Gotham Rocks Showcase

I went to a hard rock show promoted by Gotham Nights, January 21st, and was asked to give an artist profile but instead of being inspired to write I caught the worst writers block of my life all due in part to the lack of quality put on display. I was stunned and puzzled as I observed just what these bands would do in order to get noticed by the know nothing Generation X members present at the show.

The first act’s lead singer wore a tutu and tried desperately to sound like Evanescence, their name is Charetta, a dime a dozen in my opinion. If you want to be apart of the circus join it, don’t bring it to the music industry, we have enough landfills containing mounds of music like this.

The second act, King Hell, was so high on the smell of their noxious gas, I high doubt they knew that they were parading around like idiots. A rule for sleeveless shirts: If you haven’t worked out in 4 years do not wear one. It is completely unbecoming. Their stage show was just embarrassing to watch all around, and not writing about this earlier was a disservice to the band as a whole. Hopefully they’ll see this and either decide to act like musicians instead of foe-rocker stars or quit the industry all together.

My assignment was to profile The August Infinity, a band whose sound on their MySpace page is simply over produced. To my surprise the live act was pretty damn good. The vocals were on point. Though I received an early excuse from the lead singer that he was suffering from a sore throat, this grainy sound actually added character to the lyrics, something which was lacking in their recordings. F.Y.I. You should get sick more often. I cried though when they went from artists, to dancing monkeys. Trying to add some unneeded value to their stage presence, the band brought on sorostitude dancers from Long Island, which really took away from what would have been the best act of the night. Their burlesque style, uncoordinated routine killed me, but luckily my mind allowed me to black out from that point on. I think there were three more acts, but who cares to talk about them.

Proof that there is something wrong with terrestrial and satellite radio and as a corollary the industry as a whole, DJ’s from 101.9 F.M. our replacement for KROCK and a DJ from SIRIUS XM’s Octane were present to MC this circus, a scene that reminded me of a book by Nathaniel West “The Day of the Locust”.

To the bassist of The August Infinity,

You shouldn’t insult, then curse at a stranger backstage, by telling him to “get the fuck out” the moment you met that person. Maybe that’s the norm in Huntsville, Alabama (if I remember correct as to where you are from), but here, in this part of America, we are raised to treat everyone with respect! You are a spec in this city, a faceless body, and have garnered no right to talk to anyone like that. You will never sell a million albums, you are a blip on the radar screen of ten million souls here in this city.

This was not the kind of article I wanted to write, I delayed myself from writing this hoping that the feelings would fade, and that something good could stand out to promote, but that never occurred. Shape up artists, shape up “fans”, and demand more from each other. New York’s music scene will lose its importance if we deny what is necessary to survive, and that is to develop a spine, a renewed sense of moral fiber, an ethical, rational and truly artistic attempt at reinvigorating the sound which provides all of us the buzz that wills us through the monotony of our everyday life.

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