PHUNKSHINE!

What is the most money you'd ever spend on a concert ticket?

I'm typically more hesitant to go to shows in venues because they're usually too expensive. Bars are usually better. Living rooms, garages, basements, and small outdoor shows are best because they tend to be either free, or really cheap. Usually no more than $5, and usually $1-3. And the crowds are better.

Actually, that's often one of the things that can make or break a show for me. Whereas venues tend to advertise on the radio and bring out lots of people who only go to huge shows and often have no idea how to behave at a show (often leading to fights, injuries, spilled beer on the floor, etc.), houses tend to just bring out the same general group of people and their friends to every show and create small local communities where pretty much everyone is friends with everyone else, or, at least, more or less courteous because that's how decent people act toward those they consider to be their peers (and who knows; that guy you talked to at the record shop might book your band someday).

And I cannot possibly stress the importance of that community enough. Here in Boise, we've seen plenty of people come and go with the trends over the years, and we've seen plenty of people become more deeply involved in the city's culture. And while it's not much, to be honest, there is nothing I'd trade it for. While I'm all for touring bands being able to go to as many towns as possible, because that in itself can affect a music scene in a positive way, I really don't feel it should be seen as a substitute for things that are locally produced.

The problem as I see it is that local scenes are losing their identities. A lot of hardcore bands from Boise sound exactly the same, stylistically, as hardcore bands from Salt Lake, who sound exactly the same as hardcore bands anywhere else. Indie rock bands ape the styles they hear popular bands playing and bring nothing new to the table. But there's another scene here that does have a pretty distinct aesthetic, with significantly less visibility.

For an example of what I'm talking about, take hardcore in the 80's (the DIY ethic of which is where the roots of indie rock lie in the first place). Bands like Descendents, Adolescents, and The Circle Jerks couldn't have come from anywhere but the L.A. Minor Threat, The Faith, and Bad Brains had different sounds entirely that were distinctly D.C. New York, Boston, San Francisco, and countless other scenes had their own unique sounds. By the mid-80's, hardcore bands started popping up in other places with totally unique sounds. The point is, by listening to a band, you could probably make a pretty accurate guess as to where they were from. This was due largely in part to the DIY ethic that held the scenes that produced them together.

What the internet has created, unfortunately, is a "too easy" way of hearing music from everywhere. Whereas local bands used to provide that initial contact with underground music, now it's easy to just skip that stage and listen to whatever the critics decide is cool at the click of a button. What this has lead to is a pseudo-underground that's just as bland and indistinct as the major label world it seems to think it's a reaction to. There's no local identity. Just a lot of bands trying to be bands from somewhere else and making boring music that lacks the context that made the bands they're aping great. And indie rock bands are rockstars now. They're touring in buses and staying in hotels rather than touring in vans and crashing on the floor of the house they just played at after everyone goes home. And it's great that they're able to tour comfortably. Don't get me wrong. But there's no interaction with or dependence on their fans forcing them to form a relationship with the people who are supporting them, anymore. There's usually nothing stopping them from disappearing backstage, getting paid, and driving off after a show without saying a word to anyone.

Thankfully, a lot of bands understand this and still keep it DIY, especially in the hardcore scene. Unfortunately, over the years, a lot of bands haven't stayed true to where they came from. I'm all for listening to what you like and keeping up with what's out there, but just keep in mind that that 20-30 bucks you spent to go to Warped Tour or see Death Cab For Cutie or Against Me! at the huge, corporate-owned club downtown with all the kids who won't even talk to you or remember your name would've probably been better spent (or saved) seeing your friends' bands play to their friends (and your friends) in your friends' living rooms, because those bands are the only things keeping real independent music alive and relevant right now. There are lots of good bands out there, but the ones that are directly relevant to you - music made by people you actually know - are the only ones that actually matter.

Went to the Palm Reader show tonight.

It was shaping up to be a good'un.

Adam and Rob played acoustic sets. Rob's was three songs long and included a Robert Johnson cover, except turned into an ovaltine commercial. Adam's was longer, and really good. Only played one song off the Drip Drip Drop CD, but the others were all cool, too.

A band called Amo Joy from Indianapolis played. They were impossibly twee and fun as hell.

Palm Reader remembered to bring the 4-track, and actually started recording.

They got a few minutes of good-ass jam in.

Doug Martsch came out to see them.

And the fucking neighbor came over to complain and the whole thing got shut down. Lame.

Got nice and drunk with Robbie and Cade after the show. That was nice. Made some nice sounding plans for future parties. Stuck around, sobering up, 'til about 4 AM and gave Cade a ride home. I introduced him to Spiritualized, Yo La Tengo, and Times New Viking. I have no idea whether he was sober enough to remember any of them. Keep in mind that this guy used to be a Mormon. Guess he just understands how much more fun corruption is.

Got some nice sounding plans for tomorrow.

Got some good plans for this month. Totalitarian family face-melting, etc.

Sorry to The Heavenly States for missing your show.

Maybe next time, assuming your turnout was better than Tyler's house's, and there is a next time.

...Who Calls So Loud (ex-Portraits of Past/Funeral Diner) May 17^th (thanks to IllicitBeef for the heads-up on that).

65daysofstatic May 24^th.

Ceremony May 26^th.

Casiotone For the Painfully Alone May 30^th.

Russian Circles June 8^th.

Totalitarian Family (Palm Reader/Mystick Crystal Revelations) June 16^th (we're playing that!) at Tyler's house, and maybe at Baby Sale house June 13^th (Palm Reader alone might be playing that, not us).

I think it's awesome that there even is a house called Baby Sale.

Went thrifting with Alex, Mike, Fernando, and another dude whose name consistently escapes me.

Got some awesome dress pants that fit me perfectly (and just how I like; tight around the crotch and ass, because my crotch and ass are truly something to behold).

Also, an Air Force blazer, a track jacket, a Bugle Boy clusterfuck of a shirt, a button-up flannel hoodie, a striped sweater, a t-shirt that says "Kingdom of Sweden" on it, a tape recorder, and a bunch of tapes (Willie Nelson, Meat Loaf, Madonna, AC/DC, and Willie Nelson with Waylon Jennings! Score!)

You can never have too much Willie Nelson. My collection of Willie Nelson albums is nowhere near where it should be.

Tonight, vegan barbecue in the woods! Hot damn!

Well, a whole lot of fuss has been made about Barack Obama's ex-pastor, whose remarks he has openly condemned. And a lot of fuss is being made about the connection between Barack Obama and Bill Ayers.

Well, why not talk about one of John McCain's supporters, Rev. John Hagee? Dude rails like a complete idiot against everything from how much God hates gays to how much God hates Islam. And what it took to get John McCain to actually start distancing himself from this guy? A remark that was anti-Catholic! Never mind that he'd said thinks like, "What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it’s called a curse," and claimed that the whole thing happened because God hates gays long before this presidential campaign even started! The fact that that alone wasn't reason enough to write the dude off as a fundamentalist whack-job is alarming. No one even bats an eye at that? And then we're expected to believe it's totally okay that this sort of person has any sort of political power, and that he can hate Muslims, gays, atheists, and whoever else he wants as long as he doesn't hate Catholics?

And let's talk about another person John McCain has actively courted for support, and whose support he has received: that of his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley. Rod Parsley who has declared "war" on Islam. The same guy who compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis and accused them of attempting to exterminate blacks. Anyone who actually wants this sort of person to have any sort of political power is nothing short of an idiot. If anyone's supporters are reason enough not to vote for them, it's John McCain. A vote for McCain is a vote for another four years of Christian Zionism in the white house.

I'm all for your right to believe whatever the hell you want, no matter how stupid it is. You can believe in an established religion, believe in no religion, or you can believe that God is a squirrel. I don't care. What I do care about is hate and bigotry. These things have no place in mainstream society, and the way our government judges people should have nothing whatsoever with the way your church judges people. The first amendment of the constitution frees us from being subject to religious law. Once you start writing your hate into it, and once you start making certain groups of people "less equal" in the eyes of the state, you're on a slippery slope toward totalitarianism and destroying the principles on which this country is founded.

So just remember, every time someone among the so-called "liberal media" asks Barack Obama patronizing questions like, "Do you love the American flag?" how little of an issue it is. A lot is at stake in this election, and I don't want to see the people who really do seem to have it in for the things that make America great win it again.

I'm actually getting new frames for the first time in years.

I am actually pretty stoked. They're probably some of the most kickass frames I've ever seen.

After expressing my dissatisfaction with the frames on the wall, all of which were in the newer, smaller styles, the lady helping me choose offered to check the "discontinued" box in the back for something more suitable.

I found basically the sweetest frames possible. And they just gave them to me for free (because it's not like anyone's going to buy a pair of cheap frames that look like they've been sitting in a box since 1973). So I'm pretty stoked. There will be pictures when I get them!

Do you support the gas tax holiday being pushed by Clinton and McCain?

Fuck no. I support raising the gas tax sky high until we have a better energy plan. A drop on the gas tax isn't going to make more gas magically appear, but cranking it up a bit will help pay for research, and eventually the implementation of alternative energy.

As will not spending most of our budget on killing brown people who pose no threat whatsoever to us, that we armed in the first place.

Show us your guitar.
Submitted by Sean J. O'Rourke.