Admin
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 2,434
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2009 14:29:33 GMT -5
Getting a certain level of animosity for our less than positive perspective of the Urbana show: To be totally honest, I'm just glad people are reacting.
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Post by kim on Apr 5, 2009 14:36:38 GMT -5
I'm just glad that fasteddie1019 seems to think we're skinny.
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Post by sactochris on Apr 5, 2009 14:43:48 GMT -5
I think everyone needs to take a fuckin zanax or drink a beer or shoot some smack or whatever it takes and chill out. It's rock n roll not rocket science. It's supposed to be about just havin fun. Don't take it all so seriously.
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Admin
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 2,434
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2009 15:01:53 GMT -5
I think everyone needs to take a fuckin zanax or drink a beer or shoot some smack or whatever it takes and chill out. It's rock n roll not rocket science. It's supposed to be about just havin fun. Don't take it all so seriously. Thank you.
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Post by hoodrat on Apr 5, 2009 16:43:09 GMT -5
hahaha, you get hatemail.
on another note, having been the person crushed at a show before -- and once the person bitten -- by people nonmaliciously having a good time . . . the bruises still feel pretty malicious. people just having a good time still ought to look out for each other. right? right.
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Post by campfirewood1980 on Apr 5, 2009 17:52:51 GMT -5
Regarding the boys and girls who had a much better time at the Urbana show:
Glad you kids had fun. However, I refer you all to several previous threads regarding shows in general and Hold Steady shows in particular: we look out for each other. My going policy is always to introduce myself to the people around me, followed by the following disclaimer: If I mash your foot, I'll apologize. If I knock you down, I'll be the hand pulling you back up. If I spill your drink, I'm getting you another one. I rage pretty hard sometimes, but it doesn't give me carte blanche to ignore the people around me.
Oh, and I'll insist that you high-five me. I do that a lot.
Anyhow, it sounds like Brendan, Kim, and Emily got slammed by people who weren't looking out for the people around them, and that soured their experience. It doesn't invalidate your experiences, but the pleasure you took in the show doesn't make their perspective less true, either.
We don't kid around when we talk about being unified or "staying positive"- this is a crowd that, for the most part, gets up to get down with a raging intensity while still trying to doing their best to spread that sort of goodwill to other people at the show. It's the reason a lot of us wind up hugging complete strangers, not minding when we've been soaked in beer.
For those of you feeling generally down about the current tour or whatever, the DJ in my head is cuing this jam just for you:
Keep your heads up and keep the faith, guys. The Unified Scene isn't just about small shows and readily available tickets- though we all love those- but about something better. It's about a bunch of people from disparate backgrounds- really, this crowd is as catholic (as in "universal") as they come- coming together and embracing something that seems to feed something in each of us. I'm certainly not here for deals on small shows or cheap tickets, but I am here to see what happens when Sunny D. finally gets around to making another cycle of videos (have you seen his "Let's Get Incredible"? Seriously!) or get pumped when I see those blue tee shirts with the white screen printing turn up in the New York Times or to find out how big the crater is when Han finally attends a show in the States. James Dean, James King, and King James have their tables. Get your orders in- I'll have what they're having. (I don't care if your friend looks nothing like Jada Pinkett...) Barkeep, send a couple of 'em over to Jersey and Bible. Tell 'em those double orders are on me.
See you all at the rock show... if there's one within three hours or so of my house. Dallas, OKC, or Tulsa and it's on.
(We're still not as hardcore as They Might Be Giants fans, by the way... When they find out I quoted "The End of the Tour," they're going to start love bombing my house...)
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townie
Cityscape Skin
Posts: 6
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Post by townie on Apr 7, 2009 14:31:35 GMT -5
The two shows I have seen have been incredibly good. The band has been tight. There has been some acknowledgement of the fan base. There is still a personal feel. There have been bruises and bumps. I laughed when Craig lost his glasses in Albany. The look of terror on Koob’s face was funny. Craig yelling at Bobby to STOP playing. The music is as tight as I have seen it and the sets have been feverish and intense. No guitar swings. But who cares. I don’t need that. Let me hear that killer solo instead. But something else is happening…the band is maturing and becoming a business. This is what they do. This is the goal folks. We just haven’t gotten on board with it. I saw this when Springsteen made the jump from small theatres to arenas. People upset. People feeling that he sold out. Bruce however would be the first to tell you that the reason he got into rock and roll was money and chicks. Well I think this is Koob and Craig’s last time out as a band and THIS one has to be successful. And fuck if it isn’t happening. AND some of us don’t like it. There are all these rules now right? And what’s with these fucking ticket sales huh? I mean we were here first weren’t we? We DESERVE the tickets, because, well we were here first. I mean shouldn’t the fan club get the best seats, or the best “spot”. And SCALPERS??? For The Hold fucking Steady? Are you kidding me man? Yep, there they were outside Irving Plaza…tix going for 75 bucks!! I don’t know, it’s all changing man, way too fast and right in front of our eyes. They are SERIOUS about this shit. Somehow the party got real, and there are no more stage invasions and no more beer throwing and there’s frat boys everywhere. And the girls are gonna get prettier and the drugs will get speedier and its all gonna get bloodier. And some of this is sarcasm and some of its not and the fine line in between has me royally fucked over. They are still the greatest band I have ever seen. Yep, I said it ..the greatest fucking band I have ever seen. But I don’t want to read shit about them anymore and the more I think of writing the more hypocritical I feel. So how’s the tour so far? Well the bands pretty tight. Me I’m out for now, for awhile, till I feel positive again. Till I feel unified. Hope things go well. See ya’ll in June or so. So poetic. You are a huge nerd, please stop.
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Post by hoodrat on Apr 7, 2009 15:08:00 GMT -5
nice way to introduce yourself townie. have you met napier? nice guy. welcome aboard anyhow
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pghdad
Cityscape Skin
Posts: 24
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Post by pghdad on Apr 7, 2009 15:37:18 GMT -5
Impressions from the Buffalo show -- Nothing from Almost Killed Me and just two from Separation Sunday, but that was just the setlist that night. I should have stayed on the road for a couple of days.
Koob seemed a little pissed when someone threw a mostly empty beer can that landed close to him. He kicked ass the whole show
Regardless of setlist, they had a lot of energy and crowd was into it. With only 600 people, it was easy to get about 6 feet from Koob's mic stand, which was not possible during the show I saw with the truckers.
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Post by sactochris on Apr 7, 2009 20:17:14 GMT -5
I think the tour has from all i've read has kicked major ass. I can't wit till they roll into my neck of the woods on the 15th. 8 days and counting.
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Post by revkelsey on Apr 7, 2009 21:46:11 GMT -5
Regarding the boys and girls who had a much better time at the Urbana show: Glad you kids had fun. However, I refer you all to several previous threads regarding shows in general and Hold Steady shows in particular: we look out for each other. My going policy is always to introduce myself to the people around me, followed by the following disclaimer: If I mash your foot, I'll apologize. If I knock you down, I'll be the hand pulling you back up. If I spill your drink, I'm getting you another one. I rage pretty hard sometimes, but it doesn't give me carte blanche to ignore the people around me. Oh, and I'll insist that you high-five me. I do that a lot. Thank you campfire. That was the point I think of the complaints of the crowd at Urbana. I had people wrapping their legs around me at the knee and trying to take me out. Typically, that is not fun for one half of the party engaged in that activity. I'm all for gettin' a little rough at shows, and I'm usually not a wuss about stuff like that, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Plus the picking each other up thing is just show etiquette. Hell, I spent half the show picking Brendan back up. I almost beat someone up for those guys in the front. Oh well...Bloomington made up for presence of Flask McGee and the group of guys who thought that crowd surfing was still cool....
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TheWho
Sniffling Indie Kid
U.S. # ∞
Posts: 218
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Post by TheWho on Apr 7, 2009 22:37:12 GMT -5
I've got nothing to add other than this
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Post by sactochris on Apr 7, 2009 22:41:44 GMT -5
It sounds like Urbana was reminescent of an Agnostic Front gig circa 1986
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Camie
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 1,093
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Post by Camie on Apr 8, 2009 0:06:45 GMT -5
I am going to let my comments be known on the whole rough crowd thing... I like being up front yes.. The roughness I do not like so much, but I take it. I may seem a bit upset at times when I get jostled around, but I know that I am not that hard to jostle, yet I stick my ground. I am grateful to those who help me back up when I fall (and there have been many... so if I haven't thanked you in person.. I am thanking you here, and remind me next time and I will make it up to you) I am grateful to the people who make sure that I don't get too beat up, and I am grateful to those who help protect me a bit at shows. I know you all want to get close to the stage. I know you all want to rock out and have a good time.. HELL SO DO I. Don't let me kid you.. I like to jump around and freak out like the best of them, but when I am 1st or 2nd row, and you see that you are murdering me and the people in front of me by pushing us super close to the stage.... or you see that i am getting the air knocked out of my lungs from your constant hard shoves... I ask that you calm the hell down. No one needs to die at a rock show.. it kind of ruins the vibe.
Now that my disclaimer is over... I love Hold Steady shows... because they have been some of the only shows where people watch out for my back, trying to protect me, picking me up when I fall, etc etc.. Thanks guys!
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Post by hickory6 on Apr 8, 2009 11:26:22 GMT -5
i have to add to this thread.... i was at the albany show and was right up front for the war on drugs set and remained front and center for the break. as is always the case, as people begin filing in, the front gets a bit crowded - i'm not new at this so i know what to expect. however me and the 2 guys next to me watched as the group up front - people who post on here all the time - squeezed 4 or 5 more people into a spot where there was room for none. still okay with that. its a fucking rock show right? one the show started there were 2 people who just arrived who decided that they should thrash around (not dance/lightly mosh/whatever like everyone else around them) and make it uncomfortable for the people they seemed to take were taking up "their" space. the space they came to claim as the show was starting that other people had been standing in for over and hour. the only feeling this left me and the 2 others i was with is that there was a lack of respect. you need to be careful of the people around you and realize that you are no important than they are...you are no more deserving to be up front than the guy/girl who stepped back a foot so you could stand next to your friends even though they had been standing there and not at the bar between bands. and no - the crowd wasn't "so uptight" - its just that we cant all get sloppy drunk at every show we see. in the end i had to step back a bit and let these 2 people "rage" and get the next now directly in back of them pissed off. the vibe i experienced from the 2 particular people in the group that was front and center was really disheartening and did not go along with any of what i have experienced at other HS shows or read about on this board. maybe someone will read this and at least have it in the back of their mind next time they decide to go crazy at a show....
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Post by hard corey on Apr 8, 2009 12:51:56 GMT -5
I'm just glad that fasteddie1019 seems to think we're skinny. is it wrong that this was the first thing i thought? also, this is why i just don't do front row anymore. i'm sick of douchebags "JUST HAVIN' A GOOD TIME BRAH" trampling me.
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Post by jamesjesusangleton on Apr 8, 2009 13:11:32 GMT -5
When people come in front of me and behave like twats, I pour my drink down their backs. It helps that I'm 6'3" and 16 stone. They usually move without saying anything. Little do they know that if they said "boo" to me I'd cry.
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Post by Rhinovirus on Apr 8, 2009 13:27:21 GMT -5
So far all my hold steady related crowd events have been pretty nice for the most part, one gal decided her cleavage needed to be scratched my my shoulder, which was my shoulder was more than glad to oblige. At this past Champaign show one guy was trying to elbow me in the back, but it came off as a very fine Shiatsu massage. Though apparantly one guy was trying to pull some kung-fu style tripping on my friend, that just isn't cool.
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Post by scratchedsoul on Apr 9, 2009 15:25:07 GMT -5
A couple of things...
I've seen too many good bands break up too soon because their following starts implementing unknown rules about how big they are allowed to be (exhibit: Jawbreaker).
Enjoy what we have now (had recently)?, and be happy for the band. Continue to support them and if being into a small indie band is what you want, kids will always have guitars and someone will be there to replace them if that's what you want.
At the end of the day it's rock and roll, it's supposed to be fun.
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