Show:Black Heart Procession, Night Marchers @ NPMT 8/9/09

(BHP)

weekend wrapup

i went to scope out the festivities in NorthPark during NPMT....

while heading to the daytime fest on sunday i received the following text- 'shit is weak'. not exactly a ringing endorsement from someone who's opinion is highly regarded round these parts. i figured things would pick up once the 'universal hangover' slowly wore off. and it did..sort of. i pretty much completely avoided the 'main stage area' that was showcasing such life altering acts as The Presidents of The United States of America...remember Peaches? Lump? fucking hell...

so instead of standing around in the RAGING sun paying $5 for a plastic cup of coors light in a 'beer garden' WITH NO COVER WHATSoEVER I (as many others did) packed into the LiveWire for 4 dollar tallboys and some much needed mid-day darkness. a few bar skanks later and it was time for BLackHeart to play.

Black Heart Procession- Pall Jenkins & Tobias Nathaniel are a musical force to be reckoned with. after seeing the new video for 'witching stone', which apparently they made in Palls back yard for forty bucks, i was very much looking forward to hearing some of the new material live. also, this was the last date before they start their US tour in mid October. it was an absolute pleasure watching these guys perform. Tobi is a MONSTER on piano. effortless perfection. and of course Pall was on top form belting out track after track of raspy goodness. one song that particularly stood out from the new record was a song called 'Drugs'. only someone as real and fucking cool as Pall Jenkins could pull off such an honest recollection of how drugs play a part in all of our lives. a piano based 'showstopper'. EPIC

Night Marchers- well, what can u really say about john reis' most recent endeavor.. by the look of the crowd, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. stupid music for stupid people i suppose. afterall, so cal is the only place on earth where a tatted up 50 year old greaser can possibly be considered 'with it'. after years & years of rehashing the same boring punk rock rhythms and rhymes you have to wonder how simple someone's mind has to be to continue enjoying such twaddle. i was into to punk too....when i was 15. a couple tracks in i wandered off to get some meat on a stick..

the day before the gig i also attended the only worthwhile music panel that included-

Tony Kiewel (Sub Pop Records), Marc Silverman (ADA Distribution), Eric Howarth (M-Theory Music/Hi Speed Soul), John Reis (The Night Marchers / Rocket from the Crypt / Swami Records), Pall Jenkins (Three Mile Pilot / Blackheart Procession) and Rafter Roberts (Singing Serpent Music)

it was supposed to be about the 'current label landscape', but it sort of just drifted between any subject that the panel felt like discussing. Tony from subpop lead the way and was quite informative. john reis , on the other hand sat there like a fucking dinosaur and offered up short minded 'punk rock' responses to issues such as the roll that iTunes is playing in the marketplace, and other current trends. he might as well not have even been there. rafter roberts and pall jenkins both offered a unique view inside the industry from an artists' standpoint. we collectively looked at a future where you would stream everything and have no need for hard copies of any form of media. it was agreed that there will always be archivists who highly value their own hard copy of media that means something to them. how small that faction of society is remains to be seen.

one other interesting tidbit, Pall revealed that on the new BHP record they'll also be releasing a necklace usb drive version of the album. it will contain 16 bit 44.1 wav files along with artwork and the 'witching stone' video. they are hand made and come in a custom tin. sweet! that will probably be the first new music i've purchased in a while.

'Witching Stone'

Daily recommended show: meh...hostile combover playing their last gig at radioroom..nothing really

SXSW i mean NXNP i mean NPMT

This is a WarNing! getting bandz to pay 15-25 bonez to play at the same venues they normally do is a fuking scam. and then there's the name..i thought the blatant ripoff of SXSW was bad.. This year kevin hellman has attempted to further the similarities between his fundraising fest and SXSW by charging all bands submission fees of 15 thru Sonicbids (an online total waste of fucking time) or $25! for snailmail submission. $25?!?! For what, asshole?

Get your fucking sponsors to pony up the cash to pull off your event. Don't charge the bands that are already providing all of the entertainment.

SonicBidz-

'We offer a community of more than 18,000 people who book and license music and more, all looking for just the right act.' COOD BE U!!!!

'Submit to them using the Sonicbids Electronic Press Kit (EPK), which allows you to send audio, photos, biography, press clips, and more, faster and more easily than ever before. Promoters get your info in an easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate format. They like that.'

Yall ever herd of Myspace? it's pretty new. oh right YOU CAN'T CHARGE MONEY FOR IT! my B

NOW a service like this could be useful to a large national festival such as cmj or sxsw, but an all LOCAL music event? That is just a cowardly attempt to suck penniless musicians dry. and for what? To play a show at the whistlestop? or u31?

Also it looks as though they have yet again failed to provide any type of shuttle service between venues which would have made the $25 admission somewhat worth it. oh k let's get hammered up at the soda bar then drive to rubyroom..then over to the whistlestop.. SD FUckO does not condone drunk driving. or driving at all for that matter (go planet earth!). although this town makes it almost impossible with it's ATROCIOUS public transit system that has recently increased rates while cutting service..

(EDIT)- apparently there will be a shuttle..although there is absolutely no information on their website..a map and schedule would be useful!

All in All this fest is a wash. Stick to the university & 30th area and see what you can. And Kevin, try not to skim anything off the top.

daily recommended show: Casbah- Beaters & Mika Miko. or friends chill @ whistlestop (their longest running night!)