It was strange to see so many familiar faces at Trees of all places last night. Some people say it felt like 2003, but it was a lot more like the 90's or 2000 at the most to me. I say that with no opinion on whether or not that's a good thing, as I have no love or nostalgia for said decade other than a few selfish memories that I would never wish to impact the lives of anyone other than myself. In other words, just because I may find "Dreams" by The Cranberries "What's Up Fatlip?" to be especially great for radio or MTV fodder, that doesn't mean I wish to impose that on the lives of today's teens.
Lightning Bolt did their classic floor performance which launched a thousand stubborn bands that similarly refused to play on a stage, but there was something really strange about it at Trees in 2010. I hate to sound like "Old Man DL," but I clearly remember this act being much more surprising and intense in the tiny setting at RGRS, when they cut off Arab On Radar mid-sentence as the band was leaving the stage from the 2002 "Oops!" Tour performance. A lot of what went on last night seemed like a tribute to a time that has long passed, but that has nothing to do with the bands, who all were excellent, more or less, as much as our own local identity concerning venues and our ability to either keep them afloat or consistently book interesting acts. Speaking of things that have long passed, the virtual fight that broke out regarding that 2002 Rubber Gloves show on the recently revamped Dallas Hardcore message board, between the bitter metalcore bros and the younger and more art-friendly crowd, is a favorite memory of early aught's DFW music scene infighting that acted as an ominous sign of where attitudes regarding music would be heading in the following eight years. Ah, the good old days.
I had a funny conversation with an Observer contributor who shall rename nameless, about how nobody was necessarily assigned to cover last night's show, but this particular contributor insisted on the assignment. My guess is that the expert music staff over there has perhaps never heard of one of the most important acts from the transformational Providence noise scene. But that's just a guess.
There are a lot of intense metal and punk shows tonight at some great venues in all three major cities, as well as one eyebrow-raising show at Art Six which is presented by The Schoolhouse. I say "eyebrow raising" because I just can't picture bands as loud as Handbrake and Deep Snapper playing The Schoolhouse. Oh, and by the way, Deep Snapper just added a new guitarist, Aaron Bartz of Tame...Tame and Quiet.
Sad news about Harvey Pekar today. He was a revolutionary. The above clip is really charming, and candidly shows one of the many everyday things of which he was so incredible at exploring every last little nuance. His Free Jazz speech at NX35 in 2009 contained a lot of radical information given the event and the setting, and it was an honor to meet him. RIP.
