d Nuts || July 18, 2007
If you're wondering how the Seattle Rock Lottery went last weekend, you could read my review at The Stranger's music blog...but there's more to it, at least as far as Dentonites are concerned.
From the get-go, I was mentally comparing the show to the three Denton RLs I've attended, which isn't exactly fair. Each Rock Lottery within Denton is different enough from year to year, since the 25 people picked at random create a truly unpredictable lineup and sound; how's a different zip code going to make things any weirder than they already are?
But the differences aren't subtle, and they were best summed up by longtime RL'er Kathy Lindenmayer--less booze, more timeliness. In Seattle, people actually show up ahead of time at the early morning start, compared to Denton's show-up-when-ya-wake-up approach, and the chattiness and community of the breakfasts at Dan's Silverleaf isn't replicated in what Kathy hinted to as a more fractured scene. In that respect, there's more tension at the Seattle RL--more bands trying their hardest, getting worked up about timing and sound issues and arrangements. The result was certainly less fun, though quite possibly also higher in quality (many more "this could be a real band" moments, for sure).
Sadly, the video that I shot came out rotten. If you want to see the Seattle RL, you'll have to wait for Chris Weber and the other Good/Baddies to finally get those archival DVDs released in the next, oh, 5-10 decades. -SM
From the get-go, I was mentally comparing the show to the three Denton RLs I've attended, which isn't exactly fair. Each Rock Lottery within Denton is different enough from year to year, since the 25 people picked at random create a truly unpredictable lineup and sound; how's a different zip code going to make things any weirder than they already are?
But the differences aren't subtle, and they were best summed up by longtime RL'er Kathy Lindenmayer--less booze, more timeliness. In Seattle, people actually show up ahead of time at the early morning start, compared to Denton's show-up-when-ya-wake-up approach, and the chattiness and community of the breakfasts at Dan's Silverleaf isn't replicated in what Kathy hinted to as a more fractured scene. In that respect, there's more tension at the Seattle RL--more bands trying their hardest, getting worked up about timing and sound issues and arrangements. The result was certainly less fun, though quite possibly also higher in quality (many more "this could be a real band" moments, for sure).
Sadly, the video that I shot came out rotten. If you want to see the Seattle RL, you'll have to wait for Chris Weber and the other Good/Baddies to finally get those archival DVDs released in the next, oh, 5-10 decades. -SM
3 Comments:
I'd think that losing the community feel of RL would be losing the heart of the whole thing. Gawd, I hope Denton never takes it too seriously. Because "this could be a real band" is way less fun than "thank god this isn't a real band!"
T'was good. Obviously I can't compare it to the Denton one and know people visiting this site will be biased towards the original but maaaan, I had a blast. They really "set the bar and went to it." Oh how I would pay to see Most Popular Girl In School play as a real band. Delicioso!
Hope to see a Denton RL in my lifetime!!
I think the biggest difference between the Seattle and Denton Rock Lottery events is history... The Seattle event is still relatively young and the participants are still unsure of what to expect... Where in Denton, most of the participants have been to or at least heard enough about past events and they know what has and hasn't worked before... and if there is a lack of community, it is only in the morning, by the end of the night it is as if everyone hung out with each other all of the time... From the beginning the Rock Lottery has been a scene building exercise, even Dentonites need to be prodded into opening their minds to different genres so of course that exists in a bigger city with more divergent music communities... but we are working on lessening that gap one Rock Lottery at a time!
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