January 30th, 2009

Will Bruce Springsteen Dick Over The Super Bowl?

In 2007, Prince unleashed quite the phallic display during his halftime performance at the Super Bowl:

Last year, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers followed suit, coming on just after a giant, glowing “guitar” thrusted forward to penetrate a giant, glowing “heart” and create an explosion of light (come on, we all know what it really looked like):

So this year, it’s up to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to continue the trend during Super Bowl XLIII, if they dare! What will it be? Maybe on Sunday we’ll find out the real reason they call Clarence Clemons the “Big Man”!

January 30th, 2009

Punk Rock Flea Market On Sunday

We’ve mentioned it a couple of times already, but since it’s happening this weekend, we figured we’d mention it one more time: The semi-annual Punk Rock Flea Market — originally slated for this past December at the Starlight Ballroom but postponed — is on Sunday, February 1st at a new location, the Electric Factory (7th and Willow). It starts at 10am and goes until 4:30pm; $3 suggested donation to get in. There will be something like 100 vendors selling vinyl, posters, clothing, CDs, DVDs, various handmade crafty things, books, jewelry, and tons more…plus, flea market organizers R5 Productions will be offering show passes and other goodies. Proceeds will go to buying equipment, supplies, paying off their liability insurance policy, and other things necessary to keep R5’s all-ages shows happening at various venues around town.

January 30th, 2009

Today In Philadelphia Music Landmarks: Sun Ra Arkestra House

From the outside, this three-story rowhouse at 5626 Morton Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, built in 1925, looks fairly nondescript, belying its colorful history as the homebase of the Sun Ra Arkestra for the past four decades.

In 1968, experimental-jazz pioneer and infamous “cosmic philosopher” Sun Ra relocated to Philadelphia from New York City, moving into the house that was owned and rented to the Arkestra by bandmember Marshall Allen’s father (incidentally, it’s on the same street where former Philly mayor Frank Rizzo once lived). According to John F. Szwed’s Sun Ra biography Space is the Place, the Arkestra “adapted the house to their spirits, painted the front window frames blue (’haint blue’ they would have called it in South Carolina, to ward off evil); covering the window glass with aluminum foil (to reflect light and symbolize life, according to those of spiritual bent; to keep the narcs from seeing in, said the hippies who drove past, looking for who knows what); and they covered the front door with de rigeur psychedelic swirls of color.”

The many-member Arkestra lived communally there and rehearsed in the front room of the house around the clock, which at first generated some noise complaints from neighbors. Eventually, though, they were accepted into the neighborhood and especially beloved by the local children. The house remained the Arkestra’s headquarters until Sun Ra’s death in 1993, and even afterward, when the Arkestra was led by saxophonist John Gilmore, and — after his death in 1995 — saxophonist Marshall Allen.

From my understanding, Allen, now 84, still lives in the house. A 2005 piece in The New York Times detailed his struggle to keep the house from falling into disrepair, and noted that at that point, the Arkestra was still rehearsing there once a week. Stopping by this morning, all the blinds were closed and the block was exceptionally quiet; a knock on the door earned no reply. A few snaps and I was on my way, wondering if the Arkestra’s music on Morton Street has ceased forever…

All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.

January 30th, 2009

Concerts In The “Mass Photography” Age

In a piece about Microsoft’s new Photosynth application that ran earlier this week at Slate, writer Farhad Manjoo makes a point that’s obvious, but certainly still valid and a point of contention with a lot of concertgoers:

There is something vaguely embarrassing—even narcissistic—about our new era of mass photography. Because we’re always carrying cameras, we’re moved to document every moment of our lives—sometimes to the exclusion of actually experiencing that moment. Take a look at this picture of Barack and Michelle Obama at one of the inaugural balls. Everyone in the audience has a hand up with a cell phone pointed at the stage, but nobody is actually looking at what’s going on. The scene is puzzling: If the guy next to you is taking a picture—one that you can be reasonably sure will end up on a photo-sharing site somewhere—why do you need one, too? But we do this often these days. Win Butler, the lead singer of the band Arcade Fire, once told [NPR's] Terry Gross that he and his band mates have stopped going out into the crowd to perform because nobody pays attention to them—everyone’s got their cell phones and cameras in front of their faces.

As someone who makes part of his living as a music photographer, I have mixed feelings about the increased presence of cameras at concerts. I do think it’s a valid journalistic pursuit to document a show — just like any other public event — especially to convey that event in pictures to people who weren’t there. And I follow strict rules both laid out by the bands/venues (must obtain a proper photo pass to shoot the show; first three songs, no flash) and my own ethics (stay as out of the way of the paying public as possible; respect the fans and bands, etc.). And since I’m interested in documenting the show, I can understand why others — even if they’re not professionals — would share the same interest.

But at the same time, I completely sympathize with people who are annoyed by all the cameras in the air, usually right in the way, and all the flashes going off for the duration, sometimes affecting or ruining the vibe of the show. And there definitely is a detachment that occurs when you’re documenting something and not experiencing it — I know when I’m photographing a show, I’m usually more concerned with getting proper exposures and composing shots well and finding good angles and dealing with the lighting changes than really listening to and enjoying the music or truly soaking in the moment. It becomes a struggle for me to photograph my favorite bands — as much as I want to capture good images of them, I know I’ll sacrifice my pure experience of the show to do so. And then if I don’t bring my camera, I watch the show and I’m inevitably distracted by forming photos in my mind, or seeing something particularly amazing happen (a pose, a certain kind of light, etc.) and kick myself for not bringing my camera.

Some people are okay with that detachment, others aren’t, and people certainly vocalize their annoyance at times. I once had a woman at a show lean in and ask me “Don’t you like music?” when she saw me snapping photos. I don’t think she understood that I was there on assignment to photograph the band — a band I really did like, aside from being charged with shooting them — and even though I tried to explain as best I could, I don’t think she got the concept and kept shaking her head at the fact that I wasn’t experiencing the show as a “true fan” (I think to her, I was simply a reprehensible interloper).

Unless venues strictly forbid the use of point-and-shoot cameras, or cell phone cameras (and I don’t see how they could), this “mass photography” trend will remain a fact of life, like it or not. I suppose the questions to you are these: Does the presence of all these cameras ruin shows for you? And if you’re one of the people taking photos, does that take away from the experience of the show or does it add to your enjoyment to come away with photos as “souvenirs,” like someone would grab a set list, guitar pick, or autograph?

January 30th, 2009

Your Music History Minute: The Beatles’ Final Public Performance

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles‘ final public performance — a free, impromptu show the band played on the roof of their London studio. People complained about the noise, and the cops stopped the show. Ironically, a Fab Four tribute band was all set to re-enact the gig today at the same spot, but according to Britain’s NME, police called off the show, citing “safety concerns.” Bands in other cities around the world — including Seattle — plan to similarly recreate the rooftop show, but to be honest, it all seems a bit silly. Thankfully no one in Philly is doing such a thing (we hope!). You may remember that U2 essentially ripped off the rooftop-gig-that-gets-shut-down-by-the-cops thing for their “Where the Streets Have No Name” video. Here’s the real thing, though:

January 30th, 2009

This Weekend In Shows

Tonight:

Jessica Lea Mayfield
Fri., Jan. 30, 8pm. $10. With Annuals + What Laura Says. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. www.johnnybrendas.com
I hope 19-year-old Jessica Lea Mayfield is snapping plenty of “before” photographs of herself right about now so she can either a) look back and falsely glorify a more innocent time before smashing success or b) cry over missing the sparkly moment where she had everything going for her. ’Cause Mayfield’s got the idiot’s guide to modern-music-industry success for a singer-songwriter chick happening: a debut album that polishes dear-diary lyrics with cool-kid cred (thanks to fellow Ohioan the Black Keys’ Midas man Dan Auerbach), a KEXP song of the day, 8.2 inches of love on Pitchfork, stiff pull quotes from more successful friends like Dr. Dog and the Avetts and a jam-packed touring schedule. Not destined to be anonymous girl with guitar in Ohio, not yet a woman, catch JLM in full bloom. (Tara Murtha)

Sonny Landreth
Fri., Jan. 30, 8:30pm. With Patrick Sweany. $29.50. Sellersville Theatre, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville. 215.257.5808. www.st94.com
Music isn’t tied to seasons like sports. It can still surprise you years later; both the past and present is always being rewritten and recontextualized. So while Clapton may call Landreth “the most underestimated musician on the planet, and also probably one of the most advanced,” the grounds for this qualitative comparison is pretty shaky, particularly coming from someone more than 40 years removed from god-hood. What one can say is that Landreth’s supple slide glides from country and Cajun to Delta-born rock squawk, from liquid shimmies to 16th-note punctuation as he frets chords behind the slide and a reedy croon. Don’t miss young rustic blues opener Patrick Sweany. (Chris Parker)

Also, mega-hyped Swedish pop songbird Lykke Li pays a visit to the sanctuary at First Unitarian Church. Looks like 50 more tickets have just been made available, but you’d better jump on ‘em fast because this show will definitely sell out. The show starts at 8:30pm and tix are $20. And as we alerted you yesterday, the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar opens a five-show weekend stand at the Academy of Music tonight — this production stars Ted Neeley, who rocked it as Jesus in the 1973 film version.

January 30th, 2009

Some Guy Wins Some Thing

Above is John Squibb (aka “Super Squibb) of Berlin, NJ, winner of this morning’s Wing Bowl 17. Squibb ate 203 wings on his way to the crown made of chickens. He was also awarded with a $7500 diamond ring from Steven Singer (hate that fuckin’ guy!) and a Mini Cooper. Wait, what? Ha. This entire event makes us sick, but we appreciate the irony.