Friday, June 13, 2003
I finally did it. I went and checked out a local music venue. It was called Hot Tuna, and it’s over there in Virginia Beach. A band called Alien Taxi was there. I only heard covers, but it was sweet Lisa’s birthday so I wasn’t paying attention to the band the whole time.
(This area needs a “real” rock-n-roll club. Go to CBGB’s website and read the history of the club. It’s written by Hilly Kristal who started it all back in 1973. He made a decision one day that the only way to play his club was to sing original music. That’s what I want around here. Any kind of music, but it has to be original. Do we have that, and I don’t know about it? Email me if you know of a place.)
The Hot Tuna was on Friday. Sunday, I was down at Harbor Fest in Norfolk. I saw Morris Day and the Time! Actually, I only know about them from Jay and Silent Bob’s movie, and I didn’t watch much more than two songs, but it was cool. The have a real rock, guitar driven sound, and choreographed dancing! But the Pirate Ship Battle was about to start so we left.
I had been waiting for Monday for a while. The 2 dollar, 2 in the afternoon, Raveonettes show at the Norva!
Enjoying a midday motorcycle trip, Lisa and I scored some free parking on Granby Street. We ate at Harry’s BBQ. If you ever in Norfolk and you find yourself on Granby St. do yourself a favor and eat at Harry’s. After lunch, a fun discussion of God and religion, a nice sit on a park bench, and a little shopping at Macarthur Center. Then we walked to the Norva.
The Norva was virtually empty. It was an afternoon show. 2:30pm. Does live Rock-N-Roll and daylight mix? Maybe not. It’s pretty bad when a show only costs two dollars, but you still feel ripped off. I mean, I had seen them before and was pretty impressed. I enjoy their songs in mp3 form. Ghost Riders on the Attack, That Great Love Sound, Chain Gang of Love, and Beat City, those are some catchy tunes. But the Raveonettes have this thing about only playing in one key. Every song, same key. And they keep almost the same tempo and progressions on every song. Let’s discuss this further.
You see, I started this website after realizing that all the music I like, I wouldn’t even know about if it weren’t for the Internet. There is no college station to listen to, and the local Clear Channel stations aren’t any help. MTV’s a joke, and I don’t have MTV2. The local Best Buy doesn’t often stock “underground” stuff like The Black Keys. So I find out about these bands in magazines and websites like pitchfork, epitomic, etc. Then I go online and download a few tracks and sample them out. Then I can go to Amazon and buy the stuff I like, and delete the crap.
(I also started this site because so much of the music press is big city based. London, New York, San Francisco. If you live in a place like Chicago, you have numerous rock venues to choose from, and enough people and venues to keep a local scene alive. This is not the case in most of America, and it is not the case in Newport News, VA. But I’m luckier than most, because I have Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Richmond within and hour, and the Nations Capital is 2.5 hours away. So I’m blessed. But I wanted to start a rock-n-roll magazine that had the perspective of what being a rock-n-roll fan was really like, out here, where it matters, hence the name, “Rock-N-Roll in the Real World.”)
Now if you read in between the lines of the previous paragraph, you’ll probably discover that I’m insanely jealous of big city folks, who are so lucky to have such great live music. I didn’t mean to launch into a “mission statement” speech, but, trust me, I have a point. You see, I, like most of us out here in the “real world” don’t live in New York City. We depend on the recorded versions of an Artist’s performance so much more than they. They can pop into a local club and see The Kills live, before they even have an EP out. I can’t do that. The independent EP is not available in my local music stores either.
But Amazon has it. Kazaalite lets me sample it, and Pitchfork can help me not waste my energy on Har Mar Superstar or Fischerspooner, but help me find out about The Black Keys. Without the internet, I wouldn’t know about any of these bands, including the Raveonettes.
Man, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, the Raveonettes live. They like to be loud. I mean LOUD. And that’s cool. That’s what I dug about them the first time I saw them. But every song is the same chords and the same monotone vocals. But here’s the rub! You can’t hear any of the words live! On the album, the songs work wonderfully. The subtle differences in the rhythms and the words stand out, loud and clear. Live, it’s just a waste of time. They are lifeless on stage, with seldom a twitch, and seldom a word spoken between songs. I’ll buy the album when it comes out, because they are a good band, and make great songs, but they are apparently incapable of recreating their strengths on stage.
But who am I kidding, if they come to town again. I’ll pay to see them. I don’t have much choice. In this town it’s slim pickings. But I’ll keep my expectations low, and just hang in the back.
Oh, I was also talking about my past week of rock-n-roll experiences. Friday was the cover band, Sunday was Morris day and the Time, and Monday was the Raveonettes (a local band, who’s name I didn’t get, opened up for them. They were good. Young, Blink 182 clones, but it was cool to see a local band). Then on Tuesday I walked down the street to Ray’s Hilton Country Club. A local dive bar place that I’ve been piss-scared to go into for the two years I’ve lived in the neighborhood. But they are under new management, and are trying to attract customers so they had a band. They were good. A jam band. Starting a song, then going off into a long diversion, and then bringing it back home to finish the song. I’m still new to this “rock journalism” stuff so I forgot to write down their name. That’s twice this week that I thought I would remember the name of the band, and I didn’t. So I’ve learned that lesson. I’ll try not to let it happen again.
Good for you if you made it all the way through this. The End.
(This area needs a “real” rock-n-roll club. Go to CBGB’s website and read the history of the club. It’s written by Hilly Kristal who started it all back in 1973. He made a decision one day that the only way to play his club was to sing original music. That’s what I want around here. Any kind of music, but it has to be original. Do we have that, and I don’t know about it? Email me if you know of a place.)
The Hot Tuna was on Friday. Sunday, I was down at Harbor Fest in Norfolk. I saw Morris Day and the Time! Actually, I only know about them from Jay and Silent Bob’s movie, and I didn’t watch much more than two songs, but it was cool. The have a real rock, guitar driven sound, and choreographed dancing! But the Pirate Ship Battle was about to start so we left.
I had been waiting for Monday for a while. The 2 dollar, 2 in the afternoon, Raveonettes show at the Norva!
Enjoying a midday motorcycle trip, Lisa and I scored some free parking on Granby Street. We ate at Harry’s BBQ. If you ever in Norfolk and you find yourself on Granby St. do yourself a favor and eat at Harry’s. After lunch, a fun discussion of God and religion, a nice sit on a park bench, and a little shopping at Macarthur Center. Then we walked to the Norva.
The Norva was virtually empty. It was an afternoon show. 2:30pm. Does live Rock-N-Roll and daylight mix? Maybe not. It’s pretty bad when a show only costs two dollars, but you still feel ripped off. I mean, I had seen them before and was pretty impressed. I enjoy their songs in mp3 form. Ghost Riders on the Attack, That Great Love Sound, Chain Gang of Love, and Beat City, those are some catchy tunes. But the Raveonettes have this thing about only playing in one key. Every song, same key. And they keep almost the same tempo and progressions on every song. Let’s discuss this further.
You see, I started this website after realizing that all the music I like, I wouldn’t even know about if it weren’t for the Internet. There is no college station to listen to, and the local Clear Channel stations aren’t any help. MTV’s a joke, and I don’t have MTV2. The local Best Buy doesn’t often stock “underground” stuff like The Black Keys. So I find out about these bands in magazines and websites like pitchfork, epitomic, etc. Then I go online and download a few tracks and sample them out. Then I can go to Amazon and buy the stuff I like, and delete the crap.
(I also started this site because so much of the music press is big city based. London, New York, San Francisco. If you live in a place like Chicago, you have numerous rock venues to choose from, and enough people and venues to keep a local scene alive. This is not the case in most of America, and it is not the case in Newport News, VA. But I’m luckier than most, because I have Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Richmond within and hour, and the Nations Capital is 2.5 hours away. So I’m blessed. But I wanted to start a rock-n-roll magazine that had the perspective of what being a rock-n-roll fan was really like, out here, where it matters, hence the name, “Rock-N-Roll in the Real World.”)
Now if you read in between the lines of the previous paragraph, you’ll probably discover that I’m insanely jealous of big city folks, who are so lucky to have such great live music. I didn’t mean to launch into a “mission statement” speech, but, trust me, I have a point. You see, I, like most of us out here in the “real world” don’t live in New York City. We depend on the recorded versions of an Artist’s performance so much more than they. They can pop into a local club and see The Kills live, before they even have an EP out. I can’t do that. The independent EP is not available in my local music stores either.
But Amazon has it. Kazaalite lets me sample it, and Pitchfork can help me not waste my energy on Har Mar Superstar or Fischerspooner, but help me find out about The Black Keys. Without the internet, I wouldn’t know about any of these bands, including the Raveonettes.
Man, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, the Raveonettes live. They like to be loud. I mean LOUD. And that’s cool. That’s what I dug about them the first time I saw them. But every song is the same chords and the same monotone vocals. But here’s the rub! You can’t hear any of the words live! On the album, the songs work wonderfully. The subtle differences in the rhythms and the words stand out, loud and clear. Live, it’s just a waste of time. They are lifeless on stage, with seldom a twitch, and seldom a word spoken between songs. I’ll buy the album when it comes out, because they are a good band, and make great songs, but they are apparently incapable of recreating their strengths on stage.
But who am I kidding, if they come to town again. I’ll pay to see them. I don’t have much choice. In this town it’s slim pickings. But I’ll keep my expectations low, and just hang in the back.
Oh, I was also talking about my past week of rock-n-roll experiences. Friday was the cover band, Sunday was Morris day and the Time, and Monday was the Raveonettes (a local band, who’s name I didn’t get, opened up for them. They were good. Young, Blink 182 clones, but it was cool to see a local band). Then on Tuesday I walked down the street to Ray’s Hilton Country Club. A local dive bar place that I’ve been piss-scared to go into for the two years I’ve lived in the neighborhood. But they are under new management, and are trying to attract customers so they had a band. They were good. A jam band. Starting a song, then going off into a long diversion, and then bringing it back home to finish the song. I’m still new to this “rock journalism” stuff so I forgot to write down their name. That’s twice this week that I thought I would remember the name of the band, and I didn’t. So I’ve learned that lesson. I’ll try not to let it happen again.
Good for you if you made it all the way through this. The End.
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