Waiting For the Band

Thanks to the I-can-instantly-have-it aspect of music nowadays, I've found myself getting increasingly annoyed when I go to see live music if there's an extended period between the opening act and the headliner. This, I must say, had never been a huge issue in my concertgoing experience in the years before I was grabbing music online. I can recall seeing the Fall in 1993 on their Infotainment Scan tour and waiting almost two hours for them after the Blues Explosion finished their set, because countless electronic gizmos, screens, computer terminals etc. that were part of the visual set had to be set up it seemed. Of course, there might have been a fight backstage for all I know causing the hold-up, but in retrospect I can see that scene as somewhat of a signifier of what the whole Infotainment concept was about: Mark E. Smith was ushering in the age of instant gratification via internet/technology, but making us all wait while he set up scads of it, which he didn't use anyway during the set. Genius. But again, that's just my take on it, or what I'd like to think anyway. But back to today, and what to do while waiting for a band: now that CB's is going away, you can't take a trip between sets to check and see the status of the bathroom fungal growth since last visit, and with the Ritz long gone you can't check out to see who's being beaten up by the bouncers. Needless to say, I'm very grateful for any kind of between-set entertainment. It was fun checking out the live DJ's outdoors at McCarren Pool shows this summer while concertgoers were invited to hit the Slip n' Slide (after signing a waiver), or pummeling each other in dodgeball in an exclusive, roped-off area. For your average indoor experience though, can't Clear Channel at least get Gallagher II or something between sets? He's cheap. Anyway, nostalgia floods back with the re-release of Sebadoh's 1991 record III this past month, as its bonus disc features an track culled from an extended tape the band used to play over the PA at shows to "pump up" the audience that I think turned up on a promo single somewhere years ago. Here's an MP3 excerpt of this 10 minute piece with Lou Barlow monotonously misprounouncing his band's name while reading hooky accolades (thanks Domino Records) for the sake of "entertainment." And while we're steeped in 90's indie nostalgia, there's the "KROQ DJ" taking the stage prior to Pavement (MP3), which you can see on their Slow Century DVD. Though it was probably Neil Young who had the best between-set entertainment. On this bizarre excerpt (MP3) of a pre-set ramble from a local Seattle DJ cast as MC of a 1980's date of Neil's Shocking Pinks tour, you can feel the Canadian humor of a non-present Young in full effect: after a Rin Tin Tin film shown to the crowd, and the weather is given, the DJ speculates on what Neil might play, points to a camera shot of his dressing room, interviews roadies, interviews the guy who did the photos for the Harvest LP, "fans" are brought up to gush, and at one point Ann and Nancy Wilson of are plucked out of the crowd to plug the new Heart album.

Comments

[fatty jubbo]

re: the fall...

I had always fantasized about seeing the Fall so much that I have had a few dreams about it. In one- The Fall were playing some basement space and they took two hours to set up all their equipment which included all manner of gadgets including a dot matrix printer for some reason. When they were finished setting up, they immediately started breaking everything down. I was quite upset. MES tried to kiss me with his toothless mouth. I recoiled and some fat girl in a light blue sweatsuit lent me her sweatpants to wipe off my mouth.

I actually prefer a decent 20 minutes between bands these days as it's nice to let the previous set of music sink in and maybe chat a bit. A constant barrage of music often overloads me. I remember though, exruciating waiting periods between bands when I was too young to drink and didn't know anybody. Now time zips right on by and I'm actually more annoyed by the actual music given the sorry state of shit music these days.

[esoterroriffik]

When it use to take a while for my band to set up, we would have one of our friends do his stand up routine. It was great because it killed two birds with one stone. Keeping the crowd entertained and the mic check. Any how it seems like The Fall needs their own stage hands if it takes them 2 hours to set up a dot matrix printer. Never was too big a fan of the FALL.

[rushomancy]

Possibly one of the earlier examples of bands using MCs to annoy the hell out of the audience is Gary Yudman at Pink Floyd's "Wall" concerts. On the live "Wall" release, they cut out all but five seconds or so of his intro, but on the actual bootlegs he goes on and on, deliberately taunting the audience before getting cut off by "Pink Floyd" starting their first song.

[residentClinton]

This reminded me of my most painful between band wait back in Denver at the Mercury Lounge: two and a half hours waiting for the Dickies to take the stage. The club was in a cramped, sweltering attic and during out long wait there was no entertainment, nobody setting up on stage, no explanation. For every minute that passed, leaving the show became less of an option, as it seemed that it couldn't be much longer. Right? Finally, they took the stage and Leonard Graves Phillips was visibly f-ed up, which made it pretty clear what all the waiting was about. But then they played a three hour set featuring almost every one of their songs.

[phat]

This is great! I have always wanted a copy of that Sebadoh tape. I saw them open for firehose what seems like a million years ago and they used that tape.

God I loved that show. God how most everyone else hated it.

That was a great night, although Watt had a broken leg and was particularly pissed off. I'm glad I met him later on.

phat