Scatterbrain Sunday Vol 4
Published by Mertz on Sunday, August 26, 2007 at 2:30 PM.
Time for another cleansing of my brain...
We Want the Funk
My last posting talked about a street festival happening in downtown Champaign. I basically took the position that it was one of the dumbest ideas ever, seeing as how it blocked off a major traffic route while not really bringing anything useful to downtown Champaign (the lineup was absolutely useless).
Well this weekend, Urbana accomplished the exact opposite by throwing an amazing event, the 32nd Annual Sweet Corn Festival. Not only were there cooler games, tents, and vendors than all five of downtown Champaign's festivals combined, but the musical lineup was incredible on Saturday (yet as abhorrent as the Champaign festivals on Friday). There was a very good second stage that featured a lot of quality local bands, but best of all, PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC headlined on Saturday!
Sure, George and Bootsy (pictured above) weren't there, but a proper summer festival is being outside on a gorgeous night with friends, drinking some cheap beer paid for with tickets, and hearing P-Funk rip through "One Nation Under A Groove." From local talk, this will be the last time that Urbana will be able to line up someone of this caliber for their festivals. And we already know Champaign is just purely unwilling to spend money on real talent (so we get the shitty Boat Drunks every year). So I'm glad I went to the last big city-sponsored outdoor festival with good music that Champaign and Urbana will have for some time.
Pygmalion
Just because the cities I live in have no idea how to throw a festival doesn't mean someone in this town doesn't know how to put on a quality show. For as long as I have been in this town, Seth Fein has been making major contributions to this city as a promoter and a musician (drummer for the incredibly awesome band, but now unfortunately defunct Absinthe Blind). Anyhow, Seth continues to make major contributions to the music scene here by booking tons of shows, and by hosting the annual Pygmalion Festival. Get your passes now cause they're going fast and this is going to be one hell of an indie rocktacular lineup this year.
The "Last" Show
Well my final show in Champaign with J Phlip was a massive success. We filled up Champaign's largest dance club and had a line stretched outside by midnight. People danced, bodies sweated, ears were pummeled with bass, and all was good. I'd post some pictures up, but I don't have any back yet. I figured I was going to be far more depressed than I was at the end of the gig, and even on Saturday when Jess and I said our last goodbye before she moved to San Fran. But, due to some developments Friday afternoon that I cannot talk about yet, I am not at all worried about her moving to the Bay. There's a chance I'll see her sooner than I expected. :-)
Worn-Down
However, that show being in the bag has left me so run down. I must have put 25-30 hours of promoting into the event, and now that I have nothing to stress about, my immune system has dropped and I feel a bit of a cold coming on. Hopefully the Airborne I took will help.
New Night
I'm going to start spinning Thursday nights at a relatively new bar on campus called Fubar. I'll be playing swanky, upbeat downtempo and deep house. Good lounge music basically. While I do think some campus bar situations are quite awful, Fubar is a really nice space, I know the bar managers and I know they have great taste in music, and they want an upscale atmosphere. Plus, I'm looking for new challenges and new crowds, and I think this will be exactly that.
Dubstep 101
So I'm not going to pretend to know a whole ton of a lot about this subgenre/latest craze called dubstep other than the fact that I really like it. The tunes are a stripped down version of garage/grime/drum n bass, with heavy reggae/dub influence to them. It isn't the easiest style of music to put into words, but once you hear a dubstep song, you'll get the genre. A good place to start listening is the online streaming station dubstep.fm. But if you want a guaranteed great mix, check out this one from Hoodz. I can't find much online about Hoodz, but this mix is just incredible:
Hoodz - Poolside Presha Session (Live)
We Want the Funk
My last posting talked about a street festival happening in downtown Champaign. I basically took the position that it was one of the dumbest ideas ever, seeing as how it blocked off a major traffic route while not really bringing anything useful to downtown Champaign (the lineup was absolutely useless).
Well this weekend, Urbana accomplished the exact opposite by throwing an amazing event, the 32nd Annual Sweet Corn Festival. Not only were there cooler games, tents, and vendors than all five of downtown Champaign's festivals combined, but the musical lineup was incredible on Saturday (yet as abhorrent as the Champaign festivals on Friday). There was a very good second stage that featured a lot of quality local bands, but best of all, PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC headlined on Saturday!
Sure, George and Bootsy (pictured above) weren't there, but a proper summer festival is being outside on a gorgeous night with friends, drinking some cheap beer paid for with tickets, and hearing P-Funk rip through "One Nation Under A Groove." From local talk, this will be the last time that Urbana will be able to line up someone of this caliber for their festivals. And we already know Champaign is just purely unwilling to spend money on real talent (so we get the shitty Boat Drunks every year). So I'm glad I went to the last big city-sponsored outdoor festival with good music that Champaign and Urbana will have for some time.
Pygmalion
Just because the cities I live in have no idea how to throw a festival doesn't mean someone in this town doesn't know how to put on a quality show. For as long as I have been in this town, Seth Fein has been making major contributions to this city as a promoter and a musician (drummer for the incredibly awesome band, but now unfortunately defunct Absinthe Blind). Anyhow, Seth continues to make major contributions to the music scene here by booking tons of shows, and by hosting the annual Pygmalion Festival. Get your passes now cause they're going fast and this is going to be one hell of an indie rocktacular lineup this year.
The "Last" Show
Well my final show in Champaign with J Phlip was a massive success. We filled up Champaign's largest dance club and had a line stretched outside by midnight. People danced, bodies sweated, ears were pummeled with bass, and all was good. I'd post some pictures up, but I don't have any back yet. I figured I was going to be far more depressed than I was at the end of the gig, and even on Saturday when Jess and I said our last goodbye before she moved to San Fran. But, due to some developments Friday afternoon that I cannot talk about yet, I am not at all worried about her moving to the Bay. There's a chance I'll see her sooner than I expected. :-)
Worn-Down
However, that show being in the bag has left me so run down. I must have put 25-30 hours of promoting into the event, and now that I have nothing to stress about, my immune system has dropped and I feel a bit of a cold coming on. Hopefully the Airborne I took will help.
New Night
I'm going to start spinning Thursday nights at a relatively new bar on campus called Fubar. I'll be playing swanky, upbeat downtempo and deep house. Good lounge music basically. While I do think some campus bar situations are quite awful, Fubar is a really nice space, I know the bar managers and I know they have great taste in music, and they want an upscale atmosphere. Plus, I'm looking for new challenges and new crowds, and I think this will be exactly that.
Dubstep 101
So I'm not going to pretend to know a whole ton of a lot about this subgenre/latest craze called dubstep other than the fact that I really like it. The tunes are a stripped down version of garage/grime/drum n bass, with heavy reggae/dub influence to them. It isn't the easiest style of music to put into words, but once you hear a dubstep song, you'll get the genre. A good place to start listening is the online streaming station dubstep.fm. But if you want a guaranteed great mix, check out this one from Hoodz. I can't find much online about Hoodz, but this mix is just incredible:
Hoodz - Poolside Presha Session (Live)
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