The Used Review-Venue Restrictions & Cardiac Constrictions
Chanting fills the two-tiered House of Blues venue where no one was a stranger. Invisible tears fill the eyes of patrons who fit the definition of being “Used” and could possibly release what is pent up. The odd one out gets to get even with each healing track as the person relinquishes the apathy flowing throwing his soul. Jepha Howard’s strong bass patterns permeate the fans bodies from head to toe unlike most musicians who scribble down “bassist” as an occupation. Take your place in lyrical shelter because a world where you can dream is a planet you can be yourself on regardless of the societal expectations. San Diego’s reserved youth follow the venues restrictions from the start of the show to the final water bottle being catapulted into the crowd. You are not going to see the normal punk show antics like the wall of death that could easily liberate the distressed individuals sauntering through the streets of San Diego, but there is something to say for standstill mosh pits where one can safely use their phone without damaging the device. Who needs the wall of death at a venue unlikely with insurance to cover mosh pits when you have The Used? Thankfully Trevor Blair of Revolutionary Entertainment buys the appropriate insurance allowing concertgoers to mosh making his Maximum Exposure Showcases a place to be yourself.
The San Diego bubble burst when the Utah based band incited true togetherness song after song while security guards hurled crowd surfers across the barricades. Now if the barricades positioned in between the band and the audience is essentially placed to protect both the patrons and the performers then you would think there would be a little leeway for...
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...ee all those people on the ground wasting time. I try to hold it all inside, But just for tonight.” The venue is situated in a part of town where services are limited [because homeless shelters were closed nearby. Bert believes he has discovered a place that loves music and the All American Rejects’ Tyson Ritter preaches Don't Hate on Haiti which is a remarkable charitable purpose close to his heart.
Regardless of your taste and preferences in music, The Used can cater to your emotional needs. Jason Nott of the opening band Drive A said, “For us, playing with The Used was amazing because we all grew up listening to them. The song choice in their set flowed so well every night and they delivered the songs very well during their performances each night, they're one of the few bands out there today that really know what they're doing especially in a live setting.”
In Justin Pearson's memoir, From the Graveyard of the arousal Industry, he recounts the events that occured from his early years of adolesence to the latter years of his adulthood telling the story of his unforgiving and candid life. Set in the late 1970s "Punk" rock era, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry offers a valuable perspective about the role culture takes in our lives, how we interact with it and how it differs from ideology.
Sharples, K. Johnny Cash, 'Hurt' & Trent Reznor - A review. (2011). Retrieved on March 30, 2012 from http://www.stagepassnews.com/articles/vox/johnnycash_hurt.html
Imagine attending a concert in which if you were to close your eyes, you would assume that the music you are hearing is being created by a cast of band members, each playing their respective instruments. Contrary to your assumptions, however, this band only consists of one member. Keller Williams, dubbed by critics as a one-man-band, is one of a kind both in his musical talent and his solo act. Very few solo musicians have mastered such a multi-dimensional sound and captivating live show as Keller, making him standout amongst today’s musicians. Keller’s ability to perform improvisational live shows, form a large and dedicated fan base, and share the beliefs and attitudes of the hippie generation has given him the musical identity of the jam band genre in addition to his personal identity of being a solo act.
In closing, the undoubtable influence of music, more specifically of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society is responsible for a number of changes to the status quo. These range from sexual liberation and racial desegregation all culminating with other influences to create an intergenerational identity. Despite the desperate attempts of older generations to smother these influences, these changes ultimately shaped the years that followed, molding the country into what it is today. Along the way these changes as well as individual involvement in them has also eased the lives of many through empowerment and a feeling of community and purpose. Despite a lull and renewal Rock ‘n’ Roll continues to serve as an agent of influence and change in today’s youth culture and continues to burn in the heart of past generations of loyal fans.
Occasionally a strobe awakes from its narcoleptic slumber to wink at the nocturnal nation cavort across fog flooded floors. I sit in the shadows. I am an island ( not in the geographical formation sense, but rather in the Simon and Garfunkle sense). Music seems so tainted; its freshness extracted by the incestuous industry. Get an acclaimed producer, and make a video to show how pretty your band is. Become a whiney lesbian folk singer professing cynical prophesies with an acoustic ax, a violent criminal that uses his vehemence as an art form, a diva whose love songs are darker than her exposed panties, or perhaps a greasy haired bar-chord master with a chip on his shoulder and a heroin needle in his arm proclaiming how hard life is in suburbia. There must be something new in rock's tepid arena, and not just another "underground" sound that is this week’s salt-lick style. There must be a band out there in the very nucleus of pop music that will not take its precious history and throw it away. That will endure to "stand on its shoulders," understand it and explore its depths to form new music (Percy 49). There must be a band that has a lead singer who wrote a poem about Neil Young vomiting, and then had the audacity to name the band after it (Park). There is. This is Soul Coughing.
It could be argued that ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ served exemplary as testament to the changing attitudes towards rock music and psychedelic acid rock of the time. The prevalence of the genre was tangible, even the AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network) added a special channel in 1968 for those soldiers serving overseas who had reported an interest in the musical style (Kramer, 2006). Perhaps this song was indeed the natural progression of music in a time of so much uncertainty for an entire generation fraught with equal parts revolutionary ideals and Cold War paranoia. The track’s tone, ambiance were defined by an eerily dark otherworldliness unheard of up until that point in rock music and arguably not replicated again until Black Sabbath’s NIB
The “Seattle sound”, a phrase coined for music created by Alternative-style rock bands based in Seattle, is said to contain three (3) basic elements: it is loud, it is honest, and it is borne of musicians that have experienced a degree of difficulty in achieving recognition. The “Seattle sound”, often times referred to as “grunge”, is notorious for being performed at exceedingly high volume. It has been defined as honest music because it is performed in a raw and unrefined manner, without the aid of electronic polishing. Additionally, a common thread of grunge bands is said to be that they suffer from an uncommonly low rate of recognition
First, the new psychedelic style of rock didn’t have to meet any previous restrictions that were seen as the “social norm.” Before the musical revolution of the 1960s, jazz music was the ostentation of the Roaring 20s. Americans were perceived to live elegant and luxurious lifestyles through this time. Therefore, music had to carry this purpose in its meaning. The emergence of Rock went against this style. “No longer obligated to elevate the spirit, to
The Punk Rock movement of the 1980’s was an explosion of hybrid and eccentric beats and lyrics that caught everyone’s attention, especially the young adolescents of the time period. The movement of Punk Rock took a major role in shaping the culture in the 80’s. The template for the 1980’s Punk Rock emerged from its preceptor of the 70’s Punk Rock which emerged from London. It’s loud and reckless tunes, to some sounded like noise, but to others it imposed many political standings and raised discussions of controversial topics in its lyrics. From this movements figurative and literal expressions through its bold fashion and uncensored lyrics, it definitely made a stance in the history of music and the 20th century.
For my book report I read Generation Ecstasy. There was so much information in the book about the rave scene and "ecstasy", I didn't know where to begin. It's been ten years since the English seized on Detroit techno, Chicago house, and New York garage as the seeds of what's generally agreed-over there, at least-to be the most significant music since punk, and they're celebrating with a slew of historical studies. Simon Reynolds attempts to bridge the gap with "Generation Ecstasy," an exhaustive compendium of almost every rave-associated sound and idea, both half-baked and momentous, that traces the digital Diaspora back and forth across Europe and America. Using the multiple perspectives of music critic, enthusiastic participant, and sociological outsider to trace the development of dance music's "rhythmic phsycadelic," Reynolds, finds two predominant, contrasting strains: the search for gnosis, or spiritual revelation, and the desire to get completely out of it at the weekend. Setting these timeless traits in the context of the up-to-the-minute technology that made rave emblematic of its era-the fragmentary, fast-forward aesthetic, the flexible production and distribution network, the avoidance of personality and narrative in favor of sensation-he comes up with a portrait of hi-tech millennium that resonates well beyond its subculture confines.
...d a show, this is an act within itself. “Sing” is a loose term; it’s more like spoken word fused with raw emotion. People bang their heads up and down and throw up their arms in time with the music. As the set continues, you can see the sweat building up on everyone, but none more than Kevin. Flailing around his arms and legs and banging his head up and down, those in the front can’t help but get splashed by it. These people do not care though; they are too entranced by the sound and rhythm of the music. The set ends and the band begins to tear down their equipment. A few approach and give high fives or slaps on the back accompanied by “great show man” or “dude that was amazing” but the band plays it off as routine. The best way to show your appreciation with these guys is to throw bows and buy a round. If that’s not your style, well then Tabernacle is not for you.
Sisario, Ben and James C. McKinley. “Drugs Deaths Threaten Rising Business of Electronic Music Fests”. New York Times. 9 Sept 2013. Web. 1 Apr 2014.
Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and countless other tremendously talented artists had their lives cut short due to drug use. Drugs were most often good for the music, but deadly for the music makers.
To some, December 6, 1969 may not hold any particular significance. To Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, however, it’s remembered as the day the sixties suffered a tragic death. Irrational bikers and terrified fans were not a part of Jagger’s vision when him and his bandmates organized a free concert at California’s Altamont Speedway. Despite incessant warnings that a concert of such a large magnitude was not the best idea, the Stones went ahead with it in light of criticism they’d received regarding their ticket prices being too high. They’d performed for overflow audiences without incident in major cities before, but this crowd of 300,000 was different. A total of four births and four deaths were the result of that evening, one of which was a homicide. The stabbing of Meredith Hunter by Hell’s Angel Alan Passaro happened to be captured on film, and is now the climax of the legendary rock n’ roll documentary Gimme Shelter. Larger cultural discourses shape the way non-fiction narratives are told, and the only entity larger than the notion of disaster within the film is the notion of Jagger as a celebrity. In the words of Amanda Howell, “Jagger's ‘double self’ literally takes center stage in Gimme Shelter. On the one hand, Jagger embodies the freedom, expressivity and hedonism of the countercultural movement, while on the other he appears adept in his relation to "straight" society.” In addition to this “double self,” Jagger can also be described as a commodity in the eyes of his adoring fans. What happened at Altamont was, in a sense, an explosion of tensions that had built up over the sixties; an explosion which Gimme Shelter depicts Mick Jagger to have been shielded from as a result of his three façades.
Paxton, Tom. (2011). "Music as a Tool of Social Protest." Squidoo: Welcome to Squidoo. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from .