had to go in the old school, death defying way: pull up a direction list and read them as needed while driving.
…and we talk about how cell phones are dangerous.
Whatever, I got there. As for getting home at the end of the night? I read street signs I used my internal mental map and shoddy memory to guess my way home, which went surprisingly well, because I can tell you some hilarious stories about what happens when you trust street signs in New Jersey.
Anyway, I got there. Ratty ponytail, faulty GPS, hiking clothes n’all. (To be fair, though, my hiking clothes and my ‘whatever, I’m presentable enough to be seen in public’ clothes are the same clothes.)
Onward to the concert!
First up was Love Gas
I knew less than nothing about this band going in, so my summation is pretty brief. If you want to walk into a dive bar and feel like you’ve been transported back in time to 1997, Love Gas is probably your jam. That’s not a bad thing. The 90s were a good time for music. But, as I was watching the show I was trying to put my finger on what about them seemed oddly familiar. About half way through it hit me that they sounded like every band I forgot that I used to love when I was sixteen and was just SO SURE I would be listening to for-like-EVER. Ah, sixteen. In any case, once that thought weaseled into my gray matter it stayed there and made the rest of the set feel weirdly nostalgic.
After that was A Halo Called Fred followed by Trio of Madness
I’ve talked about them on the blog before, so I guess there’s not really a lot to say that hasn’t been said before. They hit a few of my favorites and some new stuff. The sound guy was very excited that he figured out how to properly mic the tupperware, which, come to think of it, is probably a delicate science. Never thought of that before, but as I struggle just to get sound balance between a guitar and my voice, I have a newfound admiration for sound guys. They’re basically the unsung superheroes of music.
I find the difference between sets at bars and sets at geek events interesting. At geek events, there’s really no need for Halo to preface with “we’re geeks” because, uh…no shit. A bar? That’s a whole different atmosphere to navigate. Still, I got to see a full set, which makes up for my Steampunk World’s Fair driving fiasco.
And, I talked to some of the band this time. Okay, they talked to me, and I managed to respond without unwittingly giving off any seriously curmudgeonly vibes. Social skills: Leveled up 0.000001%. (Why can’t I just talk to actual people the way I talk on my blog? Oh, wait. I’m a crappy blogger who only comments on about 1% of the crap I read. Never mind.)
So, I thought I was in for a pretty ordinary bar concert experience, really, but I sort of got called up to the stage because “I know you play guitar, you have an entire blog about playing guitar!” Okay, I have an entire blog about a) LEARNING to play guitar. B) it’s more like a fraction of a blog since I also talk about ukulele and take pictures, and do poetry, and go to concerts and occasionally actually touch my bass….so it’s more like a fraction of a blog about kinda/sorta playing a little bit of guitar with a side of doing a whole fuck ton of other things. But, I guess, one COULD consolidate all that down to “you have a whole blog about playing guitar”. Technically. Haha.
The end result of this is that I ended up getting up, and realizing only belatedly ‘I’m a lefty, wth am I supposed to do with a right handed guitar?’ The answer. One note. Low E. Over and over again. This was kind of a bizarre learning experience for me on the grounds that I’ve never played any instrument with another person/other instrument…ever. (That said, who knows if cowbell guy had ever played anything ever, so I am choosing to believe I was not alone in my general feeling of totally clueless. Lol) And, then there I am with an upside down right handed guitar, which I have not attempted to do since I popped my lip open on a squier trying to make that work(because, you know, as fun as bodily injury is and all…) on a stage with the band I went to the show to see like ‘fuck it. Whatever. This is all totally normal.’
So, I guess I had a sort of impromptu lesson on listening to other instruments and just doing that. Pretty sure that only works on the fly if you’re only playing one note, though.
For further social skill level up points, I had an incredibly brief conversation with another person who had a similar name to mine without managing to scare her off, either. Maybe I’m getting better at this dealing with people who don’t live in the computer thing. Does guitar give you an automatic +1 on social skills?
Life, you are so weird.
(BTW, just in case I’ve never mentioned it – if I ever take a photo of your band or your venue that you want to utilize, go for it. If you’re in the picture, I figure that gives you rights to do whatever the heck you want with it. If you’re not a member of the band or have anything to do with the venue, just ask first. 99.9% odds I won’t care.)
I had such plans today, guys. Okay, so most of those plans involved napping (LOTS of napping), but there were totally other plans. I was supposed to have the house to myself until around 6 pm, on my recovery day before heading back to work tomorrow, but NOOO. Roomie’s had a minor car issue and now I have to listen to his TV all day.
SO, those big plans to work on the poetry album recordings: thwarted again.
Instead, then, I’ll get back to that promise to talk more about this year’s Steampunk World’s Fair. This post is going to be gigantic; it’s the first year I attended all three days, so there’s a lot of data to cover, and some bands I’ll say more about than others. I still missed some of it, but that’s how it goes. I had planned to see some smaller acts Sunday, but it was just too darn cold, so I ended up watching multiple sets of my favorites instead.
The full photo album can be found on facebook: here. I’ll be posting one photo for each band here, but if you want to see all of the photos, use the link.
To give you an idea of what the Steampunk World’s Fair is like, I’ll talk about my breakfast for the 3 days of festival.
Day 1: Eggs & Toast.
Day 2: 12 oz Coffee and an egg salad sandwich (while driving).
Day 3: 16 oz Coffee and Fritos.
By the way, I don’t even like coffee. I only drink it when energy matters are dire. I’m not sure it even helps. Mostly I just pretend it does because it makes me feel like I’ve taken steps to ease my transition from Blanket Monster to Functioning Human Being.
SO, I’m going to try to be not entirely all over the map about this, but by day 3, my brain was clearly turning into a puddle of goo. This is the only reasoning I can use to explain why I thought coffee and fritos counted as a reasonable breakfast choice.
And, here’s the point where I look back at the last 3 days of posts so I can give you something resembling a coherent run-down:
1. JEFF MACH: I have been attending this event since before it was at it’s current location (I think the first year I went it was at the Doubletree?), and I have missed his set every single year, in spite of efforts to the contrary. It was like I was being conspired against. Either it was opposite something I absolutely was no-way-in-hell going to miss, or it ended up cancelled and I missed it for that reason. So, this year, when I looked at the schedule and had to debate between what to see and what to miss, I decided this was the best place to start. Besides, I saw ‘Steam Accountant’ on facebook a while back and it makes me laugh, so I wanted to check it out.
I also thought that the event creator’s set seemed like a really great starting point for the event.
Jeff Mach is also the creator of the steampunk musical, Absinthe Heroes, which I hear is awesome. Go see it if you have the chance, and I’ll live vicariously through you until I can afford both to see the show AND support the vendors at the fair – a position I just wasn’t in this year.
I’m not sure if he has any of his music for sale anywhere. (I would totally buy ‘Steam Accountant’, at the least, if I could. Instead, I will have to settle for watching it 1000x on Youtube). If anyone knows, tell me and I’ll update this post with a link.
Jeff Mach (left) with Nathaniel Johnstone (right).
2.MANSARA: I missed Mansara last year. I remember wanting to check her out, but vetoing it because it was in the same time slot as something else I wasn’t missing no matter what. It was most likely Frenchy & the Punk. …it’s usually Frenchy & the Punk. lol.
ANYWAY, Mansara is French, with a voice the likes of which will make you forget to breathe for a second when you first hear it. Seriously. Wow. I’d checked her out on youtube ahead of time, and I was still not prepared at all for what an awesome voice she has.
Mansara
3. THE NATHANIEL JOHNSTONE BAND: I’m going to admit some guilt on this one. When they were announced for SPWF I didn’t really get why everyone was so riled up. I had zero context for why this was a big deal, and checking them out online I just sort of felt indifferent.
Maybe I’d check it out. Maybe I wouldn’t. (an aside to put things into context, I’m not easy to outwardly excite.)
Anyway, all the years bleed together. I’m not quite sure when this was at a glance, and at first wanted to say last year, but that’s absolutely not possible, once I put together what I do remember: the midway stage was under a tent, which it has not been in 2-3 years, and that they were on before, I believe, Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings, who I think had just released ‘For the Weak and the Weary’. That means this had to be about 3 years ago. I happened to catch the tail end of their set, and found myself surprised because I hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic.
Fast forward in time and for…you know, reasons, I still hadn’t caught their set. This year I decided to make sure to do so at some point, which is a lot easier when you have 3 days to make the scheduling work, and am now the owner of my first album (which is, okay, their most recent album. I’ll work my way backwards. That’s the norm for me anyway.).
4. Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings: I’ve talked about these guys before. I think I first discovered them with the ‘to the Weak and the Weary’ album, but I’ve also mentioned the album ‘Let this House Burn Slowly’ is one of the most visually attractive CDs I’ve ever seen. (Seriously, even without talking about the music, it’s super-pretty).
So, of course I was going to have to see at least one Eli August set this weekend, so I saw the set at the courtyard stage, which I think had the least number of people on an Eli August show I’ve ever seen. haha. The first time I ever saw them, the stage was so cramped it was a wonder nobody got elbowed in the face. Actually, I wasn’t going to see this set, because I knew I’d be finishing the weekend off with their set at the midway, which is usually the best one (acoustically speaking), but the Humanwine set at the midway was cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.
Anyway, lo and behold, they ALSO were debuting a new album this weekend, so I grabbed that, as well as a shorter album that wasn’t in my collection yet.
Then, come Sunday, at the midway…omg, guys, it was COLD. I almost decided to skip this set in part due to just…exhaustion, and in part due to the fact that the wind, even in a jacket (that is not as warm as it looks) I could almost feel my teeth chattering. The wind chill dropped the “feels like” temperature under 50. And then it started to rain.
Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings (well, some of them. there are like…2 and 2 half people cut off in this shot)
5. Ingimar Oddsson: I always try to prioritize the foreign musicians if I’m in a time slot where there are a few possible things to see. The logic is simple: local musicians, or at least local to this country, are more likely to make the trip back to New Jersey again eventually. And, when it’s a foreign performer against a foreign performer, I’m going to choose the one I haven’t seen before. I have rules to make navigating a busy schedule less overwhelming. That made Ingimar Oddsson, who is from Iceland, a no-brainer to me. That was absolutely the set I was going to check out.
Apparently not everyone feels the same way though, and this poor guy go two of the WORST possible time slots, not even one bad one, and one that sucked. Literally, he had two genuinely horrible time slots to perform in. I’m not entirely sure, because I sat pretty close to the front, but I may have been an audience of one. Two other people sat down for a few minutes, but didn’t stay. I don’t know what was going on towards the back of the room. Either way, when you’re not even sure if there are other people in the audience, it’s pretty easy to say the turnout was horrible.
It’s not his fault. Frankly, I’m choosing to blame This Way to Egress. They were the other band playing at the same time, and they’re so popular among the SPWF crowd, that he stood very little chance against that. And, his only other set was at 10 in the morning. I hope that one worked out better for him, but the fair is usually virtually a ghost town until 11. Only those of us truly dedicated to geekiness and music tend to haul our ass out for a show that starts at 10. And, you know, the insomniacs.
I’m gonna be honest, even if the set was horrible, I’d have stayed anchored to my seat as a matter of course. But, he was good, so I made sure to buy his album on site. Festivals are really the only time I opt for physical CDs, for two reasons:
Firstly, so the performers can see that you appreciate what they’re doing. There’s something more immediate about an exchange of currency and product than a random number on the internet that says ‘look, some faceless entity inside the computer bought a thing you did’.
Secondly, for more budgetary reasons: musicians often offer deals at festivals. So if I save a dollar or two on this person’s album, that’s a dollar or two I have to maybe support another artist I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise – maybe if I save $2 at this booth, and another $2 at that booth, then I’ll be able to buy a single, or a download card, or throw a few bucks at one of the buskers. Or…buy a piece of chocolate. You know, whichever. The point is, what money I save of the money I budgeted for the event is money that goes to someone else at the event that I wouldn’t have had to give if I was paying full price. That doesn’t mean there aren’t artists I wait and download at home on, but it does mean I choose who to buy from on site, and that guy who had the saddest turnout you’ve ever seen by fault of having a horrible time slot? Yeah, he’s the one you buy from on site. Every time.
6. The Men that Will Not be Blamed for Nothing: The last time these guys came to SPWF, it was only half the band, due to health issues. They did a comedy/acoustic set, and I bought both of their CDs at some ungodly hour of a Saturday night. So, when I heard they’d be back again this year with the full band, I had two thoughts at just about the same time: ‘YES!’ and ‘I’m buying a t-shirt.’
This is also part budget-consciousness. I’m not sure if I can buy a t-shirt from them online, but I do know quite well what shipping between the US and UK costs, and it’s enough to bring you to tears. Ergo,buying a t-shirt was literally my #1 purchasing priority…besides, I already own all the albums. I was looking really forward to seeing what a set would look like with the full band, and they certainly have a lot of fun with it. I think there were parts of their sets where they spent more energy trying to make each other laugh than worrying much about what the audience was up to, and that’s really fun, even though I didn’t always catch the joke through the laughing.
I wasn’t sure I was going to go to the Sunday set at the Embassy Stage after seeing the Midway set, since there was other stuff that might have been cool to see, too. I mean, I already know The men that Will Not be Blamed for Nothing are awesome. But, I don’t know if that other thing is also awesome. So, I waited until the last minute to decide…but guys, did I mention yesterday was fucking cold? So yeah, I went to both sets. (The Embassy stage is the bane of my photo-taking existence, btw. I have to take like 6 photos for every one that kinda-sorta comes out not a blurry mess, so here’s a mediocre shot from the Midway stage.)
7. Lenino: This is another one of those performers that I miss every year due to scheduling conflicts, and the internet doesn’t provide me with very much information on him, but I can tell you he’s a renaissance man of sorts. He’s a game designer-slash-singer/songwriter, and plays piano. It looks like a first album is in process, but not released. My favorite of this set was a song about a grumpy old witch. I forgot the name of it, though.
Lenino (as noted above. Embassy stage sucks for taking photos. Yes, this is actually the clearest photo I got of this set. Yeesh.)
8. Frenchy and the Punk: Guys, do you really need me to talk more about this group? You already know how much I like them, right?
But, I’ll combine and say that this year Scott Helland (the Punk) also got some solo sets which are vastly instrumental guitar stuff. Last year, I bought his solo albums ‘Earthbound’ and ‘Brocade’. This year when I walked by their booth I didn’t see anything I didn’t already own (though I know that I don’t own the oldest of Scott’s solo albums, and they exist somewhere in the universe).
Frankly, as someone who can’t wear tshirts to work, until my current F&P tee starts to get haggard, I can’t really justify buying another one, and I buy their albums digitally, so there was actually nothing new and shiny for me to purchase this year. It’s the first year I haven’t bought something from their booth. I feel almost guilty. But, I think since they’re getting my money one way or the other, whether they get it on SPWF weekend or when their albums happen to release is probably pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Frenchy & the PunkScott Helland (solo) …and I like this picture because he’s drumming with a Sharpie. lol.
9. Sharon Knight & Winter: I basically ran from The Frenchy and the Punk set to this one. It was something new and shiny, happening only once the entire weekend, so I wanted to see what it was. Mostly the set felt more Renaissance than Steampunk, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Steampunk is what you make it, after all. There was definitely a Celtic sort of vibe, though. This set made me realize that I don’t make out lyrics as well at high pitches as I do at low pitches, which I never noticed before. So, I’m going to have to revisit this before I know if I just like it, or like it enough to own it. My ears need to give the tracks another go and get used to the high notes before I have a solid opinion.
Sharon Knight and Winter
10. Humanwine: Their first set at the main stage was unfortunately cancelled due to them still being stuck in traffic, but I was able to see their second set …even if I chose the worst possible seat for taking photos.
I’m used to seeing Humanwine with guitars, and the latest album set is keys and electronics. While that’s not acoustically bad, I do admit that in terms of just watching the set, I miss the guitars. They just make for a more animated, mobile sort of set than when they’re sort of stuck behind their respective boxes. That doesn’t mean the set was bad; there’s no such thing as a bad Humanwine set, but it was different.
The world we’re living in now is so tech savvy that laptops on stages is becoming pretty normal. It’s not as much fun to look at and take pictures of, though.
11. A Halo Called Fred: I missed most of this set. I got my butt out of bed. I bought a “healthy” breakfast of coffee and fritos as a matter of expedience. I was set to arrive with about 15 minutes to spare. …and then the police, for reasons unknown, shut down, basically half of the town of Piscataway. My GPS kept driving me around in circles. (Note to tech-heads. A GPS app that, after it tells you to make a turn, and you don’t make it, two or three times in a row, that asks if you want an alternate route, would be awesome. Obviously if you’ve told me to make a turn 3 times and I didn’t make it, it’s time for a new fucking plan!) Eventually, my only recourse was to drive in a straight line far enough past where I wanted to be that I would be behind the site in question, and navigate to the Raddison instead of the Embassy, choosing the longest possible route from the menu, to force it to take me in from the other end, I arrived in time to see the last two or three songs. It’s not quite the same as seeing the full set, especially since it was “Barry the Steampunk Monster the Improv Musical” which sounded like it had the potential to be hilarious in the most third grade sort of way possible, but better than missing it entirely, I suppose.
At least Halo is relatively local; which means if they would just stop only having gigs on days I’m stuck at birthday parties that I can’t get out of, I will have other opportunities to catch them. (Seriously, their last two or three sets all fell on someone’s birthday. Clearly, I need less friends, or at least friends who are less important.)
Anyway, I’ve talked about Halo before, so I don’t think I need to say much here. They’re just one of those bands that awakens your inner 12 year old and invites it out to play. It’s a bit like…hm…shall I call them the Peter Pan of Steampunk? They bring some much-needed levity into the world.
They’ve also just released a new album (which you can snag via bandcamp):
12. Psyche Corp: Once again, this is a group that I miss over and over again because they’re always opposite someone else. I’d have missed them this year, too, for the same reason, but I’d seen the other band’s set the day before so decided to give it a shot. I survived half of it. It wasn’t that they were bad. It was that I was freezing, and I knew a band I always enjoy was playing somewhere inside, and theoretically, by virtue of being out of the wind, warmer. I missed several things I’d planned to see Sunday due to the weather being less than thrilling (even with a jacket), but I sat through this set as long as I could. Their costumes were no help to my cold bug. I was in a jacket and hat. They were bare armed and legged. I just kept watching them, thinking ‘they have to be freezing’…this only made me colder. But, I saw enough of them to get an idea of what I’ve been missing every year at least. It’s a bit more tecnhopop (??) to be to my taste, but that doesn’t make it not good, if that’s a genre you enjoy. I would have sat through the full set if I wasn’t so cold, which I think says something from someone who doesn’t particularly care for this genre of music in general.
13. This Way to Egress: Here’s another band that, by sheer chance of scheduling conflicts I’ve never seen in spite of them being on the schedule every year.
(Preface: remember going into these comments that this is Sunday afternoon after 3 days of festival, and that I’m a very tired introvert fueling myself on chips, coffee, and fruit snacks at this point due to being too fricking worn out to even make a normal breakfast…in other words, my reaction on Friday afternoon might have been quite different.)
I discovered really quickly that, like Steam Powered Giraffe, they have really fricking annoying, overly-energetic fans. I get that’s what bands want. I do. Really. But I also don’t want them on top of me being all…bubbly and energetic in my personal space. I’m not claustrophobic, but that is the shit that claustrophobia is made of.
At the end of a Sunday, I just…couldn’t people anymore. And that many of them, that giddy, and that close…it didn’t take me long before my brain snapped ‘fuck these people’ and I got up out of my seat for a strategic retreat. I retreated, at first, to the back of the room. I thought further back, where maybe no one or very few people were sitting, I could stretch out a little, kind of take it all in in a more low intensity sort of way. I just needed some breathing room. Then, I realized they were dancing in some kind of psychotic daisy chain up and down the isles. Argh.
As a result, I really wasn’t able to give the band a fair chance. They seemed good. They did. I want to make that clear. And, I will look them up again from the safety of the internet, or maybe early in the festival, when my tolerance for socialization is higher, but I will not be going to any end-of-fair shows of theirs ever again, because I just don’t have the energy level to keep up with that much happening at once, that close to me, when I’m tired and looking as forward to the shows being over as I am looking forward to the shows themselves.
I did the only thing that made sense. I retreated about halfway into the set for a sandwich and some open air.
…cold as it was, and finished off the festival with the Eli August set at the midway, which was more or less the plan to begin with. Most of my plan for Sunday, once I got there, became ‘where is it warm? That’s where I’m going to be.’
So, I spent the day debating on whether or not to go to this show tonight. One of my comic friends was going to be performing, and one part of me thought ‘it’s good to get out of the house’. Another part of me wasn’t sure if it could will itself to be bothered with people. The latter is the part of me that couldn’t decide if it could be fucked about grown up pants on a Saturday. For anyone that might wonder wth ‘grown up pants’ are: anything with a button and/or that I can’t wear to bed.
I was feeling really kind of blargh today. Not sick, but lazy as hell. One part of me wanted to erupt out of the house the second it stopped raining. The other part didn’t want to do anything but watch movies and noodle with my bass. Both voices in my head were equally convincing. So, while I had said I might go to this women performers thing…I also have a weird relationship with femme events that tends to weaken my desire to attend.
As much as I hate ‘stating my credentials’, in this case it’s necessary for context. My bestie is a gay guy, which means I have more LGBTQ friends than heterosexual ones. As a result, I end up going to my fair share of LGBTQ events; that just happens to be where my friends are hanging out. No problem with it, really, but that I supposedly give off “lesbian vibes” (They call it lesbian vibes, anyway. I call it having a strong preference for comfortable clothing and a love affair with 4 letter words.), can cause awkward moments at LGBTQ venues. Sometimes that’s funny, but when my introversion is in high gear, I just don’t always have the energy for putting myself in a situation with high potential for having to go through the whole ‘I’m a supporter, not a member of the club’ thing. When I’m having a more social day, or my roomie is around to save me if necessary, mostly it ends up being funny. But, it can get exhausting after a while, and when I’m not feeling particularly social, going to girl-only events can be ill-advised.
Today I was feeling pretty introverted, but I was also feeling like getting out and going for a drive, or a walk, or anything not in the house, for a bit was high on the agenda. So, when 6 pm rolled around and I still was undecided, I decided that meant to just get my damn grown-up pants on and go. I had to get to the store this weekend anyway, because I really REALLY needed to at least buy a few pairs underwear that weren’t so old the elastic doesn’t elastic anymore (oh, was that TMI? Tough.), and if I didn’t do that today, I was going to have no choice but to go tomorrow.
I did, however, take my sweet time. The event started with a mingler at 7:30 and the show starting at 8. I made sure not to be there by 7:30. I got there around 7:50, and took a seat next to a friend who was also attending. “I’ll sit next to you, so we can be antisocial together.” I joked. She said she was surprised I came. I said “I know. I’m surprised, too.” But, what can I say, music always lures me to events I might otherwise not be interested in, and in the end, I’m glad I went because I discovered a new-to-me artist: Robin Renee.
Since I know very little about her, and since it’s 1 am, I’ll just link you to her website so you can investigate yourself:
She does a mix of the singer/songwriter genre and what’s been dubbed “mantra-pop”. I won’t pretend I fully know what this means, but it seems to be a blending of pop music and spirituality.
I did get to see an instrument live in action that I’ve never even heard of before tonight, which was pretty neat. For the last song of the evening she sat on the floor and played the harmonium.
Which appears to be some sort of combination between a piano and an accordion.
After the show, I did buy one of the download cards for CD Baby, and that ended up being a smart choice, because it looks like they were cheaper at the show than the downloads are online. (Yes, her stuff is also on Amazon, and I would imagine probably Itunes, so pick your poison.)
And, for having bought a thing, I got the ‘All I Am’ single download code for free.
I gotta say, I kind of really dig the download card concept. I’m completely over a world of bogging myself down with physical CDs given a digital option, especially in a world where laptops are no longer coming with DVD drives by default, and where tablets are becoming central to home computing. It’s just so much more efficient, and I imagine something like download cards are very much the wave of the future for purchasing music at shows. I know some people still really dig physical media, but I, for one, have enough stuff cluttering up my house as it is.
I decided to pick one of the singer/songwriter albums, which I have not listened to yet. I hope it has songs on it that I heard tonight. I have no idea if it does or not. She did some mantra-pop songs too, which I did enjoy, but I think that’s a genre that I need to investigate further before I know if it’s a ‘hit or miss’ or something I’m going to enjoy across the board, so I figured the singer/songwriter album would be more of a sure thing to start with, so went that route for now. I’ll look into the other stuff later.
Here’s the single, for some quickie listening for those of you feeling too lazy to look her up:
I kept myself quite antisocial at the event and basically flew out of the place once the show was over, to conserve as much energy as possible, but it was a small show at an intimate venue, so I didn’t run myself down too much.
Until Next Time, music continues to lure me out into social situations, in spite of my hermit tendencies.
You know, I haven’t been in the Wonder Bar for a show in years. I don’t know exactly how many. I have to use life landmarks to try to figure it out. The last show I saw there was Bowling for Soup with Patent Pending and the Dollyrots. Now, when could that have been? Well, the friend who joined me now has a toddler, and she definitely wasn’t pregnant yet. I’m not sure if she was even married. It was pre-mohawk for Joe Pending, and I believe pre-Second Family album. I remember buying the I’m Not Alone EP at that show, which was their most recent release at the time. The internet tells me that that was released in 2010. Since Second Family was released the following year, that narrows things down.
Ergo, I haven’t been to that particular venue in at least 5 years. Wow, that’s longer than I thought. Where a lot of the Asbury venues are small concert venue meets bar, the Wonderbar is the opposite – it’s a bar first, a concert venue second. There’s a teeny little stage stuffed into the corner. That doesn’t make it a bad place to go see a show; the small venues are my favorite ones. It is worth noting on acoustics, though. Up close to the stage, you’re just not going to make out a lot of…you know…words.
Mind, it’s the nature of concerts that the first band has the lowest sound quality and the headliners have the best, almost without exception, but I’m not joking when I say the first band said their name at least 5 times during their set. I’m still not 100% certain what that name is. I did look it up at the time, but relying on my sometimes shaky memory, I believe the opener’s name was Ropetree. Or something that a game of telephone would turn into that.
This was another concert that I was going into semi-blind. I’ve heard some Failure Anthem stuff, but I don’t particularly know them well enough to have had any opinion of them one way or the other. There were one or two songs that sounded vaguely familiar, but I’m honestly not sure. Shaman’s Harvest I discovered after falling into a Facebook rabbit hole followed by a Youtube sidebar rabbit hole several months ago. I liked what I heard quite a bit, though was only familiar enough to recognize maybe 3 or 4 songs when I heard them.
I like ‘Dangerous’ best, of the ones I kind of know.
Tickets were quite cheap, coming to around $15 all said, add to that the cost of parking, and the cost of hunting down something open along the boardwalk that I can actually eat (the salad/smoothie bar is apparently only open in the summer. Darn. I found a place that had tacos, so though that would be safe, and ended up spending six bucks and change to eat just taco filling. All this time I figured if something said ‘taco’ it implied the hard corn shell I grew up on. Not so. The thing was a soft taco. Soft taco=flour=not Shelby safe. I didn’t feel like making a fuss, when I ought to have asked, so I just grabbed a fork and picked out what filling wasn’t touching the shell, better that than starving.), and it ends up still being a cheap night out, since I don’t drink.
It was in the 50s, so I thought in a hoodie I’d be good to get some exercise in along the boardwalk, and went down way earlier than I needed to with that in mind.
The Beach @ Asbury Park.
What a BAD idea that was! I always underestimate how much the wind off the water chills things up along the beach this time of year. The sea hasn’t warmed up from the winter yet, even if the day is warm, so the sea air is quite bitter. I ended up killing time wandering through a few of the shops that were actually open – anything that could get me indoors for a few minutes. I did take a short walk, because damn it, that’s what I’d planned to do, but it wasn’t really enough that I can comfortably call it exercise. Mostly I just bounced up and down outside the venue. I tried to read my ebook to take my mind off the cold, but putting my hands in the pockets of my hoodie won out until the doors opened at 7.
And, THANK YOU Wonder Bar, for actually opening on time. I’ve been to too many venues recently that have a flexible idea of when doors ought to be, and as chilly as it was, punctual opening is all the more appreciated.
So, being a shorty, I normally make a b-line toward the stage, but I decided to plunk in a chair with my ebook instead. I had thought it might be better for acoustics to not be right on top of the stage, but it became clear that that wasn’t going to be feasible for someone my height if I wanted to take even a single picture, or see…anything. At all. So once the first act came to the stage I moved right on up to the front. The sound quality here is sketchy, but at least I’m not staring at the back of someone’s head all night.
Shaman’s Harvest (for the full photo album, check the facebook page: here)
As you can see from the above, any closer and I’d have been sitting in the band’s lap. I always have mixed feelings about being way up front. I aim for it, because I like not having to maneuver my view around someone’s head all night. But, I also know I’m not exactly big on audience participation, so I kind of feel guilty. I just never seem to look as happy about much of anything as I actually am, and when you’re in the super-front of the audience, that makes you a bit of a sore thumb. (Especially when you happen to be standing next to High-Five girl.) I’m just not…I dunno, bouncy. It’s not in my nature, so I guess it’s probably a good thing there’s always someone else in the front of the audience that’s bouncy and energetic enough for five people.
…I just wish I wasn’t always right next to her…because yeah, it sort of makes my lack of outward energy all the more glaring by comparison. I take some pictures, though. That’s sign enough that I’m happy to be there, right?
It was a pretty good night out, over all, though due to where I was located I will have to do some youtubing before I really have a feel for the bands I wasn’t very familiar with. On youtube, the vocals won’t sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown, and I’ll be able to make out more than 30% of the words. 🙂
I don’t have any particular plans for concerts in the immediate future. There’s a little local thing I might do next weekend, but at the moment I think it’s probably likely I’m going to be feeling introverty and flake on it. If I go, I’ll talk about it. We’ll see.
I have some stuff not related to concerts to talk about, too, but I’ll save that for another post. Will have another ‘Shelby learns stuff’ post up in the next few days.
Until Next Time, I have more bands on the ‘to investigate further’ list.
