I attended the First Annual Lansing Battle of the Bands show Saturday night at Macs and seeing the younger faces that made up most of the bands gave me new found respect, hope and love for music, especially local music.
The talent that resided in some of these kids was unbelievable. Their technical skills are really good considering that they are high school kids, and most looked like they were about 16. Seeing these kids show the passion for music gave me a new found hope in the local scene and in music in general. If there are kids like this everywhere, which I know there are it's just still nice to see it, then music has a promising future.
Even though most of the bands were not my first choice of genre/style/etc, they will be improving some life somewhere. They just have to keep pushing to get where they want to go.
Local music has always been one of my favorite things. Going to their shows, buying their $2 demo so they can have gas money for their next show or whatever they need to do, and just experiencing people who have the same passion as me. Without local music cities would be under-represented, under-appreciated, and just plain boring.
I have attended lots of local shows since I started school at MSU and it's been one of the greatest things I have found. The bands I've heard, the people I've met, nothing can replace it. If I had a shitty week and there's a show, no matter what day, I go and I forget everything. Let these bands' passion and talent melt away everything and just enjoy. There is nothing I would rather do than go see local bands perform- they can fix anything, some of them can even help you break into your car if you locked your keys in it.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
New songs- Hardships for local bands
One of the hardest parts of being in a local band, at least in my mind, is not coming up with new songs but the frequency in which you have to so the usual crowd doesn't get bored.
As everyone knows, big name bands go on tour for at least a year on their new album and during that time and the year after that they are writing and recording their new album. But for local bands it's different. They play a lot of the same bars, in front of a lot of the same people, and in order to keep people interested they have to come up with new songs. It's not always easy for bands to write new songs, the songwriter can write new lyrics, but the rest of the band has to be together or at least around to collaborate on the rest of the song.
This is unfair to local bands. The fact that they could lose people coming to their shows because everyone has heard the songs they are going to play, so they have to keep writing music- which is awesome, but there is more of a forced pressure to write a new song to add to your set list, than big name bands who can take years to get out a new single.
The Lansing local bands are lucky though. The community is very close and supportive, and people (unless they have to work) are usually always at their favorite bands' show. However, it is very nice when one of the bands around here writes and performs a new song- you feel part of their band, their life, because you get to experience it with them. so my advice to the local bands, not that they're not already doing it, is to keep writing and try and get a new song out there every couple of months- it'll keep people around and it'll probably add more.
As always support your local scene. Go check out bands and feel free to comment when you find ones you like.
As everyone knows, big name bands go on tour for at least a year on their new album and during that time and the year after that they are writing and recording their new album. But for local bands it's different. They play a lot of the same bars, in front of a lot of the same people, and in order to keep people interested they have to come up with new songs. It's not always easy for bands to write new songs, the songwriter can write new lyrics, but the rest of the band has to be together or at least around to collaborate on the rest of the song.
This is unfair to local bands. The fact that they could lose people coming to their shows because everyone has heard the songs they are going to play, so they have to keep writing music- which is awesome, but there is more of a forced pressure to write a new song to add to your set list, than big name bands who can take years to get out a new single.
The Lansing local bands are lucky though. The community is very close and supportive, and people (unless they have to work) are usually always at their favorite bands' show. However, it is very nice when one of the bands around here writes and performs a new song- you feel part of their band, their life, because you get to experience it with them. so my advice to the local bands, not that they're not already doing it, is to keep writing and try and get a new song out there every couple of months- it'll keep people around and it'll probably add more.
As always support your local scene. Go check out bands and feel free to comment when you find ones you like.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Cranefest 9-18-10
The last Cranefest of 2010 occurred Saturday night. The night was filled with good tunes and plenty of beer- for those who weren't on the list of under-21-year-olds- until the crack heard around the world.
At the end of Blacktooth Brigade's set, Daniel Neff put his guitar down to pack his stuff up and Clint Cox, the singer, took a horribly accidental step backwards snapping the neck of Neff's guitar. Everyone on stage froze and Neff just said "fuck it," grabbed the guitar and smashed it to pieces on the edge of the stage.
This was all a brave front though. That guitar was like Neff's baby, he picked out all the parts and built it up to what is was. The audience didn't really realize the impact of what just happened and neither did I until I heard about Neff building it from BTB's other guitarist Eric Wolfe. Neff left the farm soon after that, I don't know where Clint went and everyone could tell that Wolfe was not in a good mood about it either, but the audience members just kept on partying and took the guitar smashing as a truly rock n' roll type moment.
Now when touring bands smash a guitar they have at least two more backstage waiting for them, but that's not the case here. And that may be why the crack of that neck could be the downfall to BTB... at least for a little while. Throughout their set Neff was also having problems with his amp, and then his guitar gets busted... I'm worried that this will cause a big setback in the band and in their future, but only time will tell. And I hope it tells us that a Blacktooth Brigade show is coming up.
At the end of Blacktooth Brigade's set, Daniel Neff put his guitar down to pack his stuff up and Clint Cox, the singer, took a horribly accidental step backwards snapping the neck of Neff's guitar. Everyone on stage froze and Neff just said "fuck it," grabbed the guitar and smashed it to pieces on the edge of the stage.
This was all a brave front though. That guitar was like Neff's baby, he picked out all the parts and built it up to what is was. The audience didn't really realize the impact of what just happened and neither did I until I heard about Neff building it from BTB's other guitarist Eric Wolfe. Neff left the farm soon after that, I don't know where Clint went and everyone could tell that Wolfe was not in a good mood about it either, but the audience members just kept on partying and took the guitar smashing as a truly rock n' roll type moment.
Now when touring bands smash a guitar they have at least two more backstage waiting for them, but that's not the case here. And that may be why the crack of that neck could be the downfall to BTB... at least for a little while. Throughout their set Neff was also having problems with his amp, and then his guitar gets busted... I'm worried that this will cause a big setback in the band and in their future, but only time will tell. And I hope it tells us that a Blacktooth Brigade show is coming up.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Few New Faces
So there was a few changes in some of the local bands over the summer.
Steve Brower replaced Joseph Smith as bassist for Blacktooth Brigade. Smith said that it just wasn't fun anymore, and it seemed to be a mutual departure. Brower has played many shows with BTB since coming in as the replacement, and has done an awesome job. The band as commented before that he can pick things up really easily, so he fit with the band.
Another change, that occurred closer to the end of summer was the pretty much firing of Adam Ray, the singer of Endless Aisle. I've only heard things from other people in the local scene, but it seemed that the band didn't think he was progressing enough. I don't know about all that, but what I do know is that Ray was a good screamer, and he was an awesome promoter for his band. I'm curious to see what will happen to the band, in terms of how many shows the book, etc, and to see who will replace Ray- let's hope they have some pipes.
As always check out the bands I talk about and Support your local scene.
Steve Brower replaced Joseph Smith as bassist for Blacktooth Brigade. Smith said that it just wasn't fun anymore, and it seemed to be a mutual departure. Brower has played many shows with BTB since coming in as the replacement, and has done an awesome job. The band as commented before that he can pick things up really easily, so he fit with the band.
Another change, that occurred closer to the end of summer was the pretty much firing of Adam Ray, the singer of Endless Aisle. I've only heard things from other people in the local scene, but it seemed that the band didn't think he was progressing enough. I don't know about all that, but what I do know is that Ray was a good screamer, and he was an awesome promoter for his band. I'm curious to see what will happen to the band, in terms of how many shows the book, etc, and to see who will replace Ray- let's hope they have some pipes.
As always check out the bands I talk about and Support your local scene.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
