Rest in Peace Rivers Edge

 NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!  I refuse to believe this is true:

Why River's Edge Music Festival is Never Coming Back

So, to me, the biggest reason Live Nation pulled the plug was, and I quote, "We weren't getting enough people out of Fargo and Green Bay."  Wait come again?  Your blaming Fargo and Green Bay for your lack of promotion?  Yes, that makes perfect sense I'm less pissed off now.  I'm sure I can speak for the 45,000 people who showed up last year in saying son...of....a....bitch.

Live Nation had a 5 year contract signed to invest in building a national audience for the festival and from the looks of it, canceling this year is a legal tactic to buy their lawyers time figure out how to get out of the contract with minimal hurt.  Here's the thing though, I'm willing to bet that there is a cost for backing out of that contract.  Live Nation will take a hit there.

After stating they would do another festival next summer now they pull the plug.  That instills a certain amount of anger toward the company that already has enough negative attention.  Live Nation takes a hit there.

Another thing that LN said was the cost of staging has skyrocketed.  Who's to say those costs won't go down by waiting another year?  If anything it's going to be worse and now you've lost ground with an audience that was looking forward to it this summer.  Live Nation takes a hit there.

Now, I'm sure there are other factors here that the average Joe doesn't know (although that'd be a nice change), but it doesn't negate the fact that this company promised to bring the festival back in 2013.  Where I come from if you're not true to your word, good luck getting people excited about anything your trying to do.  There were absolutely no problems during last years festival.  The weather was fantastic and all the people who didn't get a ticket sure heard about it afterwards about how they missed out on something special.  I would bet that more than half of those people who didn't show, would buy tickets this year, at least for one of the days.  Harriet Island has so much potential to house a hell of a party.  There is a whole other island (Rasberry Island) that could be better utilized as an additional stage.  They were talking about adding another weekend just for country.  Are you kidding me?!?!? Do they have any idea on how many people who would draw in?  They wouldn't even mind the $12 beers.  The beer was my only complaint.  Just meant had to make the walk there worth our while.

The Twin Cities are dying for a festival to call their own.  Being there last year was certainly something special.  Everyone was having a good time and when the Mayor of St. Paul spoke before Dave Matthews Band, you could really feel a sense of community in the audience.  We were proud to have all the artists there.  Your right Live Nation, it was a "backyard event" but what the hell is wrong with our backyard?    It was said that they were prepared to take a financial hit for a few years to invest in this festival being an annual thing.  Well, looks like that was a load of crap.  I hope I'm wrong and I hope there is a next time, but for now, rest in peace River's Edge you will be remembered.

Check out my pictures from last year under the concert photos tab.  Tell me it doesn't look like a blast!

Genre Lock

Ok so I’m curious.  When a band first starts out.  First starts rockin out in someone’s basement or garage, are they really locked into one genre or style?  You hear it all the time how bands don’t sound the same and fans disappear.

Linkin Park comes to mind obviously.  They started out so ruthless with their rap rock and they evolved into more of a mainstream alternative act.  Course they still include elements of their former selves but nothing quite as special as Hybrid Theory and Meteora.

There is a pretty similar process bands go through over the years where the music changes and warps into something they didn’t start out playing.  Is that really a bad thing?  I used to think so.  I would get so heated when the style changed for a new record.  I wanted what they've established themselves to be, not this new image and style they are trying out.  I remember thinking, “Great, now I have to wait til the next album to really get what I wanted to hear.”

The process they go through is following all the fleeting influences in a musician’s life and slowly narrowing in on a style that incorporates all the parts they want it to.  It’s a painful process and drives you mad sometimes.  There would be times where I’m sitting in my drummer’s basement just frustrated as hell because I can’t get the song to sound like it does in my head.

Bands are going to change.  If they are meant to survive throughout time they have to change.  Everything else changes so why should creating music be any different?  Influences come and go, so those elements come in and out of the music throughout the years.  I actually enjoy being surprised with new styles now.  I just reviewed the new Muse album and that was what sort of sparked this post.  Lots of people don’t like the way it sounds because they changed.  If it’s a good band that have proved themselves throughout their careers, why not trust the tangents their music travels?  At what point is it selling out to make the same music you have been making simply because it does well in the market?  If the artist isn’t fully behind what they do, and just do it for others, it loses the warmth and passion.  Those things come through in the recordings, they really do.  I can tell you numerous times where I had to redo a recording because the energy wasn’t there.

Don’t get me wrong.  I hate to see things I liked about a band disappear in following albums, but here’s a good way to look at it.  Yeah you might not like that album so much, but it’s only one album.  It’s the same if you just don’t like a certain part of a book or a movie.  Same concept.  The overall picture of what the artist does and has done is still there.  Who knows, maybe somewhere down the line you’ll go back to that album and actually develop a liking of it.  I recently did this with Foo Fighters Colour and Shape.  A problem arises if they lose their style completely.  Even then, the artist is being true to what they feel like.  If they don’t they are crucified, if they just make music to please others and to do well in the marketplace, they are “sellouts”.  Not too much room for a win-win here.  I’d prefer the artist to stay true to what they feel like creating.  I may drop out of their fan base if they lose their original style that I liked but I still respect them and there will always be the songs that I do enjoy.

The real question is what kind of follower are you?  Do you more just like certain songs by an artist?  Or do you thoroughly enjoy the artist and all that they do and represent?  Neither is right or wrong.  Think about it.

What Have You Been Listening to?

Alright so here’s the situation.  You’ve really been into this particular band lately and every chance you get you put it on.  For whatever reason, you instantly liked what was coming out of the headphones.  If someone asked you what you liked about it what would you say?  You don’t know?  Just sounds good? The words mean something meaningful? The guitars sound sick?   What are you really listening to?

I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice this but doesn’t mean I’m not curious.  There is a bit of a divide among music listeners.  There are the ones that latch on to what’s being said, and the ones that are hooked by the instruments and their respected riffage.  Each side seems to miss things in the mix.  I don’t mean to say people are literally not hearing something in mix.  What I mean is some just don’t place too much importance on certain aspect so it gets skipped over because something else catches more of your attention.

Everything was recorded and kept for a reason ladies and gentlemen and there are important elements in the mix that might just be a little hidden.

I’ve ALWAYS listened to the instruments.  A lot of the time I don’t even know parts of the song simply because it’s not what gets me.  Even my favorite songs I’ve heard more times to count I’ll only know what the words sound like, not what they actually are.  I always thought that’s how it was for everyone and I questioned why the songs would be published if there are parts that people can’t understand.  That can’t always be prevented though and I get that so didn't really think much of it.

I started noticing friends would always be so on top of the lyrics though and know every word.  They didn’t have to look up the words they just knew what they were.  At first I thought my hearing was already going to hell and I didn’t doubt it so just thought, “oh well it was bound to happen anyway lets be real.”

Sometimes, however, there would be conversations about the way the song sounds and a particular melody line that sounds good.   Now the lyrical people get to feel like they’re missing something.  Most didn’t even notice or hear what we were talking about, nor understand it.  Sort of like how I don’t understand how certain phrases of words sound so good and others mediocre wordplay.
Ok so you like this but miss out on this.  The words can’t stand on their own and the music can’t stand on it’s own. 

The answer is obvious.

It’s the combination of the words and the music that makes it good of course!

Big original revelation right?

Well hold on.

If some people miss out on the full impact of the words or music, how is that magical song marriage ever complete?  How do you ever enjoy it to its fullest potential?

Actively listen to every part of the song.  Absorb everything and you’ll find those hidden gems in the mix that you were always meant to enjoy.  Whether that’s a higher vocal harmony that gives it a certain kind of class, or a sneaky bass line that drives the whole section.  Readers and your average music Joes tend to like words while musicians tend to listen for instruments.  Of course there are exceptions to this but without getting overly analytical, it tells me there's something else that makes you more attentive to certain parts.  Whats the real influence for the mix in your head?  Think about it.