Field Notes 1 - Monty Are I at Club Hell

I was writing in full sentences and being descriptive, but it got long quickly. I've tried a new approach, which is copying almost directly from my notepad.

The place looks packed, and it should, because the show is sold out. People are standing/sitting on the railings of raised platforms for photographers Second opener is getting some mild head bobs from the crowd.

There's a pretty even split between male and female, but males are older (18-25) and females are younger (14-18). Couples are lingering at the bar, the older, drinking crowd. Parents are situated in the back, some still with their kids. The crowd is overwhelmingly white.

A fan who has been standing on the edge of the stage and rocking out, headbanging, and flipping off the crowd, gets a signal from the guitarist and begins to pour beer in his mouth. The fan is later introduced as one of the band member's brothers. The band is Penrose. "Let's give it up for parents," one says, another chimes in with "If it weren't for your parents, you... I can't finish that because my parents are in the room." Kids who would have been driven here and watched by parents make up a significant portion of the crowd.

Penrose exits, there is a decently loud "one more song" chant, but it's a silly request for an opener. Looking at the crowd, the front two rows are teenage girls, then there's roughly a row of guys, behind them a few clusters of same sex groups, but also individual couples. Surprisingly high number of couples at the show.

Dress was varied, but few could be accused of trying too hard. Some, mostly older crowd, was dressed for any other bar/club - guys in striped button-up shirts, girls in nice-ish shirts. The younger end of the crowd was split between a t-shirt and jeans whatever-I-happened-to-be-wearing look, and the slightly harder-trying tight zip-up hoodie and band t-shirt look (or lumberjack type plaid shirt). Monty Are I fell under this section of the dress code as well. In terms of guys' hairstyle significant portion, though far from everyone, had rather long hair, parted to one side - the "emo look." Later saw a few outliers with mohawks, bandannas, and baggy pants with bondage straps.

Other band T-shirts seen: Arcadia Landing (local), A Day to Remember, Fall of Troy.

Soundcheck - the band is doing it themselves, troubleshooting with the sound guy, arriving at the conclusion of "Ok cool we'll have to make do" at one point.

Band exits, lights dim - except for red lights around side bars and back near bathrooms, kind of does look like hell. "Monty, Monty" chant begins and ends. 5 or 6 TVs in the back are of the stage turn on to the colorful "no signal" screen - later displayed some short sequences but mostly the band's logo across static.

The band comes on to uproarious applause and opens with "Anchor and Hope" off the most recent album, "Wall of People." The bands sound features aggressive distorted guitars, high "emo" male vocals, some technically difficult guitar riffs, lots of dynamic changes, and occasional synth samples and horn parts. The front five rows are very into it, jumping, raising hands, singing along. But there's definitely a barrier where few people further back are listening and moving much, more passive.

Song end, a sample plays - it's the "you just beat the level" sound from the old Super Mario, which segs nicely into the 8-bit chip tune intro (or maybe its actually right from a game) of "Castle Bound".

I moved further back, from about 7th row to 15th. People here aren't moving as much but they're still interested - singing along, taking pictures, some while sipping drinks. Further back interest wanes as it becomes less feasible to see the band, kids are texting and parents are watching. There are a few hanging around the bar still, but most have moved on and up. Drink choice on the floor is mostly tall boys of Naraganssett and Pabst Blue Ribbon, both good "I'm at a show and I want as much beer as possible for as little money as possible" drinks. Mixed drinks and classier beers seen on the outskirts of the crowd.

Band plays "O Brother" then "Only the Weak." Crowd is enjoying it, riding the sonic and dynamic changes of the songs - going most nuts on cuts where everything drops out for a second, then comes roaring back in. Breakdowns - usually instrumental bridges with spread out rhythmic guitar notes - are also good sources of crowd energy.

Lead singer, Steve talks about how the band has been gone for a year, then announces crowd reaction "That guy just gave me the finger, that guys giving me the thumbs down..." But goes on to thank the audience, saying "Thank you so much for supporting us, it means a lot to us. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It's been a bitch being away, but it's good to be home." Interesting - the idea that one doesn't doesn't just listen to/watch a band (a local band?) but supports them - and the idea of Rhode Island as Monty Are I's home.

Band plays the first new song, off an album coming in spring/summer and the reason they were away to begin with. It's called "Break Through the Silence," the crowd responds about as well as they could to an unfamiliar song, even rocking out after a cut and a "let's go" by the lead singer. Back to older stuff, with "In This Legacy." Band intros the ballad, "Just in Time" saying, "We love playing this live, because we always get to play it for people that really care and connect to it."

After, the band addresses the crowd, saying "I'm not seeing enough movement, the people in the back aren't feeling it, so all you up in the front gotta help them out. The opportunity is knocking, right now." He then requested when they start playing that the crowd "kick ass" and "flip out". Played a new song, don't know the title - he's doing a decent job of psyching the crowd up for new songs, and also being positive with them / buttering them up. Lots of, "I like you guys." Another new song, introduced with an invitation to "put on dancing shoes if you brought them" as the beginning is actually quite danceable.

Following that, the band thanks the openers, especially Penrose, whose last show was tonight. Lead singer says, "I don't even know what to say other than I love those guys." Guitarist jumps in, "I know what to say! Way back when we were like 15 or 16 I played a show with a couple of the guys in that band. Our name was 'Powdered Toast'" Lead singer jumps back in "Who here remembers 'Powdered Toast?'" There are a few cheers. Interesting - interconnectedness of bands in the scene, history of the scene and long-standing devotions of fans.

Band plays "Tie off Your Veins" then guitarist and lead singer join drummer in a choreographed, marching-band-drumline-style intro to "Dublin Waltz". Band announces the last song, a new one called "One in a Million" and says "I don't care what you guys do as long as you kick each others asses" There had been some moderate, sporadic moshding, but here an actual pit opened up. It was populated by 5 or 6 guys, flailing around, colliding off of each other. Not very malicious, there were know punches or spinning kicks you might see elsewhere. Two bigger guys joined the pit, and most of the smaller ones shied away. Band finishes, lead singer/guitarist throws pick into the crowd, I lose sight of it, but then I feel it hit me in the neck. I shine my phone on the ground and find it between a girl's feet - first pick I ever got from a show.

Band is called out for an encore. Lead singer says, "This right here makes us want to make music and play live for you guys." Went on to make the point, "We can make this our own. We're from Rhode Island, we're a small state, so we own this." Closes with their biggest hit, "Between the Sheets." During the song, a large man wearing a striped button-up shirt, holding a drink in one hand and a camera, attempted to traverse the mosh pit, was promptly hit by a mosher and spilled his drink (gin and tonic, it smelled like) all over me. He fumed for a few minutes, it looked like he was going to start throwing punches, but he resumed singing along and filming the band.

The band throws a few more picks, leaves the stage as the PA system announces that there will be $2 rum and cokes. It's time for me to go, so I leave, running down the street in the rain and singing the songs I just heard.

Fieldnotes 1 - Coming Soon

I'll be posting my field notes a little later than expected to be able to write about a concert this Friday (the notes will be up by noon Saturday). Monty Are I, a post-hardcore band from Cranston, RI and a band I mentioned in my original topic post, is playing this Friday at Club Hell in Providence. The band has a decent reputation in RI, they're former winners of the WBRU Rock Hunt (local music competition) and are currently working on recording a new album. I actually haven't seen a show at Club Hell yet, but from what I understand it's a smaller venue that's working to fill the void left when the Living Room shut down.

Interestingly enough, one of the ways I became aware of this show was a flier I got outside a show at Jerky's (another small venue that's been booking rock shows). The guys handing them out were actually two members of the band, but I just wasn't paying enough attention and didn't get it until my friend pointed it out as we were walking down the street.

So expect notes by noon on Saturday, hopefully with a detailed description of their guitar sharing move. (Basically each guitarist strums the strings on his own guitar but fingers the fretboard of the other's guitar... at least that's what I remember happening, though I've thought long and hard about how to do it with no avail.)

Ethnography Project

The topic I've chosen to research is the post-hardcore scene in Massachusetts, and possibly Rhode Island as well. It's a scene I've been somewhat involved with, but always curious to learn more about. I think Massachusetts has a strong history in the scene, with band's I've listened to like The Receiving End of Sirens (tragically disbanded recently) and Therefore I Am (and Monty Are I in Rhode Island), and others I haven't, like Vanna, A Loss For Words, and Four Years Strong. The origins, definition, and goals of post-hardcore would be interesting to delve into. Additionally, there seems to be a lot of dedication to promotion of local artists within this scene, the networks of which would be worth exploring. Focusing specifically on the members of the scene - clothing, musical tastes, and behavior during live performances would also be topics for investigation. I'm thinking this geographical area will be about the right size, but I may also explore the Northeast as a region, as many important bands to the genre have come from NY, DC, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Perhaps they will figure into the local scene in their own way.

Questions I would like to ask include:
-What exactly is "post-hardcore"? What is required by the definition, and how solid or fluid are its boundaries?
-What values do its listeners/musicians hold musically? Why does the music itself appeal to them? What other music do they listen to?
-How is this music and the members of its scene viewed from an outside perspective?
-What kind of overlap is there between post-hardcore and emo (or hardcore, or metal, or punk)? How do members of the scene feel about that relationship?
-What kind of localized artist promotion networks exist? Why do they exist? Is there something about the music or the place that is conducive to these networks?
-What is appropriate/expected behavior at live performances? How does this behavior relate to similar/overlapping genres?
-What is the demographic for this music? What is the look, how is it obtained, and where did it come from? Are there personal traits/attitudes associated with the members of this scene?
-What venues are home to this music? What connotations do these venues carry with them?
-What are the origins and influences of post-hardcore? Have their been multiple iterations of post-hardcore? What are the current influences? Where is the genre heading?

Music Scenes Ch 7: The Goth Scene Critical Review

In Chapter 7, Paul Hodkinson points out the remarkable translocal nature of the UK Goth scene, an examines the types of connections that support it. He notes that goths have an uncanny ability to pick one another out, and feel more affiliation to non-local goths than local non-goths. This affiliation is manifested in translocal face-to-face connections established through traveling to shows and festivals, which are in turn bolstered (but not replaced) by connections via the internet. The preference for face-to-face relationships would explain why UK goths demonstrate less interest in establishing intercontinental online friendships, as travel becomes less feasible.

The other key translocal connectors are tied together: tastes and commerce. Goths feel affiliation towards each other through shared tastes, which are targeted by marketing at a translocal level, by mail order CD companies, shared merchandise distributors, and shared information among merchants about what is selling well. Hodkinson makes the point that this musical youth culture may fall in the gray area between globalized mass culture and isolated local culture, given its translocal, but not very transnational, connection methods.

Discussion Question: Why does the author present this unified translocal movement as so easily and effortlessly maintained? Do you think there are more global marketing factors at work than the author would care to admit? Do you think the definitions goths have given to their subculture makes it easier to unify/homogenize across a country?