[atlantaprog] Re: Where was everybody???

In a message dated 5/11/2003 11:47:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
lordonly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> I thought we played pretty well the other night.  It's disappointing not to
> see people coming out, and you begin to wonder if perhaps you're doing
> something very wrong, but at the same time it's clear that all the other
> bands you play with at each gig have just as much trouble drawing people.  
> I
> remember reading about Ed Roland from Collective Soul grousing about how
> hard a time they had getting support in Atlanta before their breakout radio
> single.  You'd think it would be easier for a more mainstream-sounding band
> to get a crowd, and they are a good band in many ways.
> 

I honestly would have come out for the Lord Only gig if I hadn't all ready 
made plans to see A Mighty Wind with a friend this past Friday night.  It was 
fun hanging out and yakking with folks at the Somber Reptile on Saturday, 
even though I didn't actually end up witnessing the Mindworm performance that 
brought me there in the first place.  I was catching a bit of air in the 
parking lot between bands and it was like somebody smacked me over the head 
with a Tired Stick.  I just had to go home and get some shut eye.  For some 
reason I just haven't been sleeping well lately.

In some ways, I think live performance is a dying art where rock music is 
concerned.  Most of what's being produced in the mainstream these days, even 
the good stuff, isn't the sort of music that gains any exciting new 
dimensions from being played live. It's more production intensive. There's a 
whole generation of kids, except for the ones who are into jam bands like 
Phish etc.and the ones who have found their way into classic rock like Zep 
and Hendrix, who are growing up without the capacity to suss that kind of 
stuff.  Even the basic concept of the "guitar hero" which is something most 
of us probably took for granted as recently as the mid 90s seems to have 
fallen by the way.  

CH

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