As planned, I missed the first two bands, only because opening acts are no longer worth it for me (plus, I am seeing four to six shows this week); I leave watching usually-bad performances for the younger generation.
Speaking of younger generation, Be Your Own Pet rocked. The onstage energy and (minimum) humorous banter made this show worth seeing, even if they only played for at most 45 minutes (and with no encore! I love these guys!). The crowd was a bit beligerant for some reason, but oh well; DC crowds are known for their oddities, although this is mainly their non-dancing and depressed attitudes. Overall, it reminded me of punk/rock shows where people were excited to watch and bands excited to perform, a combination that usually happens on a smaller or more local scale.
Surprisingly, this show was not packed and did not sell out. I had bought my ticket in advanced because I assumed the hipster community would come out in force for this Thurston Moore-approved, Pitchfork-lauded group. Not so.
Besides being an extremely good show–and one that will be considered for, but not win, my show of the year–it also brought to mine the occasionally used “maturity” aspect of a band. Normally, describing a band as “mature” happens when the band has become old and no longer rocks like they once did. Used like this, the term is fairly lame as it is not helpful, but that’s the way of the music critic.
Regardless, BYOP, despite being an excellent band and putting on an excellent show, is a useful example in highlighting what should be meant by a band being mature. For example, none of the equipment was set up when I arrived (although this could some sort of snafu, as they started out their set telling Baltimore to go fuck themselves; i.e., perhaps they played Baltimore the other night and something happened that caused them to be late). And one of my pet peeves, which BYOP did, was discuss the set list on stage and in between songs; it is great to tweak or add songs based on the show, but a band needs to know what’s what and not make the audience wait (especially when you are only playing a 45 minute set!). There are a couple other minor examples of this but none are as significant.
Over time, the band will probably “mature” into a properly performing group, although hopefully without “maturing” into not rocking.
I think this band maturity kick you are on is not worthwhile . . . . . . . it doesn’t seem like it would make that much of a difference if a band is discussing what number they would like to perform between songs; much to the contrary, requiring a band to be so well-thought out that they can clip from piece to piece smacks of facism -> give the musicians some room to breathe/experiement with their sound during the show, instead of having to mindlessly repeat the same performance day after day. Their sound will stagnate if you constantly reprimand them for the barest deviation from their official sound during a set.
Additionally, I’ve never noticed a particular improvement in a band’s sound with the unlikely addition of some maturity. American rock has generally been a youth culture, more so than a culture of finely honed musicians producing flawless sound as they tack through our culture. …
I agree that flexibility is important, as is freedom and small puppies. But suggesting bands can’t have their shit together and put on a good show is a false dichotomy. If I wanted to stand around listening to a bunch of hipster decide what to do next, I’d just go to a college radio station and hang out. It’d be a lot cheaper, too.
Bands that sell tickets for their shows should be professional. That means have a smooth and relatively mistake-free show, not play as if they’re practicing in the garage of their parents’ suburban house.
Just like we don’t have time for customer service operators who give us the run around, writers who can’t write, and movie producers who don’t produce, I–and hopefully you–don’t have time for bands that play like they dress.
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