SILK FLOWERS: February 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

PSYCHIC CONNECTIONS

I more or less have a policy of not getting too personal in this format but, this time I'll make an exception. Last week, I watched Ordinary People. Never in my life has a movie made me suddenly break down and cry until I watched this scene. It majorly struck a chord and even helped me understand something about myself. Then, completely on his own Cali made this flyer for our LA show at Echo Curio which, references the very same movie. Only very good friends can share this kind of mental communication. Clip and flyer below.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Sunday, February 22, 2009

We will be embarking on a short tour of the golden state this week. Since the turn of the last century people have ventured out west to seek greater oppurtunities. I am happy to continue this tradition. In anticipation of our trip, here is a clip of one of my all time favorite LA bands, The Quick.

2/25 Irvine w/ Protect Me, Randy Randell, Former Ghosts, Lucky Dragons
2/26 LA The Smell w/ City Center, Former Ghosts
2/27 LA The Troubador w/ Animal Collective
2/28 Oakland Terminal 10 w/ City Center, John Weisse, The Better To See You With
3/1 LA Echo Curio w/ John Weiss, Surprise Guests?!?!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Rolling Stones ruined Rochester New York

I grew up in Rochester New York, which is maybe 5 hours west of New York City. My parents still live there, as does my 15 year old sister. Recently she went to see Lil Wayne. I've never seen Lil Wayne, but I did go to see him once, and he canceled. Apparently he loves canceling because he also canceled the show that my sister went to see. Her $100 ticket was honored for a make-up concert a month or two later, but he canceled that one too. A third make-up concert was scheduled, and canceled, and the show's promoter filed a lawsuit against Wayne, as reported by Pitchfork today. This is not the first lawsuit Lil Wayne has undergone, having just agreed to pull a song off of Carter III because the Rolling Stones did not appreciate his sampling/referencing of the song "Playing With Fire." The Pitchfork article refers to Rochester as "Crotchester" and provides a half-funny hypothetical list of reasons the shows were canceled.

Growing up there, I remember feeling like we were always skipped over. Bands would rather go above Lake Ontario and play Toronto and Montreal than go below the lake to play Rochester. We did the same thing ourselves last November with No Age. As teenagers, we would go to Toronto(4 hours each way) to see bands play all time: Dinosaur Jr., Faith No More, Jesus Lizard etc. When I left Rochester, I lived in Portland for awhile where I would occasionally meet artists through my job who would say things like, "oh, we performed in Rochester. Once. It was... grim."

The lawsuit relating to the Lil Wayne cancellation makes me worry about the teenagers of Rochester. If I were Lil Wayne, or any of his friends, or his booking agent, or a touring rapper, I would think twice about scheduling a show in Rochester ever again. No other city has ever sued a performer at that level in recent memory, right? So why not skip over it? It's not like it's a key market.

The funny thing is this isn't the first time this has happened in Rochester. When I was 14, The Soup Dragons had a marginal hit with a cover of the Rolling Stones song "I'm Free" and were booked to perform at the University of Rochester. I forget exactly what went wrong with that show, but the band only played for 10 or 15 minutes and the college refused to pay them. A few months later, The New York Times ran a piece where they asked a bunch of bands to name the best and worst cities, and the Soup Dragons announced that Rochester was unequivically the worst place in the world. I remember reading it and getting so bummed out, imagining that the Beastie Boys or Fugazi or whatever band I was amped on at the time would also read the article and decide not to play Rochester as a result.

But that's still not the beginning. Fifteen years before that, the Rolling Stones played a concert in Rochester right around the time that "Get Off My Cloud" came out. During the concert, thousands of fans stormed the stage, and the show was shut down only 7 minutes into their set. This obviously sparked a riot, during which a cop lost an eye when a bottle was thrown in his face. The Rochester press blamed the Stones, and the band has never returned to the city, but they sure made certain that their descendents continued to cause trouble there.

Musicians that have changed my life that were born in Rochester:

-Lydia Lunch
-Bob Nastanovich
-Kim Gordon
-Cab Calloway
-Wendy O. Williams

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.

Last week, we played the majorly renowned Wierd Records party here in NY. Full disclosure: Never before have I felt like a bigger poser! By no means are any of us experts on the Minimal Synth genre. However, the audience and the overall vibe of the night was totally amazing. Ironically, for a goth/ minimal syth scene it had probably the least oppresive vibe. Quiete the opposite. It was one of the better times I've had going out in a while! Here's a recap of the set. These great photos were taken by Naomi Ramirez. Thanks SOOO much to Pieter.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Broadcast for the broken hearted

Last week we recorded a live set for WFMU's Choking On Cufflinks hosted by the great Mike Goodstein. The show aired on Valentines day. Also, on the program that night was Philadelphia's
Cold Cave. Check it out here!