When someone dies you may stop and reflect about your own life and mortality. Especially when the death wasn't from a life long illness and was a life taken in tragedy. I've been to many funerals and have had to put together my own Father's memorial video at his funeral. I also synced songs from his favorite singer Dean Martin onto the memorial video. I recently put together a playlist on Spotify that had all the songs I want to be played at my funeral. I have went to funerals before where the family did not do as their loved ones wished when putting together their funeral. You really didn't see or hear anything that truly reflected the person who passed. I know it's a tough time for the family and you really don't want to deal with what kind of flowers for the funeral or what memory card looks the best. You just want that person back and for it all to be a horrible nightmare. So on my Spotify playlist I chose songs that I love and that would probably fit the mood. I know even if I wanted people to just celebrate my life, it wouldn't happen. I did end the playlist with a more up beat song, so that will satisfy what I want. Does this all sound egotistical or just reassuring that my funeral will truly reflect "me"? I'm hoping the latter as I truly don't think any hymnals played would be "me." So, I'll share my funeral playlist and maybe you'll think of yours as well? To me, it's just as important as a will. I know that sounds crazy, but music is my life and is something to be shared and celebrated just as someone's life is. 1. Perfect Day-Lou Reed (Transformer) 2. Life Goes On-The Damned (Strawberries) 3. Love Will Tear Us Apart-Joy Division (Single) 4. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out-The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead) 5. This Must Be The Place(Naive Melody)-Talking Heads (The Best Of) 6. One Day-The Verve (Urban Hymns) 7. Heaven Wait-White Lies (Big TV) 8. In My Life-The Beatles (Rubber Soul) 9. You Only Live Twice-Nancy Sinatra (James Bond:You Only Live Twice) 10. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times-Beach Boys (Made In California) 11. Angie-Rolling Stones (Goats Head Soup) 12. A Dream Of You And Me-Future Islands (Singles) 13. Three Little Birds-Bob Marley & The Wailers (Legend)
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I'm happy to say I've been asked to be a contributor to Get It On Vinyl, a wonderful website dedicated to music and keeping your local music store alive. I wrote a review about the Future Islands after party show at the Fashion Meets Music Fest in Columbus, OH. If you would like to read it please visit the Get It On Vinyl site. Also check out their other articles and reviews..oh and the sweet merch!
So here it is almost 4am and I have just arrived home from the Future Islands show in Indianapolis. I have to write this now while the whole night is fresh in my mind, because my memory sucks anymore. I'm not for sure if it's the tumor in my head or I'm getting old; but nonetheless I won't remember every bit by tomorrow. This was the first show I had gone to by myself and had a bit of anxiety about it. I always loved sharing the concert experience with a friend and having someone to keep me entertained on the way home. Everyone around me told me not to worry and that when the music starts we're all alone anyway.
I arrived early and was first in line. Heading to the front row I had to wait another hour before the opening act called Operators started. They are a three piece band that sounded like wonderful 80's new wave industrial. It was a great surprise because usually I'm patient, but truly wishing the opening act would hurry up so I can see the band I came to see in the first place. This time it was different. Their whole set kept me entertained and wanting more. They seemed so grateful for the audience's love that night, which has me wondering if this is something they don't experience much? I know the people behind me wouldn't shut up during their whole set and among other things is on my concert pet peeve list. I will get to that later. During one of their songs the edgy and beautiful keyboard player broke her necklace that I had been admiring all night. She said "Like during sex, sometimes jewelry breaks" and she handed it to me. It was a wonderful gesture, but I'm going to try to fix it for her and send it back. It truly belongs on her neck! After they had finished their set, it was time for the main act... Future Islands! Everyone was pumped and in anticipation for what was coming up next. This was my first Future Islands show, but for many in the crowd it wasn't their first time around the Future Islands block. As the band came out one by one the crowd welcomed them with screams and sweaty hands clapping together. Gerrit and William are the low key members of the band letting Sam the lead singer electrify the crowd with both his insane levels of vocal range and theatrical performance. At times Sam will bring you into an old punk show with his intense screams and brings you back down to altitude with soft spoken words. Even though the other members are not running about stage, their ingredients to the band are quite important. Many of William's bass lines remind me of Joy Division/New Order or some older punk, especially "Heart Grows Older." Gerrit nicely ties the whole landscape together with keyboards and programming that will take you to another terrain. Mike, the tour drummer, is reminiscent of Stephen Morris of Joy Division/New Order. I have been asked many times what does Future Islands sound like? I really have no true answer. I can name a list of bands that take a bit here and there, but they're unique. They give their all when they play and are quite humble when the audience reciprocates the feeling. During the show I was in awe of Sam's performance and just wondering how the hell he does it. He probably sweated out about five pounds in one show. Of course, the front row received most of this sweat. I think my record may contain some of his sweat as well. He would connect face-to-face with the crowd and touch hands. It was as if he was some messiah, everyone he locked eyes with was in awe of his presence. The show was so exciting that I only took a few photos. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, it was that good. I wanted to take in this moment. Take this experience and actually enjoy it without technology getting in the way. After the encore, I headed to the exit and down the alley by the club. I was one of the first few to hang out in the back for the band to possibly sign autographs and take photos. I had waited for about thirty minutes and then finally Sam had appeared. Gone were his sweat soaked clothes from the show and a tight fitting gray shirt along with an Orioles cap. I was the first one to greet him and I was yet again transformed into a 16 year old fan girl. This is a wonderful feeling, but is something I try to keep under control so I don't seem like a weirdo. I think the reason why I get this way is because I'm in awe of people who could possibly make me feel a certain way just by a few words and notes. Like others, without The Smiths and Joy Division in high school I probably wouldn't be here today. I guess I feel a great deal of gratitude to the music makers. Without knowing you, they can make you feel like every song they play is about you or what you're going through. Many times music is your closed captioning in life. You don't have the right words to say or the melody speaks to you in a way that no one could ever understand. Think about it, certain music or images from your childhood can either bring that warm nostalgic feeling or possibly the feeling of innocence lost. So I lost track, but it's almost 5am. Right now I'm running on White Castle and Mountain Dew, which I'll probably regret tomorrow. So back to the story, Sam signed my record and I got a picture with him. Then we stared at each other and I was in some sort of weird Twilight Zone trance. I had no idea what to say, but to glare at him like a fuckin' idiot. He could possibly play in a remake of 1984 and have us all in a trance with his eyes. Sam went on to meet other fans and share stories and baseball talk. While waiting for William I had started chatting up with the tour drummer Mike. I had told him he had reminded me of Stephen Morris and he was delighted to hear the comparison. He said he had practiced "Bizarre Love Triangle" when he was learning how to play. I asked him if he had his own band and he said he had a band named Mt Royal. Check them out if you have a chance, as I will be doing so tomorrow! I happened to snatch Gerrit as he was walking back into the venue and asked if he could sign my album and get a picture with me. He seemed delighted and pleased to do so. I then finally got to chat with William and yet again I was star struck because when I was coming into the venue I had passed him on the way to the stage. I thought it was him, but didn't want to look like the idiot if he had some twin. We laughed about that for a moment and then we talked about the tour. I had mentioned how I loved the smaller venues because I felt you had more of a connection with the band. We then went into how bands seem to forget about poor Indianapolis and head straight up to Chicago. I was telling him how I'm going to see Peter Hook in Chicago in November and we chatted about how great he is sounding. I mentioned I had an extra ticket so if he wanted to go let me know...by the way that offer still stands William! I'm laughing right now. We discussed Joy Division's album Closer and how you could hear tinges of early New Order in that album. He signed my album and we got a photo together. He then asked if I wanted a pic of me and the whole band and it took only a second to jump on that offer. I gave my camera to another fan because my phone was only on 20% battery. We all got together and I thought had taken about 5 or 6 photos... by the time the last ones were taken it was like some 80's Aerosmith shoot; everyone with legs in the air and silly faces. I thanked them all again and gave William a hug and said thank you again and that I was so glad to meet them. So, on a drive home fueled by some crap fast food, Mountain Dew, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Prince I finally made it home. I don't think I scarfed food and drink that fast in my life! I hadn't eaten anything since 2pm and hadn't had anything to drink since 6pm. As always when I do that, I get one of my wonderful headaches. After getting into a comfy nightgown and inserting my SD card I found out that not one photo from tonight was on my camera. I was heartbroken. The only pictures I had were a few during the show and ones with Sam and Gerrit. I know, I know... I shouldn't complain. I really was looking forward to seeing the pictures and I also didn't have one with William and I. Regardless, it was a great and a much needed night. I wish I would have been able to ask them some questions for my blog, but the fan girl in me took over! Hopefully I will be able to see them in Columbus in a few weeks and will be able to retake those pics! So this blog entry came from a bit of a personal experience with a band. I won't go in to who the band is, but they're an up and coming band. I had found them on Twitter and watched a video of theirs and listened to their music on Itunes. I really liked them. They reminded me of 90's Britpop music. I had tweeted them a few times and we had talked back and forth a bit. Our interaction wasn't like a band stalker style, but just a new fan who wanted to show appreciation for their music. So I bought their album on Itunes and had tweeted about it. Probably about a week later I was going to tweet that I was listening to their music and found out I had been blocked. Now I'm not going to cry like a little girl about it, but it got me thinking. Has social media affected the fan experience? Back in the day to reach your favorite artist you had to join a fan club or write to them; and in writing I mean by hand with pen and paper. Even writing to them wouldn't necessarily mean you would hear from them or if you did hear from them it would be a generic form letter. I remember writing a few artists and only hearing back from Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra. When I received something back from them I felt so excited and thought how great it was that they read my letter and took the time to write back. Nowadays you can achieve that feeling instantly through Twitter and Facebook. Sometimes the band's accounts will be ran by someone else, but at times band members get on social media to chat with fans. I've had a few Twitter interactions with some famous bands and it really makes you feel closer to them. You get to see photos while they're on tour, see the setlists, and sometimes they'll answer your questions. I remember earlier this year the band Future Islands were on tour and their van broke down. They took to Twitter to see if anyone could help them get to their next gig. I was amazed at the outpouring of help from fans and it really shows you that your fans are your bread and butter. Saying that, I sometimes wonder if the bands or artists that gain instant popularity through social media truly appreciate the fans that they do gain? It use to take bands years to gain a proper fan base, but now it can take only a million hits on YouTube. Is it all just numbers to them or do they still feel that the fans are important? Of course, on the other hand, are fans expecting too much? When bands share so much of their day and their personal life, do fans take advantage of that and possibly push that intimacy to the limits? Are they expecting too much? There's that saying never meet your idols because they will disappoint you, but does that also fall in line with social media? Do fans expect every tweet or message to be answered and if not, do they feel jilted? I was wanting to ask someone who has been in the music business for quite some time, so I turned to Gerald Casale of DEVO. A: My next entry was going to be about bands of today possibly not appreciating their fan base like bands back in the day did because of the instant stardom that the internet & music streaming have given them. I wanted to know if you would give me your opinion on this? G: The hypothesis seems sound but what is the empirical data to support your claim? Fan complaints? Fans may be too demanding in narcissistic society where everyone is a "star" and selfies abound and stalkers run wild and delusional people have 10 thousand "friends". A: You make a good point and bring a different approach of this question to mind: You have experienced so many phases of existence in regards to the music industry. Considering all you have seen what would you say have been the most significant changes brought about by the digital explosion and accompanying social media? My question would be how has this sort of "artificial closeness" between artists and fans affected you as a creator and as a human being? How different are the dynamics now as opposed to back then? G: We don't register on the new digital radar of fan/artist psychosis. Our fans are old school loyal devotees that are harmlessly addicted. A: I'd have to disagree with you on that, my 9yr old son's favorite band is Devo. He is so excited when we find Devo on vinyl. I think you guys were the most underrated bands, but with the digital age younger fans can discover you and appreciate the music just as old school devotees. G: OK. I concede there is a lot of that happening now. So, Jerry does bring up a good point about our narcissistic society that is always craving more and sharing more. How many times has someone shared nonsense about their day or taken twenty selfies that bogs up your newsfeed? It's happened so much for me that I am rarely on Facebook anymore. I know what you look like so please stop taking the same pose of yourself over and over! I find Twitter to be more appealing because you are only given 140 characters to express what you want and it's really what you make it. I usually only follow people I may know, comedians, bands, etc. So my Twitter feed is free of annoying videos and loads of selfies. Social media can help an artist achieve fame faster than ever, but with that bands should never lose the notion that fame is fleeting. With the music business barely scraping by, touring and merchandise is where the profits are. If you keep your fans at an even keel then they will keep shelling out money to see you live and buying your merchandise. Oh and fans...go out there and support your favorite bands and don't put them up on a pedestal. They are human too. Buy their music legally, buy some merch, tell your friends about them, and go see them live! I will always be a fan girl and will always support the music that has helped me through so much. -Thank you Gerald Casale from DEVO for the impromptu Q&A and fan girl experience! |
AuthorAngela Marie. I like writing. I like music. I have thoughts falling from my head. Archives
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