Insubordination Fest: Day 2

Posted on June 30, 2010 by jnagle4

When I woke up on Saturday morning, it took me a while to process the day ahead.  Eleven hours at Sonar.  I took a deep breath, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and rolled out of bed.  I was drained from the night before, and I’d only gotten my feet wet.   I arrived at Sonar a little after 1:00.  I ran into a couple I met during the Flamingo Nosebleeds’ set.  They were eating pizza and drinking Slurpees with the same glazed look I had.  The girl had only gotten three hours of sleep and blisters on her feet.  She took one last slurp and then went inside.

The setup remained the same as the night before, except the hamburger stand moved into the alley.  The only way to get to the alley was through the back of the lounge, which was up three steps.  A security guard had to get my food.  This was a minor hiccup, but it was slightly annoying.  They should have had one stand inside and one in the alley.  The burger was decent; hot and fresh with melty cheese.

Before we get to the music, I have a confession to make.  After the Beatnik Termites’ set, I went to the lounge to see Deep Sleep.  I went to a vacant corner of the bar, where I promptly fell asleep.  I woke up to a middle-aged woman offering me a brownie.   It was delicious…I think. Thank you.

I moved around more on the second day trying to see as many bands as I could.  Here are the ones that made the biggest impression.

  • The Beatnik Termites: The Beatnik Termites are technically a punk band, but not really.  Electric doo-wop would be a much better term.  Simple songs about the joys and fears of teenage romance played at maximum decibels.  Their set was a ton of fun.
  • Zapoteks: These guys weren’t on my radar until I met the drummer backstage.   We had a conversation about cricket.  I still have no idea how to play it.  It’s interesting to note that most bands on the bill had a distinctly American sound and sensibility.  The Zapoteks were British, and they sounded like it.  The riffs weren’t slow, but they weren’t delivered in a rapid fire pace either.  The singer had a Cockney affectation, and they whooped like a pack of soccer hooligans.  It was a nice change of pace.
  • Blacklist Royals: Fast tempo + big choruses + ‘50s retro vibes = Awesome band.
  • Teenage Bottlerocket: The first headlining band of the evening.  Teenage Bottlerocket were four superballs let loose.  They jumped, ran and hit their guitars with a childlike zeal.  The crowd responded by slam dancing and stage diving..  Kids ran up onstage and dove into a pulsing sea of humanity.  It got dicey a few times, but nobody got hurt. When the band and crowd are feeding off each other, it always creates magic.
  • The Smoking Popes: The crowd was drained after Teenage Bottlerocket, so it took a little while for them to warm up to the Popes, but the more relaxed atmosphere suited the band.  One of the things that I admired about their set was how unpretentious it was.  They got onstage and they played their songs.  Again, there was no disconnect between the band and their audience.
  • Less Than Jake: The headliners.  Less Than Jake are really good at what they do.  They have fun songs and tons of energy.  However, my tolerance for ska is limited, especially when I am exhausted.  I stayed for half their set and decided to beat the crowd.  They brought it though, and they are worth seeing live.  I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t 1:00 in the morning.

Overall Thoughts: The main thing I took away from Insubordination Fest was the feeling of community.  Everyone was there to have good time and support each other, which is the complete opposite of the average corporate rock fest.  If you are a fan of punk rock and have never experienced it, grab a couple friends and be prepared to mosh.

Author’s note: I would like to personally thank Chris Thacker of Insubordination Records for hooking me up with VIP passes.

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Insubordination Fest 2010: Day One

Posted on June 29, 2010 by jnagle4

The kids moved from room to room like swarms of locusts.  When a band finished their set, they would move on.  Some went to the main room to hear Kepi Goulie, others moved to the lounge for Protagonist.  Others were content to float from room to room, sampling a band and then moving on.

I regret to say that going to festivals every summer had become routine, both as a fan and as a journalist.   The ritual never changes.  A list of bands is announced, you decide what bands to see and then you sweat it out in a stadium for nine hours.  Insubordination Fest was an entirely different animal.  Even though I consider myself a fan of punk rock, I had marginal knowledge of the bill and had only been to Sonar once.  The weekend was an adventure, and it was a helluva lot of fun.

Friday:

I arrived at 6:00 and drank it all in.  Sonar’s main room functioned as both the main stage and the midway.  The club stage was devoted to bands of a Canadian persuasion, and the lounge had the look and feel of a basement punk show.   Although Insubordination Records is known for pop punk, almost every subgenre was represented.  Here are the highlights

  • The Night Birds: The Night Birds were on the main stage as I arrived.  The songs were short, simple and had a lot of screaming.
  • Old Wives: Canada isn’t really known for punk rock, which is why a Canadian stage was a stroke of genius.  Old Wives continue the classic punk rock tradition of sweaty dudes and a foxy bassist.  She had glasses and wore an Iron Maiden t-shirt.  I spent the majority of their set trying to remember facts from the Canada unit of my sixth grade social studies class.  In the immortal words of the great philosopher Wayne Campbell, she could wail.
  • Flamingo Nosebleed: The lounge stage was my favorite in terms of atmosphere because it reminded me of all the great basement shows I’ve been to.  There was nothing between the crowd and the band.  I only caught the last song of Flamingo Nosebleed’s set, but they got the crowd going.  They even managed to start a four person mosh.  Oh to be fourteen again.
  • Noise By Numbers: Noise By Numbers reminded me of Jawbreaker.  After three lightning fast punk bands, the slower pace was refreshing.  Their songs were incredibly melodic and had huge choruses.  When the lead singer hit high notes, you could see the veins in his neck.  That’s commitment.
  • The Hamiltons: The Hamiltons packed the Canadian room.  I bumped into the same girl about seven times to keep from blocking the door.  That was annoying, but they won me over with their cover of The Ramones’ “Judy Is a Punk.”  When they tore into the riff, I looked over at the girl, and she was singing along.  The Ramones are the common thread of punk rock.  No matter what subgenre is your favorite, it all comes back to those three chords.
  • Fear of Lipstick: I’d seen these guys on YouTube, and I made a point of seeing their set.  The crowd left the room en masse after The Hamiltons, so there were only about 25 people in the audience.  It was their loss, because Fear of Lipstick played one of the most dirty, energetic, sweaty and passionate sets of the weekend.  Canadians are usually so nice and polite, but Eric Dagle had a lovely snarl in his voice.  The Johnny Ramone-style strumming was even better.  Their hands pounded the strings so rapidly that it seemed like a blur.
  • The Copyrights: Another highlight.   Big riffs, big choruses and a ton of energy.  The stage diving began with this set.  I preferred to watch it from the safety of backstage.

  • American Steel; I shook Rory Henderson’s hand as he walked offstage.  It was covered in sweat.  These guys had the unenviable task of warming up the crowd before The Queers and they rose to the occasion.  The heavy power-pop influence of their music slowed the pace a little bit, which made them the perfect lead-in for The Queers.
  • The Queers: Like The Ramones, but a little bit more California surf-inspired.  The Queers didn’t say much, just pounded it out for an hour and closed with “Rockaway Beach.”  It was a fitting end to the first day.

Tomorrow: Day Two

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Cool Band Alert

Posted on June 28, 2010 by jnagle4

The Blacklist Royals

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I love you Neko Case

Posted on June 23, 2010 by jnagle4

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Interview: Jetboy

Posted on June 22, 2010 by jnagle4

A lot of things can change in a year.  When I last spoke to Jetboy, they had just reformed and were getting ready to enter the studio.  They have since released an acclaimed EP and played several rock festivals around the country.  I sat down with them again at this year’s M3 RockFest to discuss the new album, viral marketing and flyer wars.  You can check out Jetboy at www.jetboyrocks.com.

Last summer, you guys were writing songs and getting used to being a band again.  You have since released a new EP entitled Off Your Rocker.  Why did you release an EP instead of a full length album?

Mickey Finn: The way the music industry is going now, people want instant gratification.  They don’t necessarily have the attention span to listen to a whole record.  I think you are better off to release singles and keep a constant flow of music coming instead of releasing an album and having a long break.  We’re going to get in the studio within the next couple of months and do another one.

What have you been working on lately?

MF: We have a new song called “Beating the Odds,” which is really cool.  It’s a bit more classic metal than our other stuff.  It’s got some Priest in there.

So instead of the usual swinging bluesy feel, you are going in a different direction?

Fernie Rod: It really depends on the song.  The swing will always be there, but some songs are heavier than others. We just kinda go with the flow.

MF: You gotta wear your influences on your sleeve.  Our influences are classic rock, alternative and punk.

How did you choose the live tracks?

MF: We went with the ones that had the most energy and the most personality.

Do you have any favorite live records?

Jess Reckless: Cheap Trick’s At Budokan.

Jesse Mendez: Mine is Ozzy’s Speak of the Devil.

FR: You can’t beat The Song Remains the Same.  You just can’t go wrong.

Billy Rowe: I’m going to go with Ted Nugent’s Double Live Gonzo.

You guys were all in the same room when you recorded Off Your Rocker. What are the advantages to recording this way?

BR: It’s cheaper and you get the live feel.

JM: You get to interact with the other guys as you are playing.  It’s very organic.

BR: There is sterility in a lot of records now because of our technological advances. It makes it possible for people that aren’t so talented to make a great sounding record.

Do you think the Les Paul adds to the organic sound?

BR: Definitely.  It’s the classic standard rock n’ roll guitar. I play a Gretsch for the exact same reason.  It’s very warm, but also very raw.

The music industry has changed a lot since your last original album, Damned Nation, came out in 1990. How has digital music changed your approach to marketing? Is it easier now that you don’t have to deal with a major label?

MF: It is and it isn’t. Record companies have a lot of money and you get an entire staff of people to promote you and your music.  The downside is that they take a lot of your money. The DIY approach is a lot more work, and the band has to be a lot more involved.  If you do the work you get more of the profit in your pocket.

Back in the day, bands lived and died by MTV and magazines like Metal Edge. Is it easier to go directly to the fans?

MF: Yeah.  Now you have YouTube, which is basically the MTV of today. That and the music download sites are the most powerful tools we have.  More and more bands are getting used to giving away their music for free so that people will go see them on tour.

Are you happy you came out when you did?

MF: Yes. We got to experience the glory years.  We experienced the major labels, the money and the fame.  We had three or four years where it was just glorious.  Bands today will never experience that in the same way. It’s a different world.  On the other side, bands today grew up with computers. They have an edge because they know how to make websites and are technologically proficient.  That’s where the promotion of a band lies now. We have to get people to help us.

Facebook and Twitter are kind of like the new Sunset Strip.  Do you ever miss papering a boulevard with flyers?

MF: Oh yeah.  That was our thing, man.  We were the flyer kings of San Francisco.  We would out-flyer everybody. We’d be on ladders at 3 A.M. trying to get our flyers as high as we possibly could.  We’d photocopy our logo, cut it out and then glue it together so it would fit on a billboard.  When we played LA, we’d come down a few weeks before the show just so we could pass out flyers.  We’d be out all night long.

Who did you engage in flyer wars with?

MF: Poison and Guns n’ Roses.  They were our friends, but we’d cover them and they would cover us.

BR: Sea Hags and Vain too.

Jetboy is known for raucous club shows.  Clubs are very intimate, while arena rock is more impersonal. How do you guys connect with the audience when playing a larger stage?

MF: You just have to work a lot more. When you play a venue like this, you gotta exaggerate everything.  I’ve seen videos of some bands on big stages and it looks like they aren’t rocking out very much.  When you are in a club and the people are close, it looks impressive.  When you are far away, you look like a statue.  You have to go back and forth and try to connect with the crowd.

Does it help to focus on one particular side?

MF: Yeah.  You acknowledge the people on the left, on the right and in the back. You go from side to side. Unfortunately there was a fucking Harley on one side of the stage, so I couldn’t make it to the right side.  I could only go to the left.

How has touring changed for you?

MF: It’s tougher because the economy sucks.  It’s a lot harder to book a tour when gas prices are up.  The expenses are up and attendance is down. We’re just happy to get out, play and break even. We just want to get our music out to the people. We’re still paying our dues.

Are you able to turn your onstage personas on and off?

FR: I was just talking about that the other day.  It’s instinctual.  We don’t think about it, we just do it. If you think about it, you are going to mess up.

MF: I’ve always felt like people pay to see a rock show. They wanna see rock stars and attitude.  That’s not something you see walking down the street.   The key is not to carry it with you. If you carry it with you, then you become one of those guys that think they are better than everyone.  I turn it on when I hit the stage.  I become Mickey Finn and I put on that persona. I give people the show they want to see.  That’s what I think is missing today.  Where have all the rock stars gone?

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The Hair Metal Files: Round the Campfire

Posted on June 21, 2010 by jnagle4

The sun was finally going down.  It was still hot, but the temperature had cooled off.  Several breezes wafted through the backstage area.  It was a welcome relief from earlier in the day, when the heat and humidity seemed to hang in the air.  I had just finished watching Vince Neil perform and was waiting for him to make an appearance.  While I was waiting, Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns emerged from the inner sanctum with a pimp hat on his head and a girl on his arm.  He approached me.

“Hey mate! What are you up to?”

“Not much, man,” I replied. “I’m waiting for Vince to come out.”

“I haven’t seen him around.  He probably split.  You want something to drink?”

The heat had made me slightly dehydrated, so I took him up on his offer.  He returned from the catering area with a couple bottles of water.

“Sorry mate,” he apologized.  “It’s lukewarm.  Oh well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

We clinked bottles and drank.  Phil looked wistfully at the Scorpions’ deluxe tour bus, which was parked behind us.

“As much as I miss those things, I’m glad my army days are over,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever I would bring fans on that bus, they would all comment on how nice and big they are, but they aren’t.  Touring on a bus is fun for the first couple of days.  It’s you and your band against the world.  After a couple weeks, you start to annoy each other and dirty socks are everywhere.  It’s disgusting.  I like the way we do it now.  We jet from gig to gig.   I have my own seat and my own room.”

“Where are you guys going after this?” I asked.

“Cleveland,” he said.  “Hey, do you smoke?”

“Once in a while,” I said.

“That’s what I like to hear.  C’mon, we can do it over there.”

We went over to the artists’ lounge and sat around a coffee table.  Phil lit up.

“I don’t do drugs or drink much anymore.  I just really like to smoke. Does that make me a sinner?  What about you?”

“Nah, I just drink occasionally.”

“Cool.  What’s your drink?”

“Amaretto and Coke.  It has to taste good.”

“Yeah.  I just drink red wine and the occasional gin and tonic.  I never liked feeling out of control.”

Phil started telling me about his childhood.  He was born in London and dreamed of becoming a soccer player.  He was good at it, but his life changed the moment he saw Alice Cooper perform “School’s Out” on television.

“I came home with my cleats on my shoulder and I heard that riff.  I had to be a part of that.”

Phil’s first stab at stardom was with Girl, a glam band that also featured Def Leppard’s Phil Collen.

“We couldn’t play, but we looked fantastic,” he said with a laugh. “So pretty.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” I said.  “Phil Collen can play.”

“Yeah, because he actually practiced,” Phil explained. “He was up in his bedroom every night with a book learning how to solo.”

Eventually Phil got sick of trading on his looks.  He moved to the United States and hooked up with L.A. Guns.  Although the band never reached the heights of Mötley Crüe or Poison, they are able to tour all year round.

“I’m not rich, but I’m able to pay my bills playing music.  We aren’t the biggest band in the world, but I know we sound great.  That’s the one thing I’m really proud of.  We sound so tight.”

By now we had been joined by the Scorpions bass tech, who happened to have an acoustic guitar with him.  He handed it to Phil, who started to play Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May.”   The performance was loose and sloppy, but he didn’t miss a note.

“That was awesome,” I told him, impressed.

“Thanks.  It’s a really cool song.”

Phil got up and stretched.

“I never realized that there was a hammock back there,” he said.  “I think I’m going to go lie in it and watch the fireflies.”

“That sounds good man,” I said.  “Thanks for the talk.”

“Anytime, John,” he replied.

We slapped hands and he went to lie in the hammock, with the girl hanging from his arm.

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Coming Attractions

Posted on June 16, 2010 by jnagle4

I wanna do this right, so forgive my tardiness.

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Ladies and Gentlemen….Whitesnake Wine!

Posted on June 15, 2010 by jnagle4

Taken from the AV Club:

I think the snark writes itself. Discuss

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Bryan Danielson, We Hardly Knew Ye

Posted on June 14, 2010 by jnagle4

Yesterday afternoon, I was proofreading the first positive essay about modern professional wrestling that I had ever written.  In it, I lauded the WWE for their brilliant handling of the WWE-NXT Invasion.  For the first time in ages, I sat agog as the rookies systematically destroyed the Monday Night Raw set and annihilated John Cena.  I completely suspended disbelief and couldn’t wait for next week.

On Friday night, WWE.com reported that NXT leader Bryan Danielson had been released from the company.  I thought it was kayfabe, so I didn’t think anything of it.  My friend Brandon messaged me on Facebook about it, and I told him to watch the show on Monday.  I finished writing my essay and went to 411Mania.com to see if any new developments had sprung up.  I found out that Danielson had been fired for real.

Apparently, Danielson had gone above and beyond the WWE’s new PG rating when he choked the ring announcer with his tie and spat on John Cena.  Allow me to put this in perspective.   Aggravated assault with a sledgehammer is fine, but a logical gesture of hatred sends the sponsors running.  Professional wrestling has to have some violence, or else the inherent conflict between good and evil is pointless.  Danielson was not choking Justin Roberts for no reason.  His character was unhappy with his spot and was willing to do anything to get the attention of the front office.   Spitting on Cena was the exclamation point.

It worked.  For the first time since Cena was anointed the WWE’s top hero, he seemed vulnerable.  The vulnerability of the hero is the most crucial element of a wrestling angle.  If you don’t believe the babyface is in danger, you have no reason to see the heel get his comeuppance.  Even if you didn’t like John Cena, you had to feel some sympathy for him.  Why throw all that heat away?

I don’t think the PG rating is a bad thing.  I grew up in the days of Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage.  Chair shots were rarely used, sledgehammers were non-existent and nobody ever went through a table.  On the rare occasion they used “violence,” it was to escalate an angle.   This sporadic use of violence was the catalyst for my fandom.  Sgt. Slaughter attacked Hulk Hogan, locking him in the Camel Clutch while General Adnan waved an Iraqi battle flag in his face.  It was completely believable.

By firing Danielson, the WWE has cut the legs of its most interesting angle in years.  They have also fired an extremely charismatic performer who has a moveset beyond the WWE style.  This is Vince McMahon’s biggest blunder since the WCW invasion a decade ago.  I would have paid an obscene amount of money to see Cena clash with Danielson, and now it looks like I’ll be skipping Raw again.

If McMahon were reading this humble little essay, he’d probably give me his tired spiel about how the WWE is in the entertainment business and not the ‘rasslin business.  This may be true, but the hardcore wrestling fans built your entertainment business.  We were there in the fallow period of 1995-96, when your “superstars” struggled to fill 1500 seat arenas.  We were there after the death of Eddie Guererro and after the Benoit tragedy.  We have endured countless insults, but we remained because we love the artform.  You might not need us right now McMahon.  You have the little kids in their Rey Mysterio masks and John Cena dogtags.  But one day, those kids are going to grow up.  You can belittle the hardcore fans all you want, but you can’t afford to lose us.

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Christina Aguilera: Bionic

Posted on June 9, 2010 by jnagle4

When Christina Aguilera released her debut album a decade ago, she was branded as a big-voiced Britney Spears clone.  She did everything she could to break out of that box, transforming herself into a durrty girl and a torch singer.  Her ability to change helped her remain relevant after her contemporaries reached their expiration dates.   Now the tables have turned.  Instead of being ahead of the curve, Aguilera is desperately trying to keep up.

Christian Aguilera’s biggest asset has always been her voice, which has the ability to hit notes that only dogs can hear.  Her vocal pyrotechnics have made people forget that she has no personality whatsoever.  Her banality wasn’t a problem in the past because she had decent material.   Bionic proves that her voice isn’t enough anymore.

Bionic is supposed to be a futuristic pop album in the vein of Lady Gaga’s The Fame.  Aguilera talk-sings about how great it is to be glam and all the freaky-deaky things she can do in the bedroom.  This is a fine concept for an album, except Aguilera clearly has no idea what glam entails.

In the first 30 seconds of “Not Myself Tonight,” she breathily proclaims that she is “not a character.”  Christina, honey….glam is all about character.  You create an idealized version of yourself so that you can live out all your fantasies.

The lack of character also manifests in the vocal arrangements.  Aguilera’s vocal style is still locked in the year 2000, when a pop star’s worth was judged by the volume of their voice.  This method doesn’t work on Bionic because instead of a lush pop production, the songs are built around synthesizers and drum machines.  Aguilera’s vocals come in two varieties; breathily sexy and maximum overdrive.  For instance, “Glam” begins with Aguilera coyly telling the listener “paint yourself like a beauty queen and embrace the diva inside.”    She sticks with this façade for a while, but can’t resist the high notes.  She belts, and belts and belts.  For someone that is apparently not herself, she sounds just like Christina Aguilera.

The high notes are not the problem here.  Aguilera has been blessed with very powerful pipes and she should use them. But Aguilera has never learned how to use the voice to her advantage.  When you belt out “OH YEAH!” in every song, it loses its impact.  It turns into a game.  “When will she do it?  There it is!”

Lyrically, Ms. Aguilera tries to push sexual boundaries.  She wants to go all up in that club and kiss girls.  She wants sex for breakfast.  She wants the men of America to turn Japanese as they watch her brazen image.  This approached worked when she was 21, but is a tad creepy coming from a married mother of a toddler. Sample lyric:  “Your rubber band is what I call your love for me/cause it comes and goes and pins me like a trampoline.”  Really?

The lyrics don’t work because she can’t pull them off, not because she is a mother.  She’s trying to hold onto something that left a long time ago.

Aguilera’s last album, Back to Basics, was a fine example of a pop star maturing.  It worked because Christina understood the genre she was going for.  She understood how to deliver torch songs.  She has no idea how to sing like Lady Gaga, because Gaga’s music is based on genres that Aguilera has had limited exposure to.  Bionic makes Christina Aguilera sound dated, which is the last thing a pop star wants to be.

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