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June 22, 2006
On Venues: Phil's Thoughts
When I asked All Marbles bassist Phil Mielke what his thoughts were about Redlands music venues his response was so brilliant that I had to share it.
Here is a somewhat abridged version of Phil’s repartee:
“It’s sorta tough to comment on. I can speak broadly
to the subject, but I think the issue is bigger than the venues — it comes down to a business owner’s decision to have live music or not, which is mostly a market thing. It’s a major gamble...
1. It’s not one DJ you can pay to come in, set up, push play have the vast majority of undiscerning tastes appeased. 'This place is kickin!' is as easy as the latest Black-Eyed Peas jam on repeat in all the major temples of cool (i.e magazines like Blender and Maxim, and on MTV and all clear channel radio stations). You know, buzz consumerism.
2. The credo that Rock n’ Roll has become is suicidal as a business model because it can’t sustain that kind of spark. It’s the vice of showbiz to think you’ve gotta outdo every other act, and that gets taken to an extreme when amplification comes to play. People don’t want to be scared out of their wits or deaf at a local show... well, some do. Many venues have rocked themselves out of a clientele.
3. A band getting and keeping a following is harder now than ever. Gas prices will keep us from bringing a Redlands group into LA on a Thursday (which is usually the tryout slots for weekend gigs). If we don’t have 40 people there, we don’t have a next gig. When it comes down to a $15 car ride and a door charge (not to mention the drinks)... what to do? Also, how about spam? How many bands have asked to be your friend on Myspace? How many Bulletins do you receive there? It’s not that word doesn’t travel fast, it’s that there’s too many words.
This makes it hard to promise the owner that good people will come and drink.
But, back to the venues. The music bookers are generally the spaciest and most burnt people that anyone will ever have to deal with. It was professional at one time — contracts, promo packs, PR, posters, clear guidelines. Many owners are tired of their music bookers because they’re not getting results. Most venues do nothing by way of promoting shows or a local buzz, and most bands don’t realize that they have to do that kind of thing themselves as well. What you get is a lukewarm show, and then you try to shake things up (as a defense mechanism) by turning up. Seeing people coming in and then leaving usually kills it for the owners.
So, there were and are some decent places.
The Vault — A #1. A variety of quieter acts and oso is a great booker.
The Boiler Room — It’s ok, but it’s turned into a bro scene, and we’ve just been hassled and threatened too many times.
The Falconer — It had an Open mic scene a while ago, but no more.
Muscle Mikes — It was a good place, but it’s now a seafood restaurant.
Taylor's — A good stage and room full of interesting locals, but the
guys from the Rockin’ Robin pretty much monopolize the stage and shows.
Market night — A good crowd, but they usually are not coming to see bands — they listen, eat and walk on. Nice way to get new people, but those people don’t usually make it out at night.
Granted, we’re (All Marbles) gluttons for punishment. For the past 5 years, we’d play anywhere. We thought the harder we try, the better we’d do. We have played in every other place within a 20 mile radius and can comment on those as well. Most are ‘eh.’ Almost got killed in Lyrics in downtown San Berdoo. We got muscled into being the backup band for one music promoter to holler ‘sweet home alabama.’ We played the “Stop Inn� for a biker gig. They were going to pay us, but didn’t. That took 8 hours of our time. Liam's is alright. Scooner's is pretty decent.�
Posted by Darcie Flansburg at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2006
Recap
The Local Music Scene section in the Daily Facts has been going strong since March. Now that it is June I think that it might be time for a recap.
Here are the bands that have been profiled thus far. I have listed here their sound, my favorite song and their upcoming shows. Here’s to many, many more!
Published: March 9 — Tornadoes
Sound: Surf band
Favorite Song: “The Cruncher� — the philosophy of the wave, in and of itself, makes the song worth listening to.
Upcoming Shows: TBA
Published: March 16 — The Black Light Soul
Sound — Funky rhythm with a strong horn section and a jazzy singer.
Favorite Song: “Traffic� — the beats are ever changing, the horns are powerful and the lyrics reek of passion... “traffic’s sticky, heavy...�
Upcoming Shows:
To be continued at the start of the academic year...
Published: March 23 — XDEATHSTARX
Sound: Indie screaming style
Favorite Song: “Suffocate Faster� — good title, good intro.
Upcoming Shows:
June 16 — 6 p.m. Unit J, Canyon Country, Calif.
June 23 — 6:30 p.m. Stronghold Youth Room, Chino
June 30 — 7 p.m. Oasis, Redlands
Published: March 30 — The Fourth of July Band
Sound — The name says all
Favorite Song: “America the Beautiful� — a traditional song in a traditional style.
Upcoming Shows:
June 30 — 8:15 p.m. Redlands Bowl
Published: April 6 — Jennie Wayne
Sound: Progressive folk
Favorite Song: “Creature� — strong imagery with a folksy sultry sound.
Current Location: Portland, Ore.
Published: April 13 — Sean Longstreet
Sound: Jazzy, funky sitar sounds.
Favorite Song: Anything on the sitar; meditations for the mind and spirit.
Upcoming shows: Summer tour with the 3Cjazzers
Published: April 27 — Jay Ray
Sound: Folk
Favorite Song: “Storm of the Century� — smooth folksy rhythm with lyrics that calm your senses and ease the mind.
Upcoming shows:
June 11 — 2 to 5 p.m. Singer/Songwriter Sunday, Wrightwood, Calif.
Published: May 4 — Jamie Salazar
Sound: A dose of teen spirit
Favorite Song: “Beautiful Silence� — a good Indie rock beat with passionate lyrics. By far the best on his CD “My Heavy Heart�
Upcoming Shows:
June 16 — 7 p.m. The White Rabbit, Yucaipa
Published: May 11 — The Deluge
Sound: A mix of jazz, classical and metal stylings in a guitar, viola and drum set format.
Favorite Song: “Time as a Maleable Medium� — A beautiful viola plays through variations in drum beat and guitar craziness. No way to follow it, just have to let it take you somewhere... Where? I am not sure. But wherever it is, it is dang good!
Upcoming Shows:
July 4 — 4 p.m. San Diego County Fair, Del Mar, Calif.
Sept. 29 — 8 p.m. University of Redlands Frederick Loewe Performance Hall
Published: May 18 — oso rey
Sound: soulgrassfolkrebellion — “the soul singers that I listen to; the grass is the green and the blue kind; the folk is the tradition; and the rebellion is in the lyrics.�
Favorite Song: “i am a ram� — it’s simplicity and variation in rhythm draws me, while the lyrics make me ponder... the year of the ram or the beast that the speaker wishes to associate himself with?
Upcoming Shows:
June 8 — 9 p.m. The Vault (Two hobos, an oso and a fiddle)
June 11 — 1 p.m. Village Grind Coffee House, Wrightwood
June 19 — 8 p.m. Room 5 Lounge, Los Angeles
Published: May 25 — Spiro
Sound: Folksy Funky Flava’
Favorite Song: All of his music with Hot Buttered Toast is incredible!
Upcoming Shows: TBA
Published: June 1 — Hobo Jazz
Sound — “A Louisiana juke joint on payday� OR “a Los Angeles strip club on ‘Dance like Grandma’ night.�
Favorite Song: “My Blue Heaven� — a simple melody with old fashioned twang and fun traditional lyrics... “Just Molly and me... and the baby makes three...�
Upcoming Shows:
June 8 — 9 p.m. The Vault (two hobos, an oso and a fiddle)
June 10 — 3:30 p.m. 2nd Annual CSUSB Juneteenth College Expo and Festival, San Bernardino
June 24 — 9 p.m. The Vault (with Uncle Vic)
And more...
Upcoming Profiles...
June 8 — Denny Breese
June 15 — All Marbles
June 22 — The Young Artists of the Bowl
Posted by Darcie Flansburg at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
June 2, 2006
Stepping Beyond Local
As much as I love the local music scene in Redlands, ever so often I venture beyond to see what the rest of the world is up to. Recently I was able to catch one of my favorite bands at the Avalon in Hollywood. Pinback is an illusive band that I cannot seem to find any background information on, but if given the chance I would profile them.
Their sound is very technical and precise. If I were to compare it to any bands that I have had the priveledge of profiling I would say that their sound is most like Jamie Salazar. An Indie band with some interesting lyrics and complicated tech. Their most well used instrument being the piano, using various keyboard sounds.
But Pinback was once a local band somewhere and unlike many popular bands they were able to fill the Avalon with screaming fans while maintaining the integrity of their original sound. This is the most that I can hope for for any of our locals. So much we treasure them.
Posted by Darcie Flansburg at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)