Thursday, October 23, 2008

Paging Matteo

When can we expect a full report on CMJ '08?
Posted by at

8 comments:

  1. Mattie-OOctober 23, 2008 at 6:44 PM

    Glad you asked, Chaucer!

    Here's my full report: CMJ sucks.

    And here's why:

    Best case scenario, you have a badge, meaning you get to cut to the front of lines and go wherever you like. However, you'll realize pretty quickly that due to the sheer volume of shit going on and the difficulty of scheduling/shuttling between the various venues, that you're really only able to see a miniscule percentage of things you might be interested in - say, 2.5 acts per night. This is bad enough if you got your badge for free; if you paid $300 for it, you are getting absolutely jobbed.

    Your other option is to try to get tickets/list spots for the few individual shows you really want to go to, but even then you'll find that the hordes of badge-holders are cutting you in line and overloading every venue in sight, rolling in and out of your concert experience in a tide of 20-something hipster obnoxiousness.

    Case in point: the Stones Throw showcase I attempted to go to last night because I was more or less told to by the guy who runs Caroline (ST's contract is coming up, and of course we want to put on a good face). Now, I like Stones Throw, and was fine with attending despite it meaning that I would miss both my radio show and the first game of the WS. But I can't tell you how it was, because all I did was stand outside in the cold for an hour with the VP of Sales and our west coast marketing guy, along with an entire block's worth of people who weren't getting anywhere near the door.

    So instead we went to Arlene's Grocery for an hour to watch a mediocre Canadian rapper.

    In conclusion - the crowds are annoying, it's nearly impossible to see anything guaranteed to be worth the trouble, and thus you're better off waiting for the bands you want to see to come through town on their own.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mattie-OOctober 23, 2008 at 6:49 PM

    I forgot to add that I spent the first 20 minutes in the Stones Throw line ahead of two girls who used acronyms in actual conversation.

    As in "Ugh, I wish we could just go wait in your A.P.T.!" Or, "I don't have any, but don't worry, there's plenty of C-heads in the L.E.S.!"

    And also some guy in a pizza place who was literally talking about how he couldn't wear an Obama pin/tshirt because too many people like him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mattie-OOctober 23, 2008 at 6:52 PM

    And lastly, I will say that any lingering bitterness I felt about any of this was erased when I went home and dreamt that Raju won an Oscar.

    Congrats!

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  4. ChaucerOctober 23, 2008 at 7:04 PM

    See, now I know everything I need to know about CMJ. Muchos gracias.

    Did Raju thank me?

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChaucerOctober 24, 2008 at 4:59 AM

    Also, Matt, I just realized a dude on my Ultimate team looks JUST like Benjamin Linus. Side-by-side to come, but for now, I am weirded.

    -Jack

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  6. R MissleOctober 24, 2008 at 10:20 AM

    f#ck, now i want my oscar.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mattie-OOctober 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM

    Well, if it makes you feel better, I think it got broken almost immediately thereafter.

    Also, I'm pretty sure Athas was nominated as well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. R MissleOctober 24, 2008 at 2:40 PM

    broken? i don't like the sound of that. storm clouds gathering...

    ReplyDelete

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