We Dress Like Students, We Dress Like Housewives. Well, Maybe Not So Much Like Students.
David Byrne on his appearance in Ann Arbor last summer, putting his finger on exactly what’s wrong with the A2 arts scene:
Our show is part of a arts festival that the University is putting on. We’re in a lovely medium sized theater on campus. Somehow, possibly accidentally on purpose, this festival seems to have managed to almost totally exclude the student body. That’s a considerable achievement, as there are students everywhere, even though school is out. There are smattering of younger faces in the audience, but mostly it seems to be faculty or former faculty who have possibly put on an arts festival for themselves. Well, that’s OK too, I guess. There were no ads that I could see in the music section of the local alt weekly- though the daily paper did run prominently the AP wire service article about my doings.
Dude, if the older folks weren’t throwing the festival for themselves, they wouldn’t have invited you, because no one under 30 remembers you. Don’t bite the old, withered, liverspotted hand that feeds you.
posted by personality on April 18th, 2005 at 11:10 amI enjoy how he informs, rather than accuses. Classy.
Do people here feel that a vibrant art scene requires density?
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 11:13 amHe didn’t bite.
Byrne is not Brittany, but he’s not Bachman Turner Overdrive.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 11:16 amSomeone admit that they actually liked David Byrne at any time.
posted by YD on April 18th, 2005 at 11:17 amI, for one, am wearing fur pajamas.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 11:28 amI liked him!
but I wonder what alt-weekly he mentioned? The two places to see whats going on in town are the Current and the Observer, I’m thinking he was looking at the ‘Ann Arbor Paper’ or whatever they call the semi-weekly that existed (and may still).
posted by Just a Voice on April 18th, 2005 at 11:54 amDensity = Art Anyone?
Asking again, because the one thing that strikes me about Art in Ann Arbor is the degree to which it goes nicely with the sofa.
There isn’t an art scene, really, or if there is, then Pottery Barn is the chic gallery.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 12:00 pmWell, I don’t really feel qualified to talk about visual art, so I’m not sure about the density thing. And I’ve always liked David Byrne. The first three Talking Heads albums are completely brilliant.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 18th, 2005 at 12:11 pmLast night I shot an elephant in my fur pajamas.
posted by Dave on April 18th, 2005 at 12:27 pmwhat was he doing wearing blahblahblah.
posted by mulligatawny on April 18th, 2005 at 12:30 pmI saw David Byrne on the Look Into the Eyeball tour at St. Andrews a few years back (Joe Henry opened) and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen.
Afterwards when I was speaking to him and shook his hand, it dangled lifeless like stunned trout, which was kinda creepy…but the show was fantastic.
posted by OFWinsurgent on April 18th, 2005 at 12:48 pmI think he’s pretty spot on… Alt-weekly though? MetroTimes? They hate Ann Arbor.
posted by js on April 18th, 2005 at 1:06 pmMaybe the A2 Paper was still weekly back then?
In any case, the summer festival is pretty lame, and definitely aimed at the middle-to-older-aged crowd. We need a mini A2/Ypsi outdoor Rock City Festival-esque festival.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 1:23 pmThe MT does hate AA. But they showcased the Byrne thing? And they worship AA bands if they have skirts.
posted by Leighton on April 18th, 2005 at 1:41 pmI am prepared to worship the first AA band to wear fur pajamas
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 2:17 pmI like David Bryne now more than I did when the Talking Heads were around. But that show was expensive…that’s why the students weren’t there, and that’s why I wasn’t there. If he wanted to see students so badly, maybe he should have put them on a guest list.
posted by Chris on April 18th, 2005 at 2:24 pmI haven’t been here long enough, nor had enough time to investigate, the ‘art scene’ of AA, but if it’s here, it’s not screaming. Even in VT there were tons of independent artists and co-op galleries everywhere, not to mention an art center (I mean, these ‘artists’ were often either NY retirees, New Hampshire libertarian separatists or Folk artists.. but still); additionally, there was enough good art being produced by grad/undergrad students that it was ALWAYS on campus, in various places.
Here… well, there doesn’t seem to be much inbetween the posters, unmatted construction paper cutouts crappy collage in certain coffeeshops and the uber-high-end gallery blah, which is lovely if you have a house/bank account of herculean proportions, and little by way of … experimental taste, but not so much, otherwise. I did see some ‘art’ at the Dreamweaver when I went. What about the art students here? what about other independent artists? Beats me. Density? I’d go for “existence”, Alan.
posted by Heidi on April 18th, 2005 at 4:15 pmAnd by “uber high end gallery blah” I’m not talking SoHo. I’m talking Main Street. Perhaps uber high end was an exaggeration.
posted by Heidi on April 18th, 2005 at 4:17 pm(or Chelsea) I’m done now.
posted by Heidi on April 18th, 2005 at 4:18 pm(or Chelsea) I’m done now.
posted by Heidi on April 18th, 2005 at 4:19 pmBrandon- I’ve wanted an outdoor fest for years, but have never been able to get it together… Maybe we could talk Todd into something?
posted by js on April 18th, 2005 at 4:45 pmDavid Byrne is great.. and he has a point,, so does the poster that mentioned the price of the ticket. David could have possibly found a way to lower the price, if he took a pay cut.
His show with Joe Henry two years ago and St. Andys was great and cheap!!
The art scene is dying in A2,, 555 Gallery GONE to Detroit,, Gallery 212 moved underground. There is a lack of space and a lack of support. The yuppies are taking over and looking down their noses at the “undesirables”.
posted by Hulla on April 18th, 2005 at 4:48 pmHeidi, the art students are all on North Campus, that’s why you don’t see ‘em. Lots of stuff has moved east (was just at the 555 a week ago, actually), but art here ain’t dead yet.
JS, Top of the Park just needs to book better bands, really. I’ve thought having acoustic shows on weekend afternoons at Todd’s patio would be a nice thing. I think a big weekend festival in West Park would be sweet… it could feature only Washtenaw County bands or something. Or maybe Detroit ones, too.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 4:54 pmI think it was Mike Nelson who said that David Byrne was not to be trusted (on the subject of heaven, or anything else) due to his inability to choose suits of the correct size.
posted by Lazaro on April 18th, 2005 at 5:17 pmBrandon - Art ain’t dead yet, but hey, I gotta question…
Does an artistic community require urban density? Can an artist speak to their surroundings, if their surroundings cannot speak back?
555 was run out of town on a rail. That is suck. There’s a new community forming around the retired guitar shop on the way out on Main, but 555 needs to keep Ann Arbor in it’s realm.
Any Ann Arbor music festival should draw on all of SEM. Detroit bands, and any other place that can produce a decent act.
There are what 5 million in Michigan? Isn’t this entire state smaller than LA County?
I think you need to pull people in from all over the sprawl if you want an event to succeed.
Manhattans aside, Brandon, art and density, any thoughts?
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 5:20 pmThe entire population of Michigan is around 9 million, unless the exodus reached insane proportions in the last census.
posted by Dave on April 18th, 2005 at 5:37 pmMichigan has 10 million people, if you count both genders.
Okay, cheap shot, but so tempting when a population estimate is 50% of the actual.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on April 18th, 2005 at 5:43 pmOops, Dave slipped in. Census estimate of Michigan population in 2004 is 10,112,620. I was referring to that number compared with AG’s hazarded 5 million.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on April 18th, 2005 at 5:45 pmThe thing is, there’s enough big Detroit festivals that especially highlight Detroit bands (Rock City, Tastefest, Blowout, D-Pollen, now Motor City Music Conference). I’d like the see the A2 Paper, Current, Blind Pig, Elbow Room, Leopold’s, and whoever else get together and put-on something especially showcasing Washtenaw talent. Lord knows we’ve got quite a bit of it. I guess we do have the Totally Awesome Fest coming up. Maybe you’re right, though, maybe there isn’t enough of an audience here for a festival of any size that features good music. Though, if you get some of the folk/roots-rockers in on it, too, that always attracts the Ark/Old Town crowd, who seem relatively reliable. I think there could be a mix… but the Starlight Drifters and George Bedard have had their day for a while, I think.
That said, it can never hurt to get the Dirtbombs back in town.
As for art needing density, I’ve no idea. There’ve been isolated, rural arts colonies for hundreds of years, if that says anything.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 5:49 pmYeah, don’t forget Dally In the Alley or Fourth Street Fair.
Brandon, trying to get a conversation going about spatial annotation. Looks like a non-starter. Have you catch you when your drunk on Saturday. (You will be drinking, nicht wahr?)
I’m not shrugging the suggestion of a Washtenaw music festival, but I think it would be a good exercise to include other Michigan cities. Maybe instead of looking East, we look West to K-Zoo, Grand Rapids, or north to the Tri-Cities, and Flint?
Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti probably have enough talent to stock the stage, but brining in some out of town acts would stock the audience, making it a multi-stage, or better still, weekend event.
Get the Ark-a-types involved, and you would have something more like the NOLA JazzFest, less like the Art Fair. In NOLA, JazzFest really happened in the clubs after JazzFest closed for the day. You would have to have enough talent to work the Ann Arbor venues after eleven, or when ever the event shut down.
Progression, you see, is what makes a festival an event worth traveling for.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 6:25 pm“spatial annotation”? See, I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about most of the time.
I really don’t think bringing many bands in from Kalamazoo or Tri-Cities would, uh, improve the theoretical festival. But maybe I’m totally off-base.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 6:30 pmThanks for the census info. I think I got 5 million from my Publius days, working with Michigan’s qualified voter file, a listing of all the registered voters in Michigan, and that was back in 1998, before the latest census. There seems to be about 6 million voters now. Not all citizens are voters.
Excuses, excuses…
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 6:42 pmBrandon - Check out Yellow Arrow or Grafedia. The idea is to create a link in “the real world” to a conversation being held elsewhere. An artist can continue to participate in a conversation about their work, after the art opening. Something to overcome the ex-urban sprawl.
I feel that art in Michigan suffers from driving distance.
Is the festival theoretical? Seems easy to pull together.
An effort to make it regional, including other states, including Ontario, would be pretty exciting. Don’t know that there is anything like that going on in the Mid-west. A NXMW festival.
I’d like to see bands from Toronto an Indianapolis, I’d like to see it grow into that. So long as it’s theory.
Ann Arbor has a number of annual occurrences that have bought the farm in the last ten years, it seems like it’s time for some new events.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 6:56 pmHey, wait. On that last lark of mine, any thoughts from the Old Fourth Ward Insurgent?
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 6:57 pmI think MC2 is supposed to be NXNW. Or something. I wasn’t thinking quite that enormous, exactly.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 7:14 pmSomeone asked if anyone would admit to ever having liked David Bryne. I’ll admit it. I guess that makes me a pariah or something, but I enjoy a great number of things that nobody under the age of 30 likes. Of course, I’m nowhere near under the age of 30, so I suppose that makes sense.
posted by Frank on April 18th, 2005 at 7:39 pmthe summer festival really is aimed at locals, not students. i like the talking heads (and am under 30) but i wasn’t there either, because of the ticket price. the festival would be cool, i would say don’t worry about using venues after they close, just do it outside. that is what summer is for.
posted by sheldon on April 18th, 2005 at 7:51 pmOkay. Not so enormous, but a cool enough, in the third annual to get a couple bands from the region to come and perform?
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 8:17 pmYpsiFest will be in it’s 3rd year this year. It’s a little heavy on the art-emo, true. But it’s always too crowded to plug beyond that.
posted by leighton on April 18th, 2005 at 8:57 pmWe’re thinking of expanding to TC’s and Tap Room for more variety / space. But being organized / friendly has never been a Washtenaw strongpoint.
Brandon- The problem with West Park is noise permits. The bandshell faces the rear end of a nursing home. Whenever Commie High did Comstock, there was invariably a hassle with the noise permit, because the old fucks have nothing better to do than oppose kids in parks playing music.
posted by js on April 18th, 2005 at 10:45 pmI’d like to do something outside, yeah. I’d like to have it be free (ideally without sponsorship banners too, but I don’t know how doable that is).
I like Ypsifest, but I’d like bands (and people) to come from all over. I actually like the idea of a juried show, but it’s hard to convince bands to do that. Maybe do it by invitation, or set up a curator?
I wonder how hard it would be to set something up in that riverside park where the Broadway bridge is…
I think it could be cool to do it at Leopold’s (heh. All this speculation without Todd weighing in), but acoustic is a little wan to have for a summer fest. I wonder how hard it is to get Elbel for a day during the summer…?
JS, the problem is I’m not sure where you’d do it outdoors at Leopold’s– you know how much trouble they have with noise complaints even doing shows indoors.
How did all those bands back in the 60s-70s play in West Park? Was that before the senior home?
Elbel is pretty genius. The neighbors down there are all used to noise. I don’t know if I care for the idea of a juried show… doesn’t sound too rock-n-roll to me, and in fact sounds a bit Annarboury.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 11:05 pmAnd really, what’s the point of having a bandshell if you can’t have bands play in it? It’s pretty ridiculous, really.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 11:06 pmBandon - Back in the 60’s and 70’s they weren’t seniors. They were probably in the band.
A juried show? How Film Festy.
I like the idea of having a multi-day event. Are there any park venues in Ann Arbor, or are they all to close to residential?
Broadway bridge, that place they mowed in the middle? Power and facilities are problem, noise might not be.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 19th, 2005 at 1:18 amWhen I lived in the U.P. my town had a yearly music festival where every single local band (and there were a ton) would come and play. It was called “Misery,” largely I think because all genres were represented so you were sure to find something that you didn’t like, but it was awesome and always a huge success. There also was a huge yearly reggae fest nearby (and on a reservation so most “controlled substances” were “legal”)
Seriously, coming from a town of less than 10,000 (but still the biggest one by far for hundreds of miles) why do I miss having an active local music scene when I’m living in Ann Arbor? Does everything just suck? Or just the bands I try to go see?
posted by Keith on April 19th, 2005 at 4:38 amDon’t forget the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.
I can’t decide if I like that or Dally in the Alley more. Both good, good times. Probably Hamtramck for the less-pretentious crowd and cheaper food.
posted by Jen on April 19th, 2005 at 6:25 amSorry guys, getting busier these days….
Brandon is right, noise is the big issue. We thought of having outdoor shows in our little parking lot years ago. No chance. Neighbors would throw a fit. We had a bossa nova band with tee-tiny amps in the parking lot for a wedding reception the 1st year we were open on a saturday afternoon and the cops were called twice.
The thing that really sucks about shutting down music was that I was just making headway with the larger indie booking agents…..reps for: Shins, Postal, Spoon, etc…….when the plug was pulled. You’d be surprised how far treating artists like human beings will get you.
We can really only get away with doing a show a quarter…one *indoor* show a quarter. And summers are tough because all of our neighbors have their windows open during the summer…..
We’ll probably have a get-the-hell-away-from Art Fair show again this year.
posted by todd on April 19th, 2005 at 9:20 am5 million, 6 million, 10 million… who cares? The entire state still has a population that’s less than half the size of the population in the 30 square miles around Times Square.
posted by Anna on April 19th, 2005 at 9:23 amOh, well, I guess Ann Arbor is a bedroom community. Culture, just so long as it does not attract groups of people.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 19th, 2005 at 9:42 amWell, in an eloquent defense of my home state, let me just say: so what?
posted by Dave on April 19th, 2005 at 9:48 amLeopolds is also next to (well two doors down) an Ann Arbor Housing Commission building, just like the bandshell. The building houses mentally ill in addition to the “old fucks.” Miller Manor was built in 70. Baker Commons by Leopolds was built in early 80. They still have Commie fest every spring. It is quite loud for a couple hours. And the symphony plays once a week. People also can get a permit for an hour or two. So the band shell is being used. I just don’t think a quadrapelegic who looks out into west park for the last twenty years and can’t leave his bed without assistance should have to have rock bands 200 feet in front of him for ten hours.
posted by yd on April 19th, 2005 at 9:54 am“People also can get a permit for an hour or two.”
The permit that you allude to is pointless. Plug in the smallest amp, and it will exceed the increased dB’s.
The Housing Commission building isn’t the issue. They have air conditioning, and can’t hear a thing that far up the road. It’s the people directly behind us, together with the homes on Ashley that have had the noise issues.
BTW, it isn’t just “rock” bands that are the problem. We received complaints for both jazz and big band groups….no amps involved at all.
posted by todd on April 19th, 2005 at 10:22 amWell, so the best bet is probably to try to get every band in town (and in Ypsi and the surrounding area) to play, if we want it.
posted by js on April 19th, 2005 at 10:35 amCurrent tried this a bit with a Battle of the Bands thing we were thinking about pulling, but the Pig wouldn’t give us any dates in November (when we wanted it, for our music issue).
I don’t know if they have power hookups at Elbel (but I think they do). I would imagine that it would have to be a generator-style show if done by the Broadway bridge (where I don’t think noise would be a problem at all… Bandemere park also has some space, but maybe not enough…)
I bet a student could find out how to get a permit for using Elbel. I can look into noise permits from the city. Then it would just be a matter of picking a day (or two) and trying to schedule bands. Hopefully, getting a PA wouldn’t be a big deal (some band has to own one that we could borrow).
I wonder how much this would cost to pull off?
There was talk of having an outside music thing (possibly via Ypsifest) in the downtown Ypsi parking lot off Washington St. Or closing off one section of Washingtons St. iteslf for a stage.
It’s too bad the Shell where the MC5 played is now off limits to any such rebelliousness. But they used to have generator shows ramdomly all over.
posted by leighton on April 19th, 2005 at 11:16 am“I wonder how much this would cost to pull off?”
Way more than we’ve got. Anyone have a rich uncle? We’d be paying the bands, too, I assume? We’d likely legally be required to have security or somesuch. Insurance? Holding it on U or City property would surely involve tons of red tape…
posted by Brandon on April 19th, 2005 at 12:18 pmOn the West Park 60’s thread: it cost ten dollars to rent the park before ‘68, and there was no hassle getting it. Then Sinclair took over the park concerts and brought in the (junior) Black Panthers to scream “m*th*rf*ck*r” at 110 decibels, and the old folks home on the hill had the city pull the plug on West Park for quite a while. It can still be gotten, but it’s usually the Civic Band, or Comstock from Community High. I’m sure you couldn’t run weekly rock concerts in there any more.
posted by Michael McC. on April 19th, 2005 at 12:22 pmIt’s funny that people are so concerned about disrupting life near West Park with concerts, but somehow the inconvenience to people in the grad student ghetto, all along south division, etc., etc. during art fair doesn’t seem to matter. I always chalked it up to “life lived near other people doesn’t always go exactly the way you want,” but apparently, that type of thinking doesn’t apply to seniors and others in the West Park neighborhood.
BTW, I remember one summer, maybe in summer 1992, during which there was a concert series in West Park. I think it was jazz.
posted by Anna on April 19th, 2005 at 2:14 pmIf this thing actually makes it off the ground, count WCBN in. We’ve got some cash and a PA, although I do mandate at least one arrhythmic glitch act…
~john
posted by John on April 19th, 2005 at 6:45 pmI Googled YpsiFest and only found last years line up. How is that going? If this gets off the ground, very cool, and a good way to get it going is to organize around things that already exist.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 19th, 2005 at 8:37 pmBrandon- I’d rather not pay the bands, frankly. I’d sure as hell encourage them to set up merch though.
posted by js on April 19th, 2005 at 8:47 pmSo, we’d have to come up with the site fee for wherever (let’s say Elbel). The RecSports folks have set up their website in a way that makes accessing their info pretty crappy, and there’s no way to find out what the cost would be. But I’d guess having WCBN involved would be pretty handy, if for no other reason than not needing the $1 million in insurance (I’m not clear on whether that’s for outdoor facilities too…)
There are a lot of different things that would have to go through a vice-president, but again, with ‘CBN, there’d be no reason to deny ‘em (like getting a noise permit). It’s dodgy on whether or not we could get any outside sponsors or have booze, but even without ‘em, it can’t be more than a grand, right? Toss in, what, like $200 in fliers etc., and we’re up to $1200.
That’s not undoable. It would mean having a couple of benefit shows and doing some private fundraising (perhaps in the neighborhoods around Elbel?), or coming up with a sponsorship plan that will work for the University. If we have it at Broadway (or maybe even that parking lot where the Lowertown thing is supposed to go in), it’d be easier to get sponsors, but harder to draw a crowd.
Fuck, if we’re clever, we might even be able to get grant money for it. (Serving underpriveleged minorities or something…)
The park at Broadway Bridges would be excellent…they had some live music (jazz) and a beer tent at the Opening Ceremonies (ribbon cutting for the bridges) last fall and it was pretty cool. I could ask a friend of mine in the DDA what they had to do to pull that one off.
posted by OFWinsurgent on April 19th, 2005 at 8:47 pmThis whole plan is pretty genius, JS. Elbel might just work. Yeah, we don’t even need alcohol, really. I’d love to get all the good bands around together for a daylong outdoor show like that… if you really try to do this, I’m glad to help (though I may be moving to Detroit for the summer, thus making logistics iffier).
posted by Brandon on April 19th, 2005 at 9:05 pmjs - Arts at Michigan has these things called “mini-grants” that are apparently horribly under-utilized. I got one this last semester practically no questions asked. well, sure, you have to say how it will contribute to arts and why they should fund it, but really it’s easy and I’m sure they would fund something like this in an instant (only up to $1000, though).
One catch: it really really helps to be a student group (not that you can’t make one for one certain event). I don’t know the specifics, but if you give them your student group number or something they pretty much just sign over the money. That’s what they did for me.
posted by Keith on April 19th, 2005 at 10:59 pmHey John, you hear that? Think ‘CBN would be up for puttin’ in for a grant? I’ll write it up if you guys’ll sponsor it. We can always toss a “Donate to ‘CBN” thing up, and have you guys hawk premia.
posted by js on April 19th, 2005 at 11:55 pm[If AAiO would like, we can take this to my blog instead of his, hers, or theirs.]
AAIO needs premia.
posted by Brandon on April 20th, 2005 at 12:03 amWe just got one of those mini-grants for the Rachel’s show over the winter, but if they want to give us another one, I’ll smile and nod
posted by John on April 20th, 2005 at 1:19 pmWARNING: What follows is a “back when I was a kid” comment.
I’ve never seen Byrne perform live so I don’t know what that’s like. In the early 80s we did go to the Michigan Theater and dance in the orchestra pit while they showed Stop Making Sense. That was a lot of fun.
As to outdoor music in Ann Arbor, there was a time when that happened a fair bit. There was a light smattering at Summerfest (don’t know if that still happens). But if you wanted real outdoor music festival it was the Frog Island festival that the Ark used to run. When that was going it used to draw some big names and some pretty good sized crowds, but I’m guessing not big enough. And, of course, it actually took place in Ypsi.
posted by Colin J. on April 20th, 2005 at 2:54 pmYeah, they canned the Frog Fest a couple years back. The last several years had been boring as shit, and the sponsors didn’t see anyone showing up…
posted by js on April 20th, 2005 at 3:33 pmSimilar to the good ol’ Jazz and Folk Fest that used to run at Gallup. Its first year they had Sun Ra and the MC5 along with Ray Charles. The last pass through had some Thornetta Davis and a buncha bullshit.
Contemporary blues is a long-term experiment to see how many times you can play the exact same riff before your boring results outnumber your interesting results. The limit’s been breached, I think, but they keep funding the research.
Did anyone go to see Elvis & the Imposters last night? I was going to try to pick up a ticket, but got busy at the last minute (I have seen him a dozen times anyway). How was the show?
posted by OFWinsurgent on April 20th, 2005 at 7:55 pmAs an entrepreneur, David Byrne has done a few nice things for the world: his label luaka bop has been great for resurrecting brazilian Tropicalia –and who can’t like that? But the fresh old stuff from the Tropicalistas only makes his post-Heads music sound all the more overworked and fussy. The man in the big suit was fumbling with sharp-edged toys when he blamed faculty –yeah, people like me who drink tall glasses of haterade regularly before our intense mind-curdling workouts of grading student papers– for making the summer festival so boring, wholesome, and un-studenty. Like i’m a professor and i don’t know anyone who goes near the summer festival. It’s not students we need at these events –ok, a sprinkling would be acceptable– it’s better talent!
posted by caetano on April 20th, 2005 at 8:20 pmSpeaking of outdoor concerts, I think East Quad used to host a day-long concert called Noiseapalooza (I guess it was considered clever to add a “-palooza” suffix to things in the early 90s) in their courtyard.
posted by Chris on April 21st, 2005 at 3:47 pm“As an entrepreneur, David Byrne has done a few nice things for the world: his label luaka bop has been great for resurrecting brazilian Tropicalia…It’s not students we need at these events –ok, a sprinkling would be acceptable– it’s better talent!”
Uh… Caetano Veloso, the father of Tropicalia (and other than Tom Ze, the only one of that group still making decent records), played Summer Fest last year, and each year they have at least one decent act. Certainly they are conservative in their booking for the most part, but they have to be partly: since all the outdoor shows and movies are all free, they have to rely on artists who are going to make them a lot of money, therefore whatever the NPR-featured-worldbeat-album-of-the-summer is who gets booked. I really wanted to see David Byrne, mostly because he brought Tosca as his backing “band” but also because his last album was good, and had to opt out due to the extreme ticket prices. Same with Veloso. I’m a huge fan, but couldn’t afford it (although with Veloso the price is justified since he flew in from Brazil).
posted by Greg on April 21st, 2005 at 5:50 pmAnn Arbor’s *classical* music scene is among the very best outside major metropolitan markets.
And David Byrne rocks, just for the record.
posted by Anonymous on April 24th, 2005 at 11:25 pmThere’s a women’s music fest coming up at the Elbow Room May 5 - 7.
I’m copying this from the project X blog (I don’t think people will mind word getting out):
LADYLIKE FESTIVAL III (a weekend of all kinds of music made by all kinds of mostly female people - no politics, no cliques, no fashion, just music and fun)
THUR MAY 5 —> SAT May 7
THUR MAY 5th:
EVIL BEAVER (LA drum and bass duo via Chicago return)
HOGWASH (Ann Arbor)
GUILTY (femetal from up North)
OS RALES?
FRI MAY 6th:
BLAMMO (Patti Smith and DK would be proud - )
NEW GRENADA (smart punky girl / boy band - )
THE PUSSY PIRATES (all girl jazz punk a la the Slits)
MYDOLS (All-mom fun band who sound like the Cramps for kids - 6th)
FLIRT (opening band led by the queen of punk)
Pussy Pirates?
SAT MAY 7th (all day show starting at 6):
TELENOVELA (Chicago, via the Puta Pons’s ashes)
posted by A Different Jon on April 25th, 2005 at 6:09 amCANDY BAND( all-mom-rock band from Detroit)
UMBERTO (solo indie love)
SYBRIS (Chicago femme-fronted rock)
NOBODY’s DARLIN’ (All-girl / all-string band led by Delilah of Dangerville)
CHOKEHOLD (Chicago theatrical female goth metal)
CHOKING SUSAN - (gothy punk)
URBAN MYTH (formerly Lip Service)
(+ supers
Pussy Pirates are worth seeing!
posted by js on April 26th, 2005 at 11:39 am