This week rollcall

^It's great for classical performances and such. Rock concerts, not as much.


A few things:
Am I wrong to be skeptical of bands that play the Black Cat and a few months later, sell out a theater like Tower or Warner, and assume they sold their souls to Satan?

I was not at the Ween DAR show but saw that Sonar show a few months prior and felt sad for everybody involved for most of the show. "Mushroom Festival in Hell" was a high note of an ending, though. I also saw the two Black Cat Gene shows and left those underwhelmed. I would assume that this Hamilton thing will all be covers and think $33 for that is absurd.

Really tempted to run up to NYC for James Chance and Household for free that night.

azaghal1981 wrote:
^It's great for classical performances and such. Rock concerts, not as much.


A few things:
Am I wrong to be skeptical of bands that play the Black Cat and a few months later, sell out a theater like Tower or Warner, and assume they sold their souls to Satan?

Why would you be skeptical of a band because they become popular.  I saw Arcade Fire at the tower and now they get paid a million dollars to headline festivals. 

as for DAR I saw Siouxsie front row center there and it was one of the best shows of my life.  Seen her other places as well but all of them fell way short of the DAR show.  I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

atomicfront wrote:
I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

umm…maybe because the sound sucks monkey balls and it is music we are talking about?

you think that could be it??? 

well yah… that is the problem..$33 for Gene Ween (true it includes charges) is too much… actually my other problem is scheduling.. i may not be able to get out there… plus after a balls to the wall night of headbanging with men without hats i'm not sure i'll be up for it…. ;D


I don't get the whole "its only covers" rationale…  songs are songs… Billie Holiday didn't write her own material save for about 10-15 blues standards which were pretty much her putting her "woe is me" lyrics over the standard music.. doesn't mean her other hundreds of songs- yes what you derisively refer to as "covers"- aren't the greatest….

I meant specifically the covers that he just released.
My fault for not being specific.
I'd hope he doesn't stick to that album and yes, I'd love to hear some Ween material, even if it is obscure tracks.
But I doubt I will go so the point is moot. Maybe if a setlist appeared between now and then, it would change my mind but no way am I going in there with no idea as to what to expect at such a high price tag.

azaghal1981 wrote:
I meant specifically the covers that he just released.
My fault for not being specific.
I'd hope he doesn't stick to that album and yes, I'd love to hear some Ween material, even if it is obscure tracks.
But I doubt I will go so the point is moot. Maybe if a setlist appeared between now and then, it would change my mind but no way am I going in there with no idea as to what to expect at such a high price tag.

well somewhere I saw it advertised that he'd also do Ween songs…I'm not telling anyone to go… I probably won't go and everyone needs to make their own decisions..

so you don't like the McKuen covers record? I know many don't but I dig it…if you think about it it really is most akin to the Ween record 12 golden country greats.. produced by same guy too (Ben Vaughn) which also got a very negative visceral reaction when it came out….time sort of rehabilitated it in people's eyes.. (i loved it on day 1 of course  ;D)

Honestly if he performed Blarney Stone again I'd blow my head off I think (and I love that song!)

hutch wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

umm…maybe because the sound sucks monkey balls and it is music we are talking about?

you think that could be it??? 

930 club sound isn't great yet you stay on this forum all the time.

930 has the best sound in the city with UHall a close second.

hutch wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

umm…maybe because the sound sucks monkey balls and it is music we are talking about?

Not necessarily. Depends on who is doing the sound. I've seen both very good and very piss poor sounding shows there. If the soundman doesn't have the skills to adjust for the room, it's going to sound like the band is performing inside of a tin can. The settings one uses for the Black Cat, 9:30, or another general rock venue are not going to be the same for DAR. Different dynamics. Fortunately for me, most of the shows I've seen have sounded good. I've even been where the opener sounded horrendous due to sound settings while the headliners sounded great. Don't know if they used different people or if the openers got stuck with settings geared for the headliners. Really goes to show that there is more going on than just what you see onstage.

I feel as though the general rule of thumb is if Gus is running sound, it sounds great. If it's a band guy, something more than likely will be off.

i thought the sound for the phoenix show a few years back was on point.

same with vampire weekend.

i'm with walkie… place has history. it's a cool venue. hate the no drinks on the floor policy, and the seats, but the site lines are good, decent sound, and a unique place to catch a show.

atomicfront wrote:

hutch wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

umm…maybe because the sound sucks monkey balls and it is music we are talking about?

you think that could be it??? 

930 club sound isn't great yet you stay on this forum all the time.

HUH?

930 has fabulous sound.. I can't recall last time I saw a show with bad sound there.

Now we're comparing the sound at DAR to the 930.

Throws hands up in air and storms offf… ;)

stevewizzle wrote:
but the site lines are good

oh yah..phoenix..forgot about them.. that's where i broke my boycott


site lines on the upper sides is pretty bad i think..remember seeing nina simone from there

hutch wrote:

atomicfront wrote:

hutch wrote:

atomicfront wrote:
I really don't know why anyone be negative to it other than the long lines for drinks/bathroom.

umm…maybe because the sound sucks monkey balls and it is music we are talking about?

you think that could be it??? 

930 club sound isn't great yet you stay on this forum all the time.

HUH?

930 has fabulous sound.. I can't recall last time I saw a show with bad sound there.

Now we're comparing the sound at DAR to the 930.

Throws hands up in air and storms offf… ;)

well i am sure there is a choice of bands playing two shows at 930 club or one at DAR.  You go see bands at baseball stadiums and hockey arenas and you are boycotting DAR becuase of the sound?  You are just making yourself look stupid.

jesus and mary chain sound was awful.  And even Jen Lekman it go too loud at points.  For Jens F'n Lekman no less.

As for DAR it is a much better choice than Patriot Center which is too far for Baltimore people.  And is certainly not as nice of a venue. 

I like DAR and have never had any shows where the sound was off. 

hutch wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
but the site lines are good

oh yah..phoenix..forgot about them.. that's where i broke my boycott


site lines on the upper sides is pretty bad i think..remember seeing nina simone from there

oh yeah.. the upper sides .. forgot about them.

i've lucked out with first 20 rows of orchestra every time, and front row once for the black keys. so my opinion is skewed.

stevewizzle wrote:
hate the no drinks on the floor policy

When we saw Heart there a couple weeks ago we were allowed to take drinks inside.  According to the usher, it's really up to the artist.  She said there's an extra "clean-up" fee charged to the bands if they want to allow drinks in the hall.  Most don't want to pay it.  That's the first I've heard of that, but that's what we were told.

stevewizzle wrote:

hutch wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
but the site lines are good

oh yah..phoenix..forgot about them.. that's where i broke my boycott


site lines on the upper sides is pretty bad i think..remember seeing nina simone from there

oh yeah.. the upper sides .. forgot about them.

i've lucked out with first 20 rows of orchestra every time, and front row once for the black keys. so my opinion is skewed.

I had upper sides for the Pixies and the view was excellent. 

atomicfront wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

hutch wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
but the site lines are good

oh yah..phoenix..forgot about them.. that's where i broke my boycott


site lines on the upper sides is pretty bad i think..remember seeing nina simone from there

oh yeah.. the upper sides .. forgot about them.

i've lucked out with first 20 rows of orchestra every time, and front row once for the black keys. so my opinion is skewed.

I had upper sides for the Pixies and the view was excellent. 

I also had upper sides for the Pet Shop Boys and the view sucked ass….so there you go.

Of course you also think the sound at DAR is excellent and it is not good at the 930 so I'm not sure you're very credible at this point.. next thing you know you'll be telling us the earth is a square.

atomicfront wrote:


jesus and mary chain sound was awful.   

FALSE. I was there.. it was great. We went over this the day after the show..

stevewizzle wrote:

hutch wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
but the site lines are good

oh yah..phoenix..forgot about them.. that's where i broke my boycott


site lines on the upper sides is pretty bad i think..remember seeing nina simone from there

oh yeah.. the upper sides .. forgot about them.

i've lucked out with first 20 rows of orchestra every time, and front row once for the black keys. so my opinion is skewed.

I think that makes a big difference… but I wouldn't say the sound at a venue was good because it was good for the 10% with the best seats… I mean 20th row center is, generally, about the best spot for sound.

It is amazing to me how we have this debate about DAR every year or so and there are people out there who think the sound is good. The sound blows! It is not a music venue or built to be one.  Is the sound good , sometimes, if you're standing in a certain area? Probably but even a stopped clock is right twice a day!  But to each their own..  Of my friends many ignore the place like they do Jiffy Lube..  But until people stop going there Seth is going to keep renting the place.. no incentive for him to build a state of the art mid-capacity venue (3000-4000 capacity which is what the city's music lovers could really use) when he can just book DAR on the cheap and have shows there..