WED-
Lemon Tree Presents : 3Stix, National Tape, The Dyeing Merchants,and Durban Poison. A terrible turn out for some strangely billed together bands. This event felt unwelcoming and strange. First of all, the room was much too large for such a small turn out. The sound was muddled and the performances were wrought with uncomfortable moments. the Dying Merchants feel like a boyfriend/girlfriend band that grew up listening to quasi and the magnetic fields. not a terrible thing, just kind of lacking in vocal presence. This was probably the best sounding band of the night. And their set had major feedbacking issues. This event just sucked. I had to leave when the louder band took stage as it just sounded like we were in a box. A large empty box, which we were. I couldn't help but feel a sense of shame at this show. I couldn't place why exactly, but this all felt bad. it isn't fair of me to review the bands for this show really. it was poorly put together and I asked for my money back. Thurs-I stayed home sick. Friday- OZZy! A true barely alive rock icon! Full headbanger regalia all around. A lot of 'dudes' from Langford and people just ate this up! Even though in reality, the show suffered big time. There were some good back catalogue hits that were not so well performed. Faires wear boots was only half played and man, Ozzy just seemed old and not well. Still, people seemed to enjoy themselves. i like black Sabbath, and this was not at the same calibre. oh well, shitty for me or anyone that expected more. Saturday- Luke Doucet at Logans a/the sunparlour players- Show started at 10pm with a packed house that was quite warm. Literally! The heat was on I guess. My tits were wading nipple deep in sweat! The Sunparlour players were an indie type folk band that reminded me a bit of the Hold Steady. A fat guy singing about whatever. The instrumentation was interesting at least. I like banjo and percussive whips and belts. They played for too long. We weren't here for this band and they should respect that by playing a short set. It felt like it went on forever. Finally around 11:30 Luke Doucet went on. He donned the famous white falcon guitar and started the show with a bang! Well maybe not a bang, more like a thump. This stuff didn't feel as alive as I had remembered it. I wanted some great anthemic guitar playing,but it never really lifted off or delivered. Oh, wait there's Emily haines with some shots for the band! Perhaps this will get things going? Maybe she'll join in? No chance. MEgan Boddy did however, and that was quite nice. She has a lovely voice, probably much nicer than what we would have heard from the boney ms. Haines. I took a moment to try and say hello to her at the bar. She was surrounded by fellow Metric band members who held their elbows in poised stiffness as I tried to approach. She donned hey hooded fur lined parka as if it need to assure us that she was "indie", which she is not. I asked Josh Winstead of the band if he was enjoying the show. He answered with a snobbish arrogance 'we're playing tomorrow night', I didn't ask that question. These people seem really into themselves. They weren't enjoying the show, they weren't anywhere near the stage. They were enjoying themselves. i wonder if they could enjoy anyone else? That's it. That's all I've got for this week. Luke was ok. I found he played past a point of interest as well. Would have been nice to see a local band on the bill. I would wager they would have had a better shot at captivating an audience. Truth be told Victoria, I'm sick and tired. I'm going back to bed. love Max xo |
you asked for your money back????
ReplyDeleteI can't stand you.
ReplyDelete^^^agreed with both above^^^
ReplyDeletei don't like the part of myself that identifies with some of the things you write.
ReplyDeleteI used to think this was the definitive last word on arts and entertainment in victoria, I loved how you gave a shallow affect to the spoiled 17 year old's voice you write with, and how you keep winding up in Logan's and actually DON'T hate it %100 (the fuck???), you really seemed to capture the true hipster demographic of this town...but then I got hipped to THIS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVqqM7lC4w0 Blog, which seems to dig just a little deeper and cover just that much more of the overall scene, doing it objectively, far more entertainingly, and with VIDEO. So, while you used to be ok, now you are amongst the sucky shit you review...ie, you're boring!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVqqM7lC4w0
You can have that! At least people can read this in half the time it takes to watch that. Really, what's Victoria Idol have to do with nightlife,arts or a social scene? Perhaps in Victoria, a lot. Whatever.
ReplyDeleteWow, for once I agree with Max.
ReplyDeleteso you coming out to see us?
ReplyDeleteCodine Vandal of Sons of Nova
V lounge Nov. 25th with Moss Rock, Automatic Planet and Mighty Power
BTW it's for charity
Hey Max. Ballgag n Chain Gang will be playing with Bloody Betty at V-Lounge on Dec. 2nd. You should come on down, we promise plenty of didjiridoo.
ReplyDeleteKisses.XO
BGnCG.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7717677/
ReplyDeleteterrible.
ReplyDeleteListen, Max. You need to understand that your writing comes off as dishonest and immature. For me, that makes it boring meaningless drivel. I hope this comment will help inspire you before you pollute the internet again with more mindless crap. Which I'm confident you will do, and good on you, don't take this as "give up."
ReplyDeleteYour words fail to provoke meaningful emotion, thoughtful reflection, or even a basic sharing of your experiences. Not knowing your real name doesn't matter, the tone of your writing is defensive and contrived. Your strained poetics and descriptive imagery are stochastic and unnecessary punctuations in the flow and meter of the writing. It's not honest! You need to know, this makes your writing seem devoid of true feeling. You seem cowed, bending to social pressures, hyper-critical, unduly provocative, unnecessarily divisive.
We all know Victoria sucks, so what? Your writing makes it worse, not better. We're bored, we'd love someone to start an interesting thing to read. Truth be told, your writing makes me feel like you are a juvenile pedant, too wrought with self-conscious doubt of yourself to possibly connect with your readers. What is that good for? Your ego?
Your blog captures my attention in the same way a mother screaming and chasing after a child throwing a temper tantrum in Walmart would. What captures my attention is how typical this behavior is of families at Walmart. It causes emotion, but does not provoke interest in "what" is happening, only in "why" its happening. In other words, I find your writing a-typical and uninspiring but I read it because I am interested in why you do it. But, you provide no way to understand "you", let alone your persona. Your writing makes me consider weird socio-liberal arts-structuralist reasons for why you are so whiny and noisy. Pitchfork dredge. Facebook casualty. Middle class. Victorian diatribe. Spoiled colon of America. The vanguard of urban capitalism. Solipsist.
I don't know anything about you. Okay, I know you're having a temper tantrum about the new place you live in. Your void, undefined urban pretension stops me from sympathizing with your critiques. What I do get is that you are a young, still growing, reasonably intelligent person in an internet-based existentialist crisis trying to wade in to a literary craft.
Here's my advice. Work on your writing. Show people who you are through your prose. Really try to reveal your thoughts and true emotions. At the end of every sentence you write, ask yourself, is this absolutely necessary? Can I say this in less words? Ask, am I being honest? Work on your meter, cadence. Get to the point.
Lastly, and this is most important. Find something beautiful to write about. The best poets and writers can take something utterly banal and make it beautiful, interesting, captivating. Find something to celebrate. Capture something important. Connect with me personally. Do you have depth?
Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. -Leonard Cohen
All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling. - Oscar Wilde.
Just curious....do you do anything productive to contribute to the support of the arts and cultural scene? Whining on the internet doesn't count.
ReplyDeleteLike OMG! Mr. Nagle's maturity totally made me laugh so hard i shot boogers outta me nose!!!! Thank god it wasn't all them big words, that woulda hurt.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes to reviewing Ballgag n Chain Gang & Bloody Betty! I'd love to see what you have to say when I'll get to be there too. I'm all growed up now, so i'm fine with whatever diction/grammer you use to critique it and wether we agree or disagree.
ReplyDeleteI'll be the immature 34yr old in buttless leather chaps with slaves. If you don't got nothin bad to say - well your critiquers will most likely mention something of my sad attempts of stretching out my youth in lame performance attempts. That's fine folks, as long as I get to stick my bare ass in your faces, I'm satisfied.