First off, let me say it's always a pleasure hanging with friends and getting reacquainted with old friends. And I try and take as many chances as possible to hang with Lea, because she rocks it out. That said . . .
Here's my honest-to-gosh review of last night. Call it shit-talkin' if you like . . .
I really like that space. I understand the promoters' decision to make the smaller room the main room--that certainly helped the vibe--I would have loved for the actual big room to be the main room.
Set Reviews
-- John Larner: loved it. It was smooth, had depth, and actually went somewhere. That room, listening to his set, was where I spent most of my dancing time.
-- Steve Smooth: well, at least he's pretty. Little variation, even less depth, every song a drop and build. Seriously, when did house djs become circa-1998 trance djs??? And when every build is a carbon cut-out of the previous one [drop the beat, filter in some vocals, drum roll build-up faux-climax please], then after 30 minutes, you're ready to rape one of the Guidos there just to make it interesting. 2 hours of that mindless, soulless, bang-bang is 90 minutes too much.
-- Donald Glaude: STOP FUCKIN' TELLING ME WHAT TO DO AND PLAY THE FUCKIN' RECORD. While he played a slightly more varied set than Steve Smoothless, it was made tonnes more annoying. And who. The. Fuck. Was. That. Dude. "Rapping"??? Guh.
Joe Meltdown: Promoters -- Stop. Stop stop stop. Stop pretending that this is cool, because it's not. Not at Talbott, not at Eden, and not at this party. Actually, I take it back, because the times I heard The Meltdown at Eden, it did enhance the show. And I bet I can name at least two reasons why:
1: Joe's playing was more reserved. Maybe because music playing wasn't all mindless; and,
2: Joe's drum set was more integrated into the sound design; meaning, he wasn't tossed off to the side like an after-thought. He was directly in front of the Dj [for good or ill] and that allows the SOUND of the percussion to at least PRETEND to be a part of the music, and not barreling at you left-of-center like a belligerent drunk driver with a hatred to rhythm and cadence.
There's more to percussion than beating on skin tightly drawn around a barrel, and there's more to setting up a stage than throwing a dj in one spot and then a pound of drums off to the side. Including Joe will not work with his current playing style in Indy venues, because none of them are large enough. Well, maybe something like Music Mill, or the large room of the 8 Second Saloon [!!!!], but little where else.
Oh, and GIVE JOE FUCKIN' MONITORS PLEASE!
And if Joe did have monitors, but couldn't hear them over his own playing, maybe Joe should pull back a bit.
Once the promoters made the decision to move it to the small room, Joe should have been handed his fee, given an honest apology, and sent on his way to enjoy the night however he pleases. If he is a true musician, he'd understand. Hell, maybe he even made the recommendation? He certainly should have.
I take extreme exception at the inclusion of live instruments in a Dj performance when I know for a fact there hasn't been any form of practice. I doubt Joe was given a set list from any of the Djs, probably didn't know 75% of the songs played, and while the music was devoid of much variation, there was enough to find Joe banging away at his climactic roll long after the music dropped out.
No one would ask a bassist to play live bass just out of the blue, would they? With no regard to whether he can play in the same key of the songs being played? Without knowing whether or not the bassist is even familiar with the songs that will be played? Do they? Why then do they allot that luxury on Joe?
Suggestions:
-- Use that space again. Please!
-- Get Log2 for sound reinforcement; I know this is hard to do at a venue that is established as a club already, but you could warn them about the potential damage to their sound equipment and how Log2 could mitigate that. I mean, if you're gonna tout your party as a 'rave', then it needs rave sound. RAVE sound. Not hip-hop sound. Not rock-band concert sound. Not Karaoke sound.
Could you imagine Richie Hawtin in that big room with Log2 sound enhancing the place? I know I could.
-- Remember that you're in Indianapolis. I know the promoters are from Chicago; I know the Indy peeps that helped the Chicago peeps probably clock more clubbing hours in Chicago than in Indy. This is not Chicago. This isn't even Baby Chicago. Or New Chicago. This is Indy. We pull from Ohio and Kentucky way more than Chicago. In fact, in a party that has about 200 people in it, if there are 25% people from Chicago, you probably missed the promotional mark a bit.
-- Remember,also, that it's not 1998 anymore. There was nothing Smooth or Glaude did that was impressive; people are just impressed by them. And the people that are impressed by celebrity status of Djs are simply too few to rely on to pay what was probably $13K in talent cost alone. But I bet Donald Glaude by himself for $10 or $15 would have at least given you a fighting chance to make your money.
I can go to Blu and hear the same music. Jackola can rock that style, if he wanted -- and thank god he doesn't. So the days of pulling The Impressed by way of name-on-flyer are done. It's gotta be . . . more. But the price-tag cannot be more.
-- Learn from this. Learn your market. Ask for help from local promoters. There is nothing wrong with getting help. That's smart business practice, period. And there's certainly nothing wrong with researching your demographic. And don't tell me any research was done, because no amount of research in other than the skewered sort would have even hinted that $25 for Donald Glaude in Indy would yield massive indy club take-over, which is basically what almost every Chicago promoter thinks their going to do when they throw Indy parties. Yellow 13, anyone?
-- Pay for production.
Overall:
I was generally excited for this event. And it's not the promters' fault that the musical selection of their headliners were lacking. I think other issues that I've mentioned could have been handled differently, better. But that's part of the learning curve. Yes, it was an expensive learning curve, but we've all been there.
Would I go to another iParty event? Yes. Would I go to another party at Tremors? Yes, I rather liked that venue and the employees. Would I pay $25 to do it? Probably not. But that may all be a moot point, regardless. According to their interview in Metro Mix -- which actually turned a lot of people off, by the way -- their continued efforts depended on the success of this event. Every promoter has their own way of defining success. Lots of people there had fun. I saw the Spanish-Contingent, which I hadn't seen since Therapy's heydays, and lots of other raver friends that don't go out anymore, so is that success? Well, I didn't have 20Gs at stake, so, who knows.
I would like the promoters to continue to try. I would like them to succeed, actually. A regular night, be it monthly or kinda' monthly or whatever, that can bring the old heads with the new in a non-lounge environment that is actually designed for dancing would be much welcomed.
I know that to host shows means that you have to make money. I don't think cramming 20 Djs in an event that starts at 6pm [!!!] and ends at 3am and costs $25 is the route to go. I bet a reasonable, regular club-like event with a single headliner for $10 may dig you in a small hole for awhile, but as the reliability grows and the name gets out there [iParty is a bad one, by the way], the crowd will come.
Now you'll probably think I'm shit-talking. I don't give a fuck. In fact, Uriah left me a phone message asking me if I were coming; in it, he said, and I quote: Yeah, I know it's $25 and you're probably shit-talking about it. . . . Case in point: I hadn't been. I also have no stake in the "scene" anymore. This is my honest review, after having been excited for the event for some time. Take it for what its worth.
But really, we all know where this is going and what will eventually happen.
Let's hope we get a couple more "raves" out of the deal before it does.
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