RTP-area local music and culture

[DJ Golf <djgolf AT mindspring.com>]

Yes, but you weren't introduced to X by your dad. (I'm guessing
here.)  The teenagers you describe were no doubt trying to deal with
their intense embarrassment at (a) being at a punk rock show with
their dad who (b) was totally rocking out.  (I'm grinning like Billy
Zoom while writing this.)

What I think I liked as much as anything about this show, in addition
to all the good stuff described above, was the obvious fact that
here's a band with four members who basically contribute equally to
what's going on, and if any one of them was missing it wouldn't have
been the same.  (Granted, Exene doesn't play an instrument but she's
the focal point of the band on stage, and her voice is such a
trademark of the band.)  The early Gang of Four was like that, as were
a lot of the really great and original bands - "Murmur" era R.E.M.,
Wire, Minutemen et al.

Glenn's point about reunions the first time is a good one.  I had seen
the first Mission of Burma reunion show in NYC prior to their Cradle
appearance (and I'd seen them in DC prior as well) and while they were
great, a little of the novelty was gone.  (The NYC show was almost
like a big gathering to worship at the altar of Burma, and it almost
overshadowed the fact that the band sounded like they just stepped out
of 1982.)  I had also seen MoB back in the day, and I remember their
'82 show at the old 9:30 Club as being more or less flawless.

On May 29, 6:18=A0pm, gr... AT ibiblio.org (grady) wrote:
> I should start out by saying that I was extraordinarily impressed at how
> hard those people played, and at how incredibly fucking deep those first
> three X albums are. I think they played a total of 1 song that I didn't
> know every-single-word to, and they played for a good solid 80 minutes.
> And they totally ripped into nearly every one of them, even the
> superfast ones ("We're Desperate" was particularly intense) despite
> being, well, old. I mean, crap, I'm at least 10 years younger than all
> of them (probably more like 15-20) and there's no way *I* could've
> rocked as hard as they did for 80 minutes.
>
> Having said that, I still felt like the show was verging on the sort of
> reunion that I try to avoid . . . there were times when I thought to
> myself "I could've just stayed home and watched "X: The Unheard Music"
> (which is one of the best music documentaries ever made, to be sure)
> again." What (mostly) saved it, for me, was how damn hard they played,
> and how great those songs are.
>
> (yes, the parenthetical was included in my thinking to myself, thanks
> for asking)
>
> This reunion was the riskiest kind of reunion -- old old songs, a band
> that has played together only intermittently, and that has no intention
> (apparently) of writing new material . . . and so as Dave Menconi
> mentioned on his blog, I felt at times like I was watching the World's
> Greatest X Tribute Band. They played the songs, really well, so well
> that with eyes closed it was occasionally eerily like listening to a
> record. But that's not really what I'm looking for when I go see a live
> band.
>
> And so I spent most of the show sitting there thinking about that, and
> about what I enjoy when I really enjoy a show. Which for me is almost as
> fun as watching a great show, so . . .
>
> I guess the two things that mean the most to me are when a band seems
> like it has a real stake (emotional, intellectual) in the songs they're
> playing, and when the members seem to really be playing off each other,
> so much so that the band is like a single unit that could head off into
> uncharted territory at any moment, and still stay together.
>
> And as great as they sounded up there -- and make no mistake, they
> sounded great, and were playing their asses off -- I wasn't picking up
> enough of the things I look for. The songs are old, and as great as they
> are, the people who wrote them are a lot older now, and presumably
> wiser, and they've written an assload of songs since then. They played
> the crap out of the songs, sure, but did they still *feel* them in the
> same way?
>
> What would've worked better for me? For one thing, if they'd
> acknowledged the fact that they've all continued to play music in the
> ~25 years since this version of the band split up. Wouldn't have had to
> be much -- maybe the guys could've learned *one* of Exene's solo songs,
> and likewise for John's?
>
> Or maybe that would've been corny or annoying, or beside-the-point. So
> maybe instead they could've busted out a well-chosen cover or two, other
> than "Soul Kitchen," which at this point they've played more often than
> the Doors did. Something that *wasn't* released on one of the albums?
>
> Or if they'd even just *not* played all the songs so damn faithfully
> (although I did notice that in "Nausea" Exene said "oh no oh no" instead
> of "Christ oh Jesus Christ" -- is she all religious now or what?), and
> instead taken some of them off in a different direction.
>
> Basically what I'm looking for is some hard evidence that they actually
> care about playing music *with* each other, as opposed to everybody
> woodshedding with the CDs.
>
> Although given how fucking creepy Billy Zoom is, I wouldn't be surprised
> if none of them could stand to be in the same room with him for long.
> Back in the old days he already had that ridiculous leering grin, but in
> the movie he always seemed to be looking off into space, or way at the
> back of the room, so it was almost cute. At the show he was aiming it
> directly at people in the first few rows, and it gave me the creeps to
> see it.
>
> Anyway. Pretty much everybody I talked to after the show was totally
> blown away, so I'm perfectly happy to acknowledge that I'm in the
> minority (and I should say again, one more time, that it was a really
> great performance of those songs . . . I'm just apparently more
> interested in surprise/suspense or intensity of emotion, than in
> flawless performances of songs I know by heart already).
>
> And I think that's why the Mission of Burma and Polvo shows set such an
> impossibly high reunion-show standard for me: here are two bands who
> either still care intensely about the songs, or they're gonna rework
> them until they *can* care intensely about them again.
>
> Ross
>
> p.s. I spent about half the show standing next to a middle-aged Chapel
> Hill Dad type (semi-balding, paunchy, polo shirt, cargo shorts & Tevas)
> and his two kids, who looked to be in the 13-14 year old range. The dad
> was going nuts, fist-pumping, singing along, occasionally pogoing,
> clearly having a great time. The kids were kind of slumped there,
> sitting/standing perfectly still, trying as hard as they could to show
> absolutely NO INTEREST in what was going on. Was it an elaborate act, or
> are the kids today really immune to great music? I was 16 when I was
> introduced to, and fell hard for, X, and I don't remember it being a
> difficult process.
>
>
>
>
>
> local... AT gmail.com wrote:
> > Funny, I felt like eating my words about all reunions being above-par.
> > For me, I just couldn't get into X last night and contemplated leaving
> > mid-way through. =A0From where I was standing, the sound was really bad
> > (which is rare for a Cradle show.) =A0I moved back toward the bar where
> > the mix was better, but more space for distractions from the show.
> > When I finally decided to leave during the last encore, i found the
> > sweet-spot near the merch stand where it sounded great - had I been
> > standing there the entire time, i could foresee having a different
> > experience.
>
> > Of course, I was thinking...maybe reunions are only great the first
> > time. Again, loved X circa 2000 and definitely thought the Gang of
> > Four show in DC trumped the Cradle show six months later (though the
> > Cradle show was still really good!) =A0But now glad I passed on the
> > second Pressure Boys show - as the first night is likely the best show
> > I've seen all year!
>
> > I did think X's song choice was great - played some of my favorite
> > album tracks like 'Some Other Time', 'Because I Do,' and 'The Have
> > Nots'.
>
> > Okay, I must not think bad thoughts...glenn
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> >http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --http://lists.ib=
iblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -