a word on music...

i usually don't talk about issues discussed on the radio, but today i got really worked up about tom lykis' subject of alternative music. today a major thing happened in the music world, lalapaloosa was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. ok, so lykis says that the reason this happened is because, well, the bands on the ticket were old and outdated, that alternative music is dead. he commented that 'the end' and 'k-rock' here in seattle are both playing the same music (which, to some extent, they are) and the music is tired and old. he also said something about how these stations were playing 90's oldies in a sense. ok, fine. he also mentioned that these stations aren't eating up the ratings. SO, as i sit here listening to the end (they're playing the latest KICK ASS single by modest mouse, float on) i will have to go ahead and disagree with mr. lykis. some of his callers got it right when they called in to comment, the MAIN reason people are not buying tickets as much this summer for ALL OF THE TOURS GOING ON is that prices are so GOD DAMN HIGH! We don't want to pay over $50 for an afternoon of music where we won't be able to see the band and most likely will have to stand outside on the grass! FUCK THAT! now, i love the idea of lalapaloosa, alternative music from all sorts of genres and a mellow meeting of people. cool environment. goodtimes. I have one word for anyone who doesn't believe my idea of people not wanting to pay for these shows...does ANYONE ELSE remember woodstock 99? yeah, the riots and burning of buildings and the rapes?(thank you very much fred durst, you fuck) people were fed up with the overpricing of EVERYTHING! want some water?-8 bucks please. and it's really only gotten worse since then. it costs WAY too much to go to concerts in general anymore!

Another thing that pissed me off is that a lot of self-proclaimed "musicians" called in and said that music today sucks...ok i'm not gonna totally disagree with that, but these guys were asked for examples and they were giving off names of bands that were actually good. fuck that! i hate ignorant people, go listen to limp bizkit and shut the fuck up. thankfully tom seemed to calm down about bashing the music of the 90's and of now and he just let the people call in and act stupid. he did say that he listens to the end when he's in seattle, so he must not be too opposed to the music they play. and an important thing to note is that the end DOES still play new music, case in point:i'm listening to the BRAND FUCKING NEW song by the pixies, the end premiered this song this monday and it's already on the top 10 count down! it's cool, i like it a lot! These bands are not out of date, they're just coming back around.

And here's a thought, does anybody remember the music of the mid-eighties? a bunch of random shit going on, nobody was really standing out much, there were some good bands, but we were still waiting around for the next big thing...the hair bands came in at the end of the eighties, but they were just a thing to keep us entertained. along comes the musical revolution of the 90's, cool. well, does anyone else see where i'm going with this? we're just in that lull period. no one is coming out and redefining what music will push us for the next decade. i think it might come from an unexpected source, who knows? rock is unpredictable, grunge is long gone, alternative music is just redefining itself, indie bands like modest mouse, death cab for cutie, and the yeah, yeah, yeahs are coming into the limelight more than ever cause we're ALL looking for that next big thing! it'll come sooner or later, or maybe we won't even notice when it comes...who knows?

Another thing lykis said is that no one wants to go to these concerts like lalapaloosa...ok, bullshit! I would LOVE to go to lalapaloosa, but i neither have the time nor money to go! THAT is the issue, the people who love this kind of music are now the people who work the jobs that keep them busy all the time, we aren't college kids and teenagers anymore, so the only people who really go to these concerts are the asshole college guys who just want to mosh and act like dicks and pick up on ANY form of vagina in the vicinity. these are the same motherfuckers who burned down the last woodstock, notice how woodstock '96 went just fine, wonder why? two guesses, the first one doesn't count.

I'm gonna try to go to bumbershoot and catch the pixies, i'm gonna keep loving seattle and its music. Cause, guess what? in the 80's, the music scene didn't seem all that great, but there were little bands like mudhoney, the green river band, soundgarden, mother love bone, tad, and others like a little band called nirvana(yeah, they were around in the 80's) who were around, but not really noticed...you know what they did? they kept fucking playing and look what came out of our little corner of the world...i think that seattle has just gone under the radar again, it'll emerge again just like it's done before...so like the sign in front of the last 'chubby and tubby' store says:"thanks seattle, stay tuned" so, that's my plan.

Well, this week is nigh on to over. I'm almost done with my first quarter of grad school. i'm glad. I've already got one of my final grades back from one of my classes, the damage? 3.9. Not too shabby. lets just hope that's a good sign for things to come. this quarter has gone by suprizingly fast, so this year is likely to do the same, i can't wait to get out there and start working! but, i'll have to. lets just worry about getting this quarter done first, i still have a few things to do...

Anyways, i miss jen, i miss talking to shwee, i miss hanging out with bobanna, and i saw HEW last weekend, but i still think we all need to get together soon. what's everybody doing friday? i need to have friday to relax before i start sweating about finals on saturday and sunday!

k, well this should be a nice long post for all of you. You guys need to get back to the posting! Shwee has been out of commission for some time! she's out of town though, so she's excused. the rest of us have no excuse!

so, until next time:

...stay tuned...

-ROCKSTEADY