11 December 2008

Back to the Music

It's almost the end of the year and, of course, that means the obligatory year-in-review lists. As tiresome as these lists may seem, though, it's always interesting to look back on everything that's come out in the past year, because you really do forget sometimes how recently something came out. Case in point: Gnarls Barkley's "the Odd Couple." Maybe it's just because I've been listening to it a lot since it's come out, but it feels like way more than a year since it's release. In any case, though, it's always interesting to revisit everything from the past year to really give the year's music a solid evaluation.

I'll be working on putting together a best of 2008 list within the next few weeks, but in the mean time, are there any albums from this past year that stood out to you? Seriously, if you're reading this, comment. I'd love to hear other opinions.

01 December 2008

Epilogue

Here I am, sitting in the B concourse of the Philadelphia International Airport, stuck between Minneapolis and Baltimore after one flight cancelation and two flight delays, and figuring now would be a good time to give my epilogue to the Obama campaign note I wrote before. (In fact, I'm writing this without internet and a bit inebriated, so please bear with if I'm a bit redundant). Anyway, here goes nothing.

To be honest, there isn't much that's changed in my mind since the campaign ended. I'm still in awe that I did a thing to change anything, or that anything has changed at all. Right now, I'm still waiting tables, earning shit wages; but I'm still hopeful for the future. Not just because we now have a candidate in office who's prepared to work for change, but because we now have a nation that's ready for change. Yeah, I know, we still don't see eye-to-eye on all (or even most) political issues, but we're at least unified on what needs to change. First time we've even had that in a while, in this country. How we go from here is still a mystery, but I still think we're at least one step closer to getting done what we have to.

In any case, I've still sort of skirted around summarizing my feelings on the campaign experience, so here it goes: Never underestimate the kindness of strangers, always be willing to contribute more than a vote to an idea you believe in, and never stop working after an election. It's just the beginning.

11 November 2008

A Long Overdue Update

First off, let me apologize for the delay in writing my post-campaign entry. It took a few days for it to sink in (and a lot still hasn't), and for me to just gather the energy to go through everything that happened in my mind again. So, this'll probably be a ramble more than a chronicle, but if you read on, I promise there's at least a few good stories (and pictures) in here.

In telling this story (and I really am just telling this as a personal story, since there's more than enough election coverage out there already), it makes sense to divide it into three parts: acclimation, campaigning as usual, and the final days/election day. So, without further adieu:

I. Acclimation

As I mentioned in a previous post, this job really jumped out at me. I got the call to come out on a Thursday, left for Ohio Friday, and reported for duty Sunday. Though I technically spent that weekend hanging out with friends at Denison during our homecoming weekend, I quickly found myself spending all of my time during the day running around campus trying to scan/fax/print out a mountain of paperwork I needed to get in by that Sunday to become officially employed by the campaign. (Let me tell you, I've never been happier to have a scanned copy of my birth certificate/State Department certificate on my computer. Made this whole process infinitely easier). But anyway, I get a call on Saturday from the Columbus headquarters telling me I'm going to be sent up to Canton. Naturally, I take a few minutes to get directions from Google Maps to that area, and look up a few facts about the area just so I'm not jumping in completely blind.
Sunday, however, things change. As I'm leaving Denison, I call Columbus to check in and make sure my paperwork went through alright. The paperwork's fine, but it turns out I'm now headed to Akron. The sudden change threw me off balance at first, but then I realized I really had no familiarity with either Canton or Akron, so it made no difference where they sent me. After getting new directions and saying my goodbyes, I headed northwest to the Akron headquarters on the corner of Merriman and Market.
Despite being fully aware of the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into, I still had a few preconceptions of what I would be doing and the type of environment I would be working in (mostly drawn from my stint as an intern on the O'Malley/Brown campaign in '06). The Akron office, though not exactly as I had pictured it, came pretty close. It was your stereotypical storefront campaign office; with long tables filled with phones and volunteers, laptops everywhere with campaign stickers on the backs, and quote-filled posters on every wall. Walking in, I was getting pretty excited for the type of work I would be doing in this city.
After sitting down with our Regional Director, Max, however, my hopes and expectations were quickly shattered and replaced with more mystery. Turns out the Akron office wasn't my staging location, just the regional office I would be reporting to. My actual sphere of operation was further to the north, in a town called Twinsburg. So, after getting the phone number for LM, my Field Organizer, and Sharon & Steve, my host family, I once again drove off into the great unknown.

The first thing that struck me about Twinsburg was how it didn't just stand in stark contrast to other towns around it, it stood in stark contrast with itself. In terms of organization, it reminded me a bit of Columbia; subdivided into little "villages," each with its own shopping center. These villages, though, were a strange mix of golf-course condos mostly owned by retirees, average suburban single-family houses, blue collar neighborhoods (with no sidewalks and streets in poor repair), and even a projects community. I could tell this was going to be a difficult area to target supporters in.
After meeting up with Steve and Sharon (and their amazing dog, Biscuit) around 9:00 PM, I headed out once again to meet up with LM at our local office. Not having a specific address, Steve gave me the best directions he could; telling me to just drive down Rt. 82 and look for the house with the "Barack Obama for President" banner in the front porch. I headed out and down Rt. 82, and didn't really realize until I had crossed county lines into Cuyahoga County that I had possibly gone too far. Long story short, though: I found the place, met with LM, and went back to Steve and Sharon's around 10 (the earliest night I would ever have on this job). Got up the next morning, headed back to Akron for a weekly regional staff meeting, and was officially introduced to the whole staff. After that, I went back to Twinsburg, and got to work.

II. Campaigning as Usual

First off, let me point out (if you didn't get it already) that the above title is a joke. There is absolutely nothing "usual" about campaigning. To chronicle everything I did leading up to the election would probably be ineffectual, unentertaining, and leave me with no motivation to finish this post, so I'll boil it down to the basics. During the days, I either ran odd jobs for LM, canvassed local neighborhoods, or worked on recruiting volunteers. At night, I ran the volunteer shifts out of our office. Before Get Out The Vote week (the final phase of the campaign, which I'll explain in greater detail soon), we only really had volunteers coming in from 5-9 and doing phonebanking. Basically, we had the volunteers calling undecided voters and "sporadic Democrats" (people who don't go to the polls that often, but vote Dem when they do) and just talking to them about Obama. After we stopped our calls at 9, my job was to tally all the numbers of the day - number of calls made, number of contacts made, and number of voters committed to early vote - and submit them to LM.
Ah crap, I missed a part of the story. Typical. Anyway, the reason LM couldn't just take these numbers himself was that he wasn't there anymore. Him and I were responsible for 3 towns, Twinsburg, Macedonia, and Northfield (another fact I forgot to mention. Sorry again), so he started working out of Northfield and Macedonia as soon as I was hired, leaving me in charge of Twinsburg. Anyway, now you're caught up, so let's continue.
Last thing I had to do each night was enter the data from all the calls so we could print fresh lists the next day for our phonebankers. Because our "grassroots" (see: strapped for resources) office didn't have internet, though, I found myself leeching wireless wherever I could to get all the data in before the midnight deadline. For the first few days, this meant sitting in my car outside a hotel and using their unencrypted wireless to do the numbers. After a while, though, a local teacher's union gave us keys to their office, so LM and I could have somewhere indoors to do internet-related stuff from.

Anyway, that was the skeleton structure for my average (if you could ever call it that) day. Random events would come up, such as Michelle Obama speaking at a highschool in Akron, that I'd take time off to go and help work. Until Wednesday, October 29th (the Wednesday before the election), though, I mostly stuck to that routine.

III. The Final Days/Election Day

As I mentioned before, our last coordinated campaign effort was called Get Out The Vote (GOTV, for short). At that point, we were working out of the office all day every day, sending canvassers out to talk face to face with undecided voters. This leg of the campaign really embodied the whole philosophy of the Obama campaign, which was to have local supporters talk to local voters to show that this election was about their own communities, and not just some singular blanket effort to win over voters with tactics such as robocalls or attack ads. Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing was the backbone of what we were doing. And, since our regular volunteers were mostly older women who didn't fancy lots of walking or interacting with total strangers, I had a lot of new volunteer recruiting to do. I succeeded modestly, but there were still days where we had almost no volunteers. During those days (such as Wednesday, when it started snowing for no goddamn reason), I had to go out and canvass on my own. I really met the full range of individuals while doing these routes; ranging from the old guys who threatened to rip my Obama/Biden button off and shove it down my throat to the WWII vet who, after having a half hour conversation with me about his genuinely undecided vote (as opposed to those who are too apathetic to vote but too lazy to come up with a decent reason why), told me it was young people like me who gave him hope for the future of this country. That one really stuck with me, and does still. Also, it seems that all the interesting stories come from old people. Younger-to-middle-aged voters really just tell you their opinion and close the door. Older people really let loose when you ask their opinion, and regardless of how they feel, it always makes for a better story.

Getting back to the point, though, the canvassing of undecided voters ran from Wednesday until Sunday. After that, the campaign figured it wasn't worth our resources to continue to contact these undecideds, and instead focused everything on mobilizing our base. Monday, we spent the entire day putting door hangers up on the doors of local Democrats, telling them where, when, and what to bring to vote. Though that was easier to recruit volunteers for (since there was no interaction with strangers), we were still short-handed. I wound up doing 2 precincts by myself until about 10 PM. After getting back to the office, I had to quickly run out and print the maps for election day canvassing (where we would be knocking on every supporter's door and making sure everyone voted), so I left Sharon to close up shop for the night.
Now, whenever I closed the office for the night, all I had to do was lock the front door, turn off the lights, and make sure the back door stayed unlocked. You see, we didn't have a key to the place, so locking the back door was a pretty bad idea for us. And Sharon did just that.
By the time I finished all my prep work for the following day, it was around 1 AM. Though some sleep may be better than none, I had no choice to be up and ready to at 4 AM on the big day. To make things more disorienting, the state office - who had the phone numbers of every staffer in the state - woke us all up at 4 with a robo-wakeup call from former president Bill Clinton. Waking up to a phone call from that guy has to be one of the strangest ways to start a sleep-deprived day ever.
Getting to the office and finding it was locked, I quickly narrowed my options down to one: break in. Now, our office was right off a pretty major road; a road that had become infested with cops in the days leading up to the election. Since the only open window was on a side of the house that faced the road, I first made sure to call LM and let him know what I was doing, and to call the Sheriff's station and post bail if he didn't hear back from me again in 10 minutes. Thankfully, though, I got in just fine.

Election day in itself was just too chaotic to describe, but I will say it was a mad rush right up until the second the polls closed. My day basically started with me chasing Republicans, who were giving voters wrong information about where to vote and who was eligible, out of the projects area, and ended with me being driven around by a madman after dark to knock on the doors of supporters who had already voted just to make sure. Hey, that late in the game, I didn't really have enough dignity left to care what people thought. But 7:30 came, polls closed, and I cracked open a beer with the other canvassers.

Sometime soon I'll getting around to writing an epilogue for this, both about what happened after the polls closed and the memories that stuck with me. That's for another time, though. Even just attempting to retell this mess has gotten my head in a spin, so I'll try to collect my thoughts so I can leave you with a much more concise and oriented conclusion. To leave you with something to summarize this mess, though, I'll just say this: I've answered more requests with "hold on, let me put my pants on" in those two weeks on the campaign than I probably have in the rest of my life.

23 October 2008

Hiatus

So it's looking like I'm going to be taking a break from the blogging for a while. Just found out the campaign here is really strict about blogging from its campaigners while under their employ, so I've gone ahead and removed all the posts I've made from the trail and am going to stay off here until November 5th. The last thing I'll say is this: VOLUNTEER! If you're around the Summit County area, give me a call for sure; and if not, give your local Obama office a call. This election won't just be determined by the efforts of the candidates, but also by the efforts of the volunteers.

16 October 2008

Whirlwind Changes

It's looking like this blog, and my life, are going to be shifting focuses for the next couple of weeks. As of yesterday, I was a new hire at Pizzeria Uno's, and planning to take the weekend off to go visit Denison for homecoming this weekend. Now, it's looking like I may be putting that job on hold until November and staying out in Ohio. Here's why:

Today, I got an e-mail from someone with the Obama campaign, offering me a position starting immediately out in Ohio. After I called back to get the details, I found out it's actually a deputy field director job (location tbd), and I'd basically be spending the next two weeks working 14 hour days for little to no pay and sleeping on the couch of local Obama supporters. Ironically, that actually sounds fun for me. So, my only dilemma is how to balance these two jobs. Since I'm leaving tomorrow for Ohio, my plan is to go into work tomorrow, explain the situation and ask for a three-week hiatus. And if that doesn't work, beg. And if that doesn't work, quit. Hell, it's just a waiting job. I'm sure I can find another one somewhere.

Since I'm going to have to make this decision within minutes of heading out to Ohio, the next post in this blog'll have to be from the Buckeye State.

11 October 2008

Some Music I'm Digging

I've recently realized that me continuing to try to give real reviews to albums on this site is pretty pointless, since I'm only really going to bother with albums which I'm going to give good ratings to in the first place. So, in lieu of giving album reviews, I'm just going to periodically post a blurb about music I'm currently digging. That's what I really started this blog for anyway (to share music I'm getting excited about), so this'll just be a more upfront and honest way to go about that.

Anyway, here's a quick rundown on what I've got on heavy rotation at the moment.

TV On The Radio - Dear Science:
This is TVOTR's third full-length album, and is easily their best. The album as a whole has a much higher production value, and the songs range from catchy to infectious to haunting. What ma This is the newest album from TVOTR, and just dropped on September 23, 2008. This is theirkes me like this album even more is that it's another one of those albums that's being released on vinyl with a free mp3 download. I got my copy off a third party seller on Amazon, but as the mp3 download code is packaged inside the sleeve, you can get the download anywhere you can find a vinyl copy.
Great on album, TVOTR is also an amazing live band. I saw them for the first time headlining in Columbus, OH in 2007, and again recently in Columbia, MD opening for Thievery Corporation. Both shows were amazing, never leaving you disengaged from what was happening on stage for a second. If you ever get a chance to see them live, be sure to capitalize on the opportunity.

Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations:
This album has been out for a while, but I've recently been rediscovering it. It's the most recent work from Mark Oliver Everett, more commonly referred to as E, and is actually a two disc compilation of songs recorded in E's house over the past seven years. As E puts it, Blinking Lights is about "God and all the questions related to the subject of God. It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm, and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory." Almost every emotion that you could associate with that statement is hidden somewhere in this album, which makes it definitely worth checking out. Bonus fact: Tom Waits actually performs as a member of Eels on a few of the tracks in Blinking Lights.

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals:
I reviewed this album a while ago, but as it turns out, I was reviewing a forgery. Having had time to dissociate my impressions about the fake from the real thing, I finally got around to giving it an honest chance. Listening to it with new ears, I couldn't put it down. Simply put, it's a great hour-long party dance mix. Half of your attention will be focused on trying to identify the flurry of throwback samples, while the other half is just getting down with the beat. Right now, it's really one of those albums I don't have a problem listening to on repeat for a while. Bottom line, check it out if you like rap, 90s music, and music you can have a dance party to.

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins:
This is the follow up album to the widely-successful and highly-acclaimed 2007 album, The Stage Names. It's sound picks up right where The Stage Names left off, which makes sense seeing as how the two were originally going to be released as a double album. Like the last album, the second track off this album, "Lost Coastlines", has quickly become one of the most listened-to tracks on my iPod and turntable. It's just freakin infectious.
In conclusion, the same themes are present, both musically and lyrically; so if you like The Stage Names be sure to check out The Stand Ins.
Aside from the contents of the album itself, this is one of those albums that's great because they're selling it on vinyl with free mp3 downloads. Okkervil's record company, Jagjaguwar, even gave the download code away pre-ordered the vinyl on the album's immediately to anyone who drop date. The last thing I'll mention about this album not related to the music is that the cover art of The Stage Names and The Stand Ins were designed to go together. If you look at The Stage Names above The Stand Ins, you get the complete picture that the band had thought up for the two albums. Seen above on the right, this image is supposed to give the idea that The Stand Ins is depicting what's going on just beneath the surface of The Stage Names. Interpret as you will.

Last thing I'll bring up is this video I recently re-discovered. The song is "War Photographer" from Jason Forrest's album "Shamelessly Exciting." It's pure awesomeness, plain and simple. The song itself is comprised almost completely of samples, including stuff from Earth Wind and Fire. The easiest way to describe the video itself is basically the duel from "the Devil Went Down To Georgia," but with Vikings. And horn sections. And zords like the ones from power rangers. Just watch it and figure it out for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.



03 October 2008

San Francisco

In no particular order:

















02 October 2008

Jamie Lidell and Janelle Monae

Ok, so SF pics will be coming soon, but before I go through all the hassle of uploading and posting them, I have to share some videos of the bands I saw last night. The opener: Janelle Monae; the headliner: Jamie Lidell. Haven't heard either of them before, but my friend Andy assured me I'd love Jamie Lidell, so I went. I'll spare you all the rant of an instant convert, but Lidell was an insanely good live show. That isn't to say Monae wasn't either, though. Walking into the Fillmore more than halfway through her set, we were instantly blindsided by her intense sound and quirky stage presence. Everyone who I went with almost instantly agreed that we wished we got there a half hour earlier.

Anyway, here's some live videos of each. Enjoy.

Janelle Monae:


Jamie Lidell:

28 September 2008

23 September 2008

Minneapolis and Lake Superior

As my trip continues on, I've now left Minneapolis and headed out to Portland, OR. There wasn't too much excitement to report from Minneapolis, since the trip was mostly just a low-key visit with my mom. However, we did take a day trip up to the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, on the south shore of Lake Superior. Pretty scenery, though I couldn't get too many great pictures. Here's a few excerpts, though.







More to come soon on Portland.

17 September 2008

One Town Down

As some of you may or may not know, I started a cross-country trip last week that will take me through Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland and San Francisco. There's really no strong justification for this trip, other than my own desire to get out of Maryland for a while and live out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks. (It's also an excuse to visit friends and family that have spread out across the country).
On the 11th, I left Baltimore and headed to Chicago. Despite the stigma of the date, there wasn't a single delay or snag in security at the airport. That's not to say there were no problems, though. After sitting on the runway in a tiny jet for 45 minutes after we were supposed to take off for Philadelphia (where my connecting flight to Chicago was leaving from), all of the passengers were forced to de-board the plane due to electrical system problems. That is to say, the electrical system wouldn't stay on. But hey, at least they checked on that before we were in the air.
There is a silver lining to this story, however. After arguing with a gate attendant for another half hour about how I needed to get on a flight immediately so I could make my connecting flight, they offered me a direct ticket to Chicago on a partner airline that would actually get me to Chicago sooner than the connecting flight would have. Even better, after getting on my new flight, the flight attendant announced "Since a large portion of our first class section is unsold on this flight, we would like to offer free upgrades to any interested coach passengers." You better believe I was up in a second.
Anyway, the flight was pretty uneventful after that, and after landing and getting my bag, I caught the train into town to meet up with Jacky, my friend from college who was putting me up for the next few nights. I got settled, took a short nap, and sat around listening to jazz with the housecats while waiting for Jacky and her roommates to get back from their jobs. After that, we hung around, drank on their back porch (which had a decent view of the Sears Tower), and caught up. Unfortunately, this was pretty much all I got to do during my stay there. Because of Hurricane Ike, there was a massive storm system in Chicago that dumped flooding rains on the area for my entire stay; effectively ruining all the hopes I had of getting into the town and seeing the city. But hey, I still got to hang out and meet some cool and interesting people.
After a few days of hanging around waiting for the rain to stop, I finally got to take a trip into the city...to catch my bus out of town. The rain did stop that day, though (which is good, because my bus stop was on an uncovered part of a downtown street across from Union Station). I spent the next 8 hours on a bus, alternating between talking to the pro-Palin girl from Minneapolis who was also going to college in Israel sitting next to me and knocking out a few chapters of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Still, for the price of $28, the bus ride was top-notch. And I didn't get my head cut off.

So anyway, here I am now in Minneapolis, visiting my mom and working on grad school applications. I'm hoping to get more work than sight-seeing done this week, but we'll see how it goes. I'll be heading to Portland, come Monday.

Here's a few pictures that I was able to take while in Chicago. Not much, but then again, there wasn't much to see.











07 September 2008

The Rebirth of Vinyl

First off, let me say that I know vinyl's never really been dead. I've got a record collection myself, and would much rather lose my entire CD collection and my iPod before I lose those things. That said, however, it really has been replaced by the CD over the years as the primary physical source of music. What does a CD have over vinyl, though? When you think about it, really only the compactness. So, now that digital copies are around, making it much easier to take hundreds upon hundreds of albums anywhere in a device smaller than a CD, it doesn't make much sense to keep buying CDs. I guess that's why iTunes is getting so popular.

But what about the rest of us? The people who want the hard copy? The people who want the vinyl quality sound? The people who want the album artwork? Do we have to buy the CD or digital copies AND the vinyl?Well, recently, some distributors have come up with a new sales pitch that has made me want to buy an unused copy of an album for the first time in quite some time. Certain labels and distributors (such as Insound) are now selling vinyl copies of new releases along with a promotional code which you can use to download digital copies of the album straight to your computer, iPod or whatever. In some cases, even, record labels are taking pre-orders of new release vinyl and giving you the digital copies before the release date. With a price that's about the same as a CD, this whole concept is starting to make me forget some, but certainly not all, of why I hate the music industry.

06 September 2008

Some Mix Tapes

So I've decided to post some track lists to mixes I've made for people or situations. If you don't know the person, or weren't there for the event, it's probably not going to be as interesting, but here we go anyway:

Steph's Mix (vol 1):

1. Dick Dale & the Del-Tones - Surf Beat
2. CAKE - Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
3. Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful
4. Gnarls Barkley - She Knows
5. Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (Untitled)
6. The Strokes - Automatic Stop
7. Andrew Bird - Immitosis
8. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
9. Fela Kuti - Lady
10. The Go! Team - Huddle Formation
11. The Apples In Stereo - Energy
12. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
13. The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
14. Buddy Holly - Oh Boy
15. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
16. Viva Voce - High Highs
17. The Decemberists - I Was Meant For The Stage

Steph's Mix (vol 2):

1. Josh Ritter - To The Dogs or Whoever
2. The Commitments - Destination: Anywhere
3. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Toothbrush and My Table
4. Manu Chao - Por El Suelo
5. Feist - Sealion
6. M.I.A. - Pull Up The People
7. People Under The Stairs - Step In
8. Kanye West Feat. Jay-Z & J. Ivy - Never Let Me Down
9. Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) the Dock Of The Bay
10. The Cure - Close To Me
11. Okkervil River - Unless It Kicks
12. Belle & Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
13. The Coral - Pass It On
14. Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins - Handle With Care
15. Neutral Milk Hotel - Ghost
16. Ray LaMontagne - Within You
17. Lemon Jelly - Space Walk

Steph's Mix (vol 3):

1. Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan
2. Old Crow Medicine Show - James River Blues
3. Mason Jennings - The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. Kaki King - Happy as a Dead Pig in the Sun
5. Wilco - Jesus, Etc.
6. Jack Johnson - Mama You've Been On My Mind/A Fraction Of Last Thoughts On Woodie Guthrie
7. The Slip - Before You Were Born
8. The Hold Steady - Party Pit
9. Tilly & The Wall - Nights Of The Living Dead
10. Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister
11. The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds
12. Islands - The Arm
13. Easy Star All-Stars Feat. Toots & the Maytals - Let Down
14. My Morning Jacket - Smoking From Shooting
15. Ratatat - Seventeen Years
16. Wyclef Jean - Staying Alive
17. Ben Folds - Bitches Ain't Shit

This was supposed to just be a one-CD project at first, but when someone tells me simply to "give me music," it's hard to whittle the selections down to one CD. I tried to keep some sort of theme flowing between songs on each CD, but still ended up with a few awkward transitions in there (see: My Morning Jacket to Ratatat).

Beach Trip (getting there):

1. The Coral - Spanish Main
2. Dick Dale & The Del-Tones - Lovin' On My Brain
3. Ray Charles - What'd I Say - Parts I & II
4. Ray LaMontagne - Three More Days
5. The Hold Steady - Massive Nights
6. Bruce Springsteen - Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
7. Violent Femmes - American Music
8. Eels - Losing Streak
9. The Mountain Goats - Dance Music
10. Josh Ritter - Right Moves
11. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Who Do You Love?
12. Weezer - Surf Wax America
13. The Strokes - Someday
14. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Down On The Corner
15. CAKE - Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
16. Beck - Sexx Laws
17. The Word - Joyful Sounds
18. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba
19. Streetlight Manifesto - Down, Down, Down To Mephisto's Cafe

This mix was made for a weekend trip out to the beach with some friends. The ride out was 3 hours long, so we all agreed to make a mix that lasted an hour, and just listen to everyone's during the drive there and back. Being me, I wanted my mix to really reflect the mood, or rather the experience, we were in at the time. Figuring we would be in a totally different state of mind (and energy level) on the way out and on the way back, I made the above mix explicitly for the drive out. It's hard to put into words what sort of emotional resonance I was hoping to achieve through the song choices and juxtaposition, but the best way I can put it is that I was trying to make everyone feel the same way I feel every time I listen to - or even better, watch the music video for - the song "Space Walk" by Lemon Jelly. Again, hard to put into words, but something similar to just sitting in the passenger side of a car with the window down on a beautiful day, watching the scenery go by without a thought in your head or care in the world.

Beach Trip (getting back):

1. Lemon Jelly - Elements
2. Wilco - Impossible Germany
3. John Butler Trio - Better Than
4. Islands - Jogging Gorgeous Summer
5. Easy Star All-Stars Feat. Toots & The Maytals - Let Down
6. Interpol - Evil
7. Ratatat - Germany to Germany
8. Gnarls Barkley - She Knows
9. Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
10. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Panini Pua Kea
11. Rilo Kiley - Ripchord
12. Fleet Foxes - Heard Them Stirring
13. The Cure - Close To Me
14. Okkervil River - Unless It Kicks
15 . Manu Chao - Minha Galera

This mix was made for the ride back after a day at the beach. Again, I made this mix with a fairly clear conception of how each song would play off the state of mind we were in at the time; that being pleasantly exhausted from a long day at the beach. Whereas the drive out mix was more thematically focused towards enjoying the beauty of driving towards the shore on a perfect day, this one was more oriented towards the feelings associated with piling into a car with your friends sleepy, sandy, and just generally content with life. If I could, I would have made the sunset last the entire duration of this mix to more perfectly compliment the visual I had for each song. What we got instead was driving over the Bay Bridge into the sunset while listening to Impossible Germany, and that sits just fine with me.

07 August 2008

Concerts from the other side


This past summer, I tried supplementing my income by getting a job at a local concert pavilion, Merriweather Post Pavilion. If you've never been there before, it's a pretty rockin place to see a concert. Located in the middle of the largest grove of birch-woods on the east coast, this outdoor pavilion is owned by the production company IMP (who also owns the 9:30 club in DC), and gets a pretty awesome concert lineup every summer. Just to give you an idea of the artist draw potential this place has (despite it's suburban locale), some of the shows I've seen there in the past include Broken Social Scene, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Belle & Sebastian, Weezer and Radiohead during their Hail to the Thief tour.

Anyway, to get back to the point, working some of the shows this summer have given me a very different perspective on the entire concert-going experience; specifically that of a venue employee. This summer, I've worked the shows of Capital City Jazz Fest, Deathcab For Cutie, R.E.M./Modest Mouse/The National, Iron Maiden, Thievery Corporation/TV on the Radio/Seu Jorge, the Warped Tour, OAR, A Tribe Called Quest/Mos Def/Redman & Method Man/Nas/De La Soul, and most recently Return to Forever feat. Chick Corea. I'll save you the play-by-play observations, as well as my own personal judgment of how the bands performed, but instead offer these general observations about the nature showgoers:

First off, as particularly-well demonstrated at the Warped Tour, young kids try to get away with all sorts of stuff that you'd never expect to see older crowds try. The biggest example of that is fence jumping. During the Warped Tour, I literally got offered a whoppin' $5 from a kid on the outside of the fence to hold his bag while he jumped. The redeeming factor of young crowds, though, is that once you call them out on something they know they shouldn't be doing (like asking to see their tickets for reserved seats they don't belong in), they [generally] back off and respectfully walk away without raising a fuss. With older crowds, however, the rule is reversed. While the majority of the crowd won't try to get away with as much as the younger crowds do, the ones who do will fight you tooth and nail for their right to do whatever the fuck they want. During the Capital City Jazz Fest and Return to Forever, several audience members tried to scream at me until I let them sit in seats they definitely didn't pay for. They even tried to use the "how old are you anyway?" argument, making the case that if they're old enough to be my parents then they shouldn't have to listen to me. (Most of these people thought I was 16, though, so they stormed off without a word when I told them I was actually 22).
The second generality I've observed is that you can never use the music to be a predictor of how respectful crowds will be. Though the mass public generally associates rap music with aggressiveness and disrespect, the most fun and respectful crowd I saw all season was without a
doubt during Rock the Bells, a hip-hop festival featuring A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Nas, Mos Def, Redman & Method Man, and the Pharcyde among others. Conversely, the OAR show which happened the day before - which most of the management thought would be a calmer crowd - was the biggest group of drunken, over-priveledged jackasses I've ever seen. I personally witnessed at least 4 people getting kicked out for being to drunk and starting fights, as well as having to argue with god-knows-how-many people about how their lawn tickets did not entitle them to get front row seats.
Other than those two observations, I don't really have anything specific to comment on about working a venue. It was a great ride, complete with free shows, and I'm looking forward to it's culmination this weekend when I head out to work the Virgin Mobile Festival over at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. As a few final words though, just remember: most venue staffers don't want to have to be a narc and kick people out, so don't be a jackass and leave them no choice.