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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Metro Station: Stop trying to be Keith Richards.
I was bound to write a bad review about one of the bands, right? I honestly thought that I would enjoy watching Metro Station's set at the Believers Never Die tour, and looking back I have no idea why I ever thought that. Are Metro's songs enjoyable? Yes. But it is very clear from watching their music videos, and even clearer from their live performance, that they have no stage presence whatsoever.
Of course they were preceded by Cobra Starship, making Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso look even less dynamic in comparison to Gabe Saporta. Not that they don't try. In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen a band try so hard to look like quintessential movie "rockstars." Unfortunately they fell more in the ranks of Lifetime movies. Enough to draw you in, but nothing compared to the quality of, for example, Warner Brothers films.
I've only ever really enjoyed two Metro Station songs, "Shake It" and "Control." They began their set singing a song that I had never even heard of, and the only people in my vicinity who were singing along were two little girls in front of me. One part of the dynamic that just does not work is the fact that, although Mason is the lead singer, they give Trace the front role, presumably because he is of Cyrus blood. And I have to be completely honest... Trace Cyrus is scary. His voice is low, raspy, and eerie, like something out of a horror movie. He spends half of his time teasing little girls by lifting his shirt to show his pale, tattoo-covered frame; the other half of the time, he is jumping awkwardly off of the bass drum, trying to show off his "rocker" moves.
All the while, Mason stood awkwardly at the front of the stage, singing and playing without moving an inch. Metro finally began playing songs that I at least recognized, and they sounded exactly like they do on the CD. So it wasn't a total loss, but I would definitely rather sit at home and listen to their CD than ever pay money to see them in concert again. If a band isn't going to put on an entertaining show or get the audience involved, their presence adds nothing to the atmosphere, and a music video is potentially more interesting to watch.
Photos by Sarah Maloy in Columbus, Ohio on May 13, 2009.
Of course they were preceded by Cobra Starship, making Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso look even less dynamic in comparison to Gabe Saporta. Not that they don't try. In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen a band try so hard to look like quintessential movie "rockstars." Unfortunately they fell more in the ranks of Lifetime movies. Enough to draw you in, but nothing compared to the quality of, for example, Warner Brothers films.
I've only ever really enjoyed two Metro Station songs, "Shake It" and "Control." They began their set singing a song that I had never even heard of, and the only people in my vicinity who were singing along were two little girls in front of me. One part of the dynamic that just does not work is the fact that, although Mason is the lead singer, they give Trace the front role, presumably because he is of Cyrus blood. And I have to be completely honest... Trace Cyrus is scary. His voice is low, raspy, and eerie, like something out of a horror movie. He spends half of his time teasing little girls by lifting his shirt to show his pale, tattoo-covered frame; the other half of the time, he is jumping awkwardly off of the bass drum, trying to show off his "rocker" moves.
All the while, Mason stood awkwardly at the front of the stage, singing and playing without moving an inch. Metro finally began playing songs that I at least recognized, and they sounded exactly like they do on the CD. So it wasn't a total loss, but I would definitely rather sit at home and listen to their CD than ever pay money to see them in concert again. If a band isn't going to put on an entertaining show or get the audience involved, their presence adds nothing to the atmosphere, and a music video is potentially more interesting to watch.
Photos by Sarah Maloy in Columbus, Ohio on May 13, 2009.
Cobra Starship: Intoxication at its finest.
"I've crashed up joints in Tokyo, and I may not be loved, but they always recall my name. I'm the last man standing, yeah, and I am never scared. Smash it up, smash it up, I'm gonna kick it down. Be cool tonight, don't wanna start a fight."
I've already reviewed Cobra Starship once on this blog, yet I can't help but review them again. The outdoor pavilion show last night was a vastly different atmosphere than the club show they headlined this fall, so it is completely fair to review them again.
Cobra was the second of five acts to perform at the Believers Never Die Part Deux show in Columbus, Ohio, but they definitely did not perform like a traditional opening act. I'm completely biased towards Fall Out Boy, but were I not, I might argue that Cobra actually upstaged them last night. Considering Pete Wentz's worship of lead singer Gabe Saporta and his former band, Midtown, I'm fairly certain that Pete would agree with me on that point. Because if there is one thing that Gabe has, it's stage presence. From the moment he stepped on stage, downing a red Solo cup full of Red Bull and vodka, to the moment he introduced Metro Station, dove into the crowd, and then dashed backstage, the audience was intoxicated. (I know what he was drinking because not only is it all he ever drinks, but he threw the cup into the audience and I found myself covered in Gabe's drink of choice.)
They started the show the way they always do, with their strongest, fastest, and most popular song, "City Is At War." Rarely does a crowd sing along with an opening act, but the audience last night knew every word of every Cobra Starship song, including a song that is barely a month old, "Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous." This was especially surprising when Fall Out Boy took the stage and played a few songs that the majority of the audience did not know. Granted, Fall Out Boy has five albums and Cobra has only two, but it was still supposed to be Fall Out Boy's tour.
When Cobra started playing my personal favorite song, "Kiss My Sass," it was clear that Gabe was overflowing with exactly that: sass. If Gabe ever stops playing music, I suggest that he become a motivational speaker. Despite the fact that Gabe is incredibly nerdy, he has so much attitude and is so unique that the audience rallies behind him as if he held the cure to cancer. Gabe is known for his dance skills, and there is no doubt that the boy can move, but I enjoyed being one of the few in the crowd who realized that he was copying Carlton's famous dance from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. At the after-concert party, I decided that Gabe could also definitely make a living as a DJ. Because no one else could go into a club and play everything from D.J. Assault to Journey and have the crowd dancing and singing along.
Due to the extremely short set, the other members of the band were not able to shine as much as they had when Cobra headlined, but they nonetheless remain the best live band I've seen to date.
Gabe's energy is difficult to describe, so I included a video of him singing "Kiss My Sass." Sorry the sound quality isn't the best:
Photos and video by Sarah Maloy in Columbus, Ohio on May 13, 2009.
I've already reviewed Cobra Starship once on this blog, yet I can't help but review them again. The outdoor pavilion show last night was a vastly different atmosphere than the club show they headlined this fall, so it is completely fair to review them again.
Cobra was the second of five acts to perform at the Believers Never Die Part Deux show in Columbus, Ohio, but they definitely did not perform like a traditional opening act. I'm completely biased towards Fall Out Boy, but were I not, I might argue that Cobra actually upstaged them last night. Considering Pete Wentz's worship of lead singer Gabe Saporta and his former band, Midtown, I'm fairly certain that Pete would agree with me on that point. Because if there is one thing that Gabe has, it's stage presence. From the moment he stepped on stage, downing a red Solo cup full of Red Bull and vodka, to the moment he introduced Metro Station, dove into the crowd, and then dashed backstage, the audience was intoxicated. (I know what he was drinking because not only is it all he ever drinks, but he threw the cup into the audience and I found myself covered in Gabe's drink of choice.)
They started the show the way they always do, with their strongest, fastest, and most popular song, "City Is At War." Rarely does a crowd sing along with an opening act, but the audience last night knew every word of every Cobra Starship song, including a song that is barely a month old, "Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous." This was especially surprising when Fall Out Boy took the stage and played a few songs that the majority of the audience did not know. Granted, Fall Out Boy has five albums and Cobra has only two, but it was still supposed to be Fall Out Boy's tour.
When Cobra started playing my personal favorite song, "Kiss My Sass," it was clear that Gabe was overflowing with exactly that: sass. If Gabe ever stops playing music, I suggest that he become a motivational speaker. Despite the fact that Gabe is incredibly nerdy, he has so much attitude and is so unique that the audience rallies behind him as if he held the cure to cancer. Gabe is known for his dance skills, and there is no doubt that the boy can move, but I enjoyed being one of the few in the crowd who realized that he was copying Carlton's famous dance from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. At the after-concert party, I decided that Gabe could also definitely make a living as a DJ. Because no one else could go into a club and play everything from D.J. Assault to Journey and have the crowd dancing and singing along.
Due to the extremely short set, the other members of the band were not able to shine as much as they had when Cobra headlined, but they nonetheless remain the best live band I've seen to date.
Gabe's energy is difficult to describe, so I included a video of him singing "Kiss My Sass." Sorry the sound quality isn't the best:
Photos and video by Sarah Maloy in Columbus, Ohio on May 13, 2009.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Best. Concert. Ever.
So last night was probably one of the greatest nights of my life. It was the best concert, both entertainment- and musicality-wise, that I have ever been to. Not to mention the fact that I met and had the opportunity to hang out with all of my favorite musicians. In short: It was amazing, and I will now proceed to write show reviews for each of the bands!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Reporters: Stop abusing social media or it will be your own fault when newspapers die.
This is the guest blog I did for ZooLoo. I republished it here so that my readers could see it and so that it would be in my archives.
As the lines between traditional and new media continue to blur, I've noticed that news outlets have begun getting story tips from Twitter. They have even taken to quoting Twitter posts in their articles.
I saw two such occurrences earlier this week. On Monday morning, stories started flooding the internet revolving around a series of Twitter updates posted on Sunday night by band members from pop-punk bands We the Kings and Forever the Sickest Kids. While loading their van after a performance in Philadelphia at the Theatre of Living Arts, police confronted the bands and, according to the tweets, started beating and harassing them.
Alternative Press, a magazine based out of Cleveland, Ohio, reported the incident the next day, using quotes from the band members' personal Twitters. Other news outlets picked up the story, though I saw none who actually spoke to a band member or police representative.
The second instance also happened on Sunday, when Joel Madden, the lead singer of punk band Good Charlotte and boyfriend of Nicole Richie, was forced to cover his tattoos before boarding a flight with British Airways. He tweeted during and after the experience, and his story was picked up by news outlets from America to Australia.
Not only did the reporters not speak to Madden directly, but he later blogged about the incident, saying that there was nothing newsworthy to the story, and no reason for it to even be reported.
So the question presents itself: Is using social media sources lazy or innovative? I personally think it's lazy. If I were an editor at a news outlet, I would encourage my reporters to use social media for ideas and leads, but I would not allow a story to be comprised of Twitter quotes.
I've noticed a lot of reporters starting to become dependent on social media to cite their stories, but I hadn't heard much about it. A quick Google search told me that I clearly hadn't been paying attention, because this is a widely discussed topic.
There are those who say that social media is destroying the traditional media; but is it possibly reporters’ own fault? In a world where reporters use tweets as quotes and Twitterers as sources, I say that those reporters are to blame if the audience chooses to forego his reporting and just read the tweets on their own. Newspapers and magazines should go out and get quotes and ideas that the average person doesn't have access to.
I've always been a firm believer in the idea that, while news print may die, newspapers will live on through the internet. This will not be the case, however, if reporters allow themselves to be overtaken by social media. Getting a lead or an idea from Twitter is fine, but back it up with additional sources and research, don't just reiterate what was already available in readers' Twitterfeeds.
As the lines between traditional and new media continue to blur, I've noticed that news outlets have begun getting story tips from Twitter. They have even taken to quoting Twitter posts in their articles.
I saw two such occurrences earlier this week. On Monday morning, stories started flooding the internet revolving around a series of Twitter updates posted on Sunday night by band members from pop-punk bands We the Kings and Forever the Sickest Kids. While loading their van after a performance in Philadelphia at the Theatre of Living Arts, police confronted the bands and, according to the tweets, started beating and harassing them.
Alternative Press, a magazine based out of Cleveland, Ohio, reported the incident the next day, using quotes from the band members' personal Twitters. Other news outlets picked up the story, though I saw none who actually spoke to a band member or police representative.
The second instance also happened on Sunday, when Joel Madden, the lead singer of punk band Good Charlotte and boyfriend of Nicole Richie, was forced to cover his tattoos before boarding a flight with British Airways. He tweeted during and after the experience, and his story was picked up by news outlets from America to Australia.
Not only did the reporters not speak to Madden directly, but he later blogged about the incident, saying that there was nothing newsworthy to the story, and no reason for it to even be reported.
So the question presents itself: Is using social media sources lazy or innovative? I personally think it's lazy. If I were an editor at a news outlet, I would encourage my reporters to use social media for ideas and leads, but I would not allow a story to be comprised of Twitter quotes.
I've noticed a lot of reporters starting to become dependent on social media to cite their stories, but I hadn't heard much about it. A quick Google search told me that I clearly hadn't been paying attention, because this is a widely discussed topic.
There are those who say that social media is destroying the traditional media; but is it possibly reporters’ own fault? In a world where reporters use tweets as quotes and Twitterers as sources, I say that those reporters are to blame if the audience chooses to forego his reporting and just read the tweets on their own. Newspapers and magazines should go out and get quotes and ideas that the average person doesn't have access to.
I've always been a firm believer in the idea that, while news print may die, newspapers will live on through the internet. This will not be the case, however, if reporters allow themselves to be overtaken by social media. Getting a lead or an idea from Twitter is fine, but back it up with additional sources and research, don't just reiterate what was already available in readers' Twitterfeeds.
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