THANK YOU, B.L.

wow. if it wasnt for bob lefsetz in my inbox, what would i have to rant about???

last night i saw the hives at irving plaza. they were fantastic. the show didnt have nearly the same effect as their bowery one two years ago (that one still ranks highly in my top ten concert experiences ever), but they still managed to remind us why america indeed does love the hives. the hives are fuckin showmen. they are in no way the lords gift to songwriting (do they even write their own songs?) and they certainly dont have particularly noteworthy musicianship, but they have the gift of entertainment down pat. you cannot resist their advances. you cannot resist pelle. he is like alex from clockwork orange fronting a band-- both dangerous and charming. whether or not he really believes that hes the new coming of the garage messiah is irrelevant. his performance forces every spectator to believe. hell, even david letterman made a point of praising them after their stint on his show last night, and thats pretty unusual. and you know what else letterman mentioned? THEIR FUCKING STYLE. because you know what, fuckheads? IT DOES FUCKING MATTER.

interestingly enough, bob lefsetz touches on the style issue in todays column. harking back to the days of yore when crusty hippies ruled the earth and san francisco was the hotbed of creativity, he mentions artists like the grateful dead and janis joplin, in trying to prove the point that its inspiration and soul that fuels music, not looks. he writes:

Oh, you've got to see Janis.

Although nude photos of her showed her with a bit of a pot belly, here she's thin, with a narrow butt. And not much of a chest. And on her alternately cute and homely face, a great deal of acne.

Today that would be sandblasted away. Lasered off.

But this is a raw person. One of America's MOST FAMOUS!

Yet imperfect.

now, bear in mind, i never said a band had to be GOOD LOOKING (that was brigid). my argument was simply that when i attend a concert, i expect to be drawn in. i expect the artist to offer something on that stage that i cannot get from the privacy of my own home. see, i wouldve KILLED to see janis joplin back in the day. i usually hate chick singers, but i think shes a goddess. its the same reason i love karen o. in reality, these women are painfully shy (im just guessing about janis, but ive been introduced to karen... shes painfully shy). onstage, however, they throw on a costume and are transformed into some sort of rock star superhero. and that is whats enthralling about them.

do you think justin hawkins preens in his living room? do you think pelle almquist uses the "howlin" moniker when calling for chinese food? im gonna go ahead and say no. they are regular people, who just so happen to be unbelieveable frontmen. i dont know justin or pelle personally, but for some reason i dont think either of them are singing their songs with SOUL. i mean, genital warts and diabolical schemes are fascinating and all, but theyre certainly not something to belt about. however, these guys give it. they put themselves out there every time theyre on a stage because they know it is their character to do so. and im sorry, but i just dont think that a darkness or hives show would be the same if the bands were wearing jeans and tshirts. IN THE SAME VEIN, i dont think janis joplin wouldve been as convincing in fucking ball gowns. or latex bustiers. part of her appeal was her flawed everyman quality. her hodge-podge wardrobe matched the chaos of her inner being. it was all about the presentation. admit it.

lefsetz says:

The major labels want to take all the RISK out of this business.

But it used to ONLY be about risk. Giving bands of ragtag musicians a hundred thousand dollars and seeing what they came back with.

They might have spent some of the money on dope, but they didn't spend it on stage sets or clothing. No, their goal was to lay their SOUND down on tape. And when pressed into discs, this sound ENRAPTURED the audience.

(sidebar-- are we talking about the albums here? or the show? theyre COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS!!! but anyway...)

Now it's about BLUDGEONING the audience. CONVINCING them.

Used to be music was a SEDUCTRESS! An IRRESISTIBLE seductress.

Today it's Urkel. Or literally Lizzie McGuire. Imploring people to LIKE ME!

i am one of the first people to admit that the state of the music business blows. hell, half of what i write is lamenting the soulessness of it all. but newsflash, it is the way it is. and its not going to change any time soon. the labels cant give musicians hundreds of thousands of dollars to play with because they know theyll never see any of it again. people arent buying tickets like they used to. people arent buying cds in the same droves. the fact of the matter is, it takes a lot more for a band to prove its worth these days, and thus its going to take a lot more than convincing songwriting to draw an audience in.

which sort of (bear with me) brings me back to the point i was making about snowden. i think theyre a great band. i wish them the best of luck. but in my humble, slightly-informed, head-up-my-own-ass opinion, they need to do something more if they want to succeed in this business. in their particular case, the songs are there, they just need the stage presence. and by stage presence, i mean the look. because i did not feel the soul. just as i dont feel the soul at a darkness gig (and yet i ADORE the darkness). just like i didnt feel the soul at the hives gig (and yet am willing to declare them one of the best live bands out there these days). creating an outstanding album is one thing. presenting the music to a live audience is a whole other ballgame, and whether your holier-than-thou minds want to admit it or not, what you look like onstage is a major, major factor.

think about it.