Devastation In Midwesthell

I’m a day late in posting this one, for which I’d apologize, but hey, better late than never, right?

Last weekend I attended the Circle Pit Conservative’s Devastation Fest 2 in Anderson, IN, a day-long offering of some of Indiana’s best and most brutal metal bands. This show could pretty much be considered a who’s-who of the Indiana metal scene, with long roots in the local scene, going all they back to the 80’s, as well as representing the uniting forces of Midwesthell, with people in attendance and otherwise supporting from The Forge, The Doom Room, Midwesthell Melodies, Hert Promotions, and of course, the CPC guys. It was much more than just a bunch of bands coming together to honor and memorialize two of our scene’s recently departed (Jason McCash of The Gates of Slumber, and Tom Ball of Radiation Sickness), it was also a message to the scene at large that Midwesthell is here, we are a force, and things are changing.

Lawbringer @ Devastation Fest 2 6/21/1

[Photo Credit: SickenDesigns]

The show was great. Solid line up of bands that included AnarchAtecture, Lawbringer, Legion, Born Under Burden, Armored Assault, Necrophagus, We’d Be, and the aforementioned Radiation Sickness. Every single band threw down, and they threw down hard. It was unadulterated brutality, and I can’t help but wonder if seismographs weren’t registering the moment, that’s how heavy it was. The sound, despite being an absolutely -minimal- set up (only the vocals and the kick drums were mic’d–everything else was raw straight from the stage), was perfect; it was loud, in your face, and captured every band’s sound the way they deserved to be. The venue was an AmVets Post, with a stage that was accessible, and made it partly a floor show, which Lawbringer did 100% of the way. Nick Maxon of We’d Be was busy in the pit with the fans when he wasn’t handling his vocal lines during their set, and the fans were able to get right up and interact with every band.

That said, I have some thoughts, and some of them relate to my post from Sunday about the Outhouse United show last Friday at Centerstage.

I’m personally not a fan of all day fests–there’s nothing wrong with them necessarily, it’s just my thing. Maybe I’m old, maybe I’m just not ‘trve cvlt’ enough, maybe… I just suck. For me, there’s a simple fact: while I loved every band and am a fan of all of them, as a radio guy, I spend HOURS a day listening to music. Not just passively, like the average listener, but actively, both as a musician and as part of my job in screening music for airplay as well as from a critical standpoint as a reviewer. This means that my ears get tired, and sometimes I just need a break. ‘Fest’ shows are even more taxing for me when every band on them sounds similar enough that at a certain point it’s difficult to distinguish them from each other–I’m one of those guys that needs variety to stay engaged, and I dare say that with the exception of those fans that are super hardcore about their favorite genres, this applies to most fans. I don’t have hard numbers to back this opinion up, only observation: it’s been my experience that the shows that do best are the ones that feature bands with enough difference between each other that the listener can stay engaged because they don’t feel like they’re hearing the same thing over and over for hours on end.

Another issue I have is set lengths–very few ‘local’ (or even ‘regional’) bands have the kind of draw and holding power to need to play hour-long sets, and at an all-day show, by the third or fourth band, those hour sets start to feel a lot longer, especially if there’s little differentiation from one band to the next. Again, some of this is personal preference, but some of it comes from my time in the scene, both on stage and from simple observation: all but the most dedicated and committed (committable?) fans tend to get bored pretty quick. At shows with large audiences, this is less the case, because a mob mentality takes over, and let’s face it: we ALL thrive on the energy of being there, being part of the masses, being part of the bigger picture. But at smaller shows, the energy is different, because there are fewer people to sustain it, and if just a few people need to take a break, it’s much more noticeable and there are fewer people to make up for it.

Interestingly enough, this creates a vicious cycle: Promoters are, rightly so, of the mindset that they should be billing every show like it’s going to be the biggest, baddest show around (if they’re not, they’re not doing their job). But when the attendance isn’t what they planned for, they tend to feel let down, by the scene that they feel didn’t support them, but also because they feel that they let down the bands they promised a great show to. Promoters get that difficult job of trying to sell something not knowing how it’s really going to turn out, especially if they’re working at the local level, and I don’t envy them that. However, there has to be some kind of balance struck between planning for what’s most likely to happen (smaller shows with lower attendance) and what we all hope to achieve (bigger shows with packed houses). It’s a tough job to be sure, and I don’t envy the guys that are trying to make it happen; in fact, I applaud them, and I fully support them, and will do so however I can–such as I did at this show when I was asked to MC it.

I think that part of the problem some promoters have is that they get an early taste of success and start reaching too far too fast, expecting more than they really know is realistic. They put the work in, but they lose sight of the market they’re working in, and instead of building shows around that market, they reach for the stars, hoping for that magic moment, and when it doesn’t happen the way they had hoped it would, they’re naturally disappointed.

Devastation Fest had an audience turn out that was disappointing to the promoters, and I say that only because they have been pretty vocal about it themselves on social media. Dan and Nate are guys I know, and they’re good guys trying to do a good thing for a scene that they love and want to see life return to, and I completely empathize with their feelings about the turn out. We ALL want big shows with packed houses for local shows… but the scene isn’t ready for that yet. Not because people don’t want it, but because people are afraid to be the ones taking chances. Dan and Nate took a chance on creating one of these shows, and while it didn’t turn out the way they might have hoped, the show itself was a resounding success, because the people that were there and the bands that played bought into it. They took what was given to them and made it theirs. They owned it. As they should have. The people that weren’t there only know about what they missed because those who were there have made it a point to say publicly how awesome it was.

Because it was awesome.

Every show has something about it that could be done better. Every show has something that goes wrong. Me? I’ll take a low-attendance show as the ‘problem’ with a concert any day over technical difficulties, a band bailing, or anything else like that. They key is taking the sum total of all the things that happened, and weighing them against each other. And no matter what could have been better, Devastation Fest 2 -was- a success, and I expect that next year it will only be that much better.

Outhouse United @ Centerstage

I got out to a couple local shows this weekend. Both shows were great, but they also had their issues, as every show does. I was originally going to do one post for both shows this weekend, but as my word count grew, I decided instead to address each show individually, which in retrospect is probably for the best. That said, here are my thoughts on Friday’s show; Devastation Fest’s write up will come on Monday:

(Note… this one’s long…)

Friday I went to the Outhouse United locals showcase at Centerstage Bar & Grill in Kokomo, IN. OU has recently landed a deal with Centerstage to put on monthly concerts that feature bands local to the Indiana scene. To some, this might not seem like a big deal, because there are lots of places for locals to play on not just a monthly, but even a weekly basis. However, folks in north central Indiana are quickly becoming aware of the fact that Centerstage is primed to become THE place to play in our area, both for locals and nationals, and there are several reasons why a local promoter scoring a deal that will FEATURE local bands is a big deal.

Centerstage is an all-ages venue that has a capacity of just under 700, has a great stage, great sound system, great lighting, and the owners have been busy doing what they can to turn it into a stopping point for national bands out on tour. Local bands are regularly added to those national shows (this is part, where, in the middle of singing Centerstage’s praises, I point out that I disagree with the way local bands get on those shows–they essentially buy on to them, but that’s another rant for another day, and it’s not entirely the venue’s issue… not entirely…) giving them a chance at exposure to audiences that might not ever see or hear them otherwise. Centerstage gives local bands a shot at playing on the ‘big’ stage, under pro-level lights and through a pro-level sound system. For some (okay… a LOT) of those bands, it’s the closest to the ‘big time’ that they’ll ever get. So yeah, it IS a big deal that a local promoter landed a regular gig FEATURING local bands at a venue like this.

A big deal.

Still I Rise @ Centerstage, Kokomo, IN 6/20/14 – Photo: Still I Rise (from Facebook)

Friday night was the first of these shows, and it went off as well as could have been expected. There were four bands on the bill: Voices Of Our Past, Still I Rise, Let The Trees Burn, and Seconds From Yesterday. There were roughly 50 fans through the door, which sounds like nothing considering the capacity of the venue, but for a first showcase that came together on fairly short notice, that’s not too shabby. Especially since all of those people paid. Sure, the venue looked a little empty, but the fans that showed up showed early and stayed until the end. Even better though? So did the bands.

That’s a big deal to me. I see so many bands show up a little before their set time and then bail not long after their set, which is crap. Especially when those are the same bands complaining about no scene unity, no one supporting them, blah-blah-blah-blah-fucking-blah. But Friday night I saw four bands show up and support each other for the full gig. And not only were they there, they were engaged. They were up front, at the rails, -participating- in the concert when they weren’t playing, setting up their gear for their set, or tearing down.

Outhouse United did more than a couple things right with this first show: they offered variety, they paid the bands, they treated it like any ‘big’ concert, and they got the venue itself to offer something to the people coming in the doors.

Variety – an important aspect of any show is to not bore the people in attendance, and OU got this right in a big way. They had four bands that were very different from each other. Voices Of Our Past offered a hardcore edge, Still I Rise was solid death metal, Let The Trees Burn brought a post hardcore/prog sound, and Seconds From Yesterday hit us with a straight up hard rock set. The fans were able to stay engaged and attentive, both because of the variety in sound, but also because the bands played short sets: roughly 30 minutes each. Each band walked away with a little something for their time (they were paid out of a door split… which, while I’m not a big fan of this model, it’s the current deal that OU has with Centerstage; it’s not as bad as some deals though, because with this one, the bands aren’t buying into the show other than with their own effort to self-promote, which they should be doing anyway). The show started and ended at a reasonable time, with the first band hitting the stage right around 8, and the show wrapping up around 11. And fans got to benefit, not just from a decent time slot for the gig, but also because OU has worked a deal with Centerstage to offer drink specials during these shows. Win for everyone.

So, a few comments about why these things were right:

Variety… we all love our metal. Some of us can listen to one type of metal for hours on end and never get bored with it. But the average listener, or the person new to the scene, needs something to differentiate one band/sound from the next. By mixing genres/sub-genres, an environment is created that actually -encourages- people to pay attention and stay engaged with the bands. Sure, shows should be fairly homogenous in their presentation–it would be odd to have a country band play in the middle of a show that is billed as a rock and metal show–but there needs to be enough diversity between bands that one doesn’t sound like the next.

Set lengths… Let’s face it: most local bands don’t -need- to play a set any longer than 30 minutes. Why? Fundamentally, hardly anyone knows their music. I’ve watched it time and again: Band starts their set, everyone goes up to the stage to check them out, then song after song people trickle away. Part of this is because the band might be boring to watch, the music might not be very good, but also because they simply don’t know it yet. There’s nothing holding them there. And the longer the set goes, the fewer people are left standing there at the end of it. Local bands, unless very well established and can get fans to sing along, need to keep it short and sweet–leave people wanting more, not waiting for the next band. 30 minutes is just about right for this: 5 or 6 songs (on average) they can kick people in the face with, make an impression (which needs more than the music to do… you’d better be putting on a damn show, not just regurgitating your demo/EP/album), and get off stage (then go interact with the people who were paying attention to you). There are -very few- locals that need to be playing hour-long sets, even if they’re the ‘headliner’ for the night (in which case, 45 minutes is appropriate… and while your original music is far more important to me, a crowd-engaging cover isn’t a bad idea–hell, even in a 30 minute set, it’s not a bad idea; even the nationals do it…).

Show time: National tourers don’t start a gig at 10 and play until last call. Why? They aren’t there to help the venue make money at the bar, they’re there to play to people wanting a concert. Venues have this notion that local bands are going to put bodies in seats and keep them there all night, and this isn’t true. People going to shows aren’t going to the venue to turn it into their local watering hole, they’re going to see the show. It’s a simple fact that the people who will be sitting at the bar at 2 am would be there whether or not there was live music that night. There’s also the issue of playing to the younger (under 18) crowd. Most of those kids can’t get away with being out until 2 am, because their parents won’t let them (and probably don’t want to be, if they stuck around too). By 11 or so, those kids are having to start thinking about getting home by curfew, so that they can go out again the next weekend. And for the older crowd, well, let’s face it… a lot of us have shit to do in the morning, like go to work, get up with kids or any of that other ‘be responsible’ bullshit we deal with. The nationals play early starting and early ending shows… and there’s a reason for that, (besides just moving on to the next tour stop). IT WORKS. If you want live music in your venue until 2am, hire a cover band, don’t book a local show. But don’t expect the cover band to do any better at getting/retaining bodies through your doors–the reality is that the early local shows will do better at that… especially if you’re paying the bands (bands get paid? Holy crap, we’re EXCITED to play there! Let’s make sure everyone knows!).

That said… things that could have been done better:

Promotion. Now, this is a tricky one, because beyond social media, -good- promotion is expensive. Outhouse United, as a new promotions group, is working on a limited budget to start with, and is relying pretty heavily on social media and word of mouth to get some draw to their shows (this isn’t a knock against them, just an observation). But they’re not putting up a single post on Facebook or whatever and expecting that to bring people in by the dozens. They’re regularly and constantly hitting people how they can, and through The Forge, they’re doing what they can (because I’m a nice guy and want to see these shows succeed, I make it a point to bring in promoters to talk about their shows… 😉 ). However… this IS where Centerstage falls short.

I wish I could say it was just the locals shows that they miss the mark on, but they miss with the nationals as well. I make it a point to stay up to date with who they’re bringing in (it’s part of my job as a radio guy), but there is typically little active promotion for their shows beyond flyers at the venue and posts on Facebook, and I hear all the time about people who live in Kokomo who never knew so-and-so national band was playing at Centerstage. I’ve heard the occasional spot on the local rock radio station (the one I’m not on… I’m on Radio Free Kokomo at Indiana University Kokomo), but that’s about it. Yeah, advertising and promoting is expensive, but if done right, that money will be made back and then some by the people showing up at the shows… which is kinda the point. You have to invest in the people you want in your venue if you want them to invest in you.

I’m looking for the Outhouse United shows at Centerstage to really take off over the next few months. Outhouse has an opportunity build itself up as a promoter that is giving local bands a shot at big shows, without the stress of national tourers (and the money problems that come with that), and Centerstage has the opportunity to make itself THE place to check out the local scene in a good venue–it could very well become the home of the next big underground scene. Everyone in the local scene, from Indy to Fort Wayne, is looking at Centerstage with hope–a lot of hope–that it will be that home we’ve all needed for so long. We don’t want it to cater just to us; we love the national acts that they’ve brought in and have lined up in the coming month, because they’re good bands, but also because this venue has the power to put our scene on the map–and the owner of the venue is one of US, so I know he gets it.  Let’s hope that they continue to support these shows and continue working towards laying a foundation there that is good for everyone involved in the OU (and other) shows. It’s going to take a few months for these shows to really become a big deal to anyone but the bands playing, but with persistence and A LOT of promotion, it will happen. And when it does…

…well…

…it’s going to be the greatest thing Midwesthell has ever seen.

 

Album Review: Shudder – Inside My Head

Shudder

Inside My Head

http://www.facebook.com/shudderdetroit

Review by Rob Salem

 

Track Listing:

Shudder – Inside My Head

1. Intro

2. Black and White

3. Change?

4. Inside My Head

5. Come to Light

6. Here and Now

7. Clarity

8. Outro

 

 

 

Detroit, MI has a reputation for being a veritable wasteland, and there are plenty of reasons for the rest of the country to think this. But recent years have seen the city take steps towards encouraging artist growth as part of the plan to revitalizing the crumbling metropolis—these range from offering writers free homes to spending money on artistic works to improve the look of the city. Music is certainly playing its part, and bands like Shudder are absolutely doing their part to put Detroit back on the map as a place where cultural elements can grow and thrive, in spite of urban decay.

The quintet’s latest offering, Inside My Head, is, in some ways a reflection of their hometown; while they may not have meant it to come out that way, it’s only natural that environment will shape art, and that only makes it that much more honest and accessible to the average person. Musically, every track on this EP is well-written. The band provides a rock-solid foundation for every song to explore a range of emotions, from the retrospective angst of ‘Change?’ to the anger of ‘Clarity,’ both of which are solid radio-ready singles (and are staples in rotation on The Forge). Josh Day’s vocals work well with the music, and he displays versatility, power, and a respectable range, especially on the previously mentioned tracks, but also on ‘Black and White.’ There are a couple spots on the EP where the vocal lines aren’t as strong as they could be and sound little uncomfortable over the music, but in general, there’s no reason to really give this guy any grief. He does what he does well, and he’s got the right band giving him the right kind of tunes to work with.

All in all, Inside My Head is a rock-solid hard-rock album that pushes without shame into the realm of melodic metal and metalcore. Its tracks offer a diversity that keeps the ear engaged without wearing it out, and there’s a little something for everyone, from arena-rock ballads to hard-edged moments of unadulterated fury. One of the more impressive aspects of this EP is that while it is self-released, it sounds just as good as any big-label release, which inspires confidence in me that these guys are only going to just keep getting better and better. Shudder is definitely a band that is managing to make the most of its situation, and I look for them to become a staple of not only their hometown scene, but also the regional scene that we call Midwesthell.

This Thing We Call Midwesthell

So, there’s this thing. An idea. A reference. A thought.

It’s known as Midwesthell.

The Hand of Midwesthell

Admittedly, among a few of us in the local Indiana rock/metal scene, there’s an understanding of exactly what that is, and while some people have managed to pick up on it, and even better, make it their own, there tend to be questions surrounding this thing called Midwesthell. I think maybe it’s time to answer a few of those questions.

So what the hell is Midwesthell?

Well, the short answer is that it’s the Midwest. Specifically, the Midwest underground music scene.

The extended answer involves an attitude, an idea, an understanding, more than a little booze, and a whole lot of smoke.

Sitting in the heart of the Midwest, Indiana has had for the last decade and then some, a pretty dismal music scene. There are a lot of reasons for this, and they include everything you could think of – crappy bands, crappy venues who don’t pay artists, crappy fans who don’t go to local shows, crappy promoters who leech off the bands they’re ‘helping,’ labels ignoring the few good bands we’ve had, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum. As a few of us in the IN scene began to network out and explore the other states around us, it became clear that it wasn’t just Indiana that sucked, it was everywhere. Indianapolis. Chicago. Cincinnati. Cleveland. Detroit. Milwaukee. Louisville. St. Louis. Each of the major markets around the region were the same – shitty scenes, each dealing with the same things, and all the stupid drama and politics that such things bring. The Rust Belt above us, stretching from Chicago Cleveland, the Bible Belt below us, we came to understand that we, the collected musicians of the Midwest, were in Hell. And so, a couple guys–Dan and Jamesus from Born Under Burden–amidst the haze of smog that marks the northern border of Indiana, the dust of corn, wheat, and soybean fields (and other hazes) coined the term, “Midwesthell.”

At first, it was sort of an inside joke, but as such things tend to do, it was picked up by guys like me, and it spread; in the course of the past year or so, it’s become a sort of mantra, a reminder of where we are, and also an inspiration. It’s also, under James and Dan’s careful planning, become the name of a new independent DIY record label: Midwesthell Melodies. MWMH, like The Forge, and other entities in the scene, were born in part out of the recognition that the Midwest scene has sucked for a long time, and that the only people who were going to fix it were the people in the scene: US.

There wasn’t anyone coming to save us from ourselves, there weren’t any local bands suddenly making it big and working to breathe life into their home scene, and there sure as hell weren’t any big labels sniffing around looking for the next big thing. All we had–all we still have–were ourselves and each other.

And then it happened: Several of us, though knowing each other for years, independently began to take stock of the situation, take stock of our resources, and we began to -do- things. We evaluated outdated business models, we looked at other supposedly ‘successful’ scenes, tried to learn what worked and what didn’t, and why, and we did our best to try and understand all of those things in the context of our modern society, seemingly so far removed from even just a decade ago. We paid attention to the industry, the mainstream, the major labels, the national and international touring bands, and we listened and we learned.

Gone are the days of major labels making rockstars out of nobody kids who honestly worked their fingers off learning to play–now we get ‘reality’ TV game shows to find the next big pop star, bands built by labels to fit an economic paradigm that they created; gone are the days of New York and Los Angeles being the place where bands can go to win their fame and fortune. Seattle and New England taught us that the DIY ethic works, and with some adjustment for current trends in technology and social media, the current generation of musicians and bands can ‘make it big’ even easier than ever before.

We realized that the industry didn’t care about us, and we accepted that. Why should they? The majority of the underground isn’t offering the next Nickelback or Madonna, and we don’t want to! Sure, we all dream of a stadium gig playing in front of 50,000 people, but we’re all just as happy playing a house show with 50 kids that are there for us, and giving as much to us as we are them. The music, the craft, the performance all matter more to us than the money or fame, and most of us would just be happy to just pay our bills by making and playing music–you know, to reap the benefits of the work we do, just like every other job does. So we started to change it.

What happened was that a core group of us came together and began to share our resources in such a way that we have all benefited, while taking nothing away from anyone else. We have a label, we have a radio outlet, we have several venues who treat the bands like the working artists they are (that means they PAY the bands GUARANTEES), we have promoters who bust their asses for their take of every show they book, we have bands who self-promote AND cross-promote, and we have fans who SHOW UP. Individually, we are a group of independent entities and organizations who would fare all the worse on our own, but collectively, we have become a force of action, a force of change, and we empower each other.

And change is happening. More and more bands from not just Indiana, but also the surrounding states are starting to see the change and benefit from it. Bands from other regions are starting to pay attention to what’s going on here in Indiana specifically, and the Midwest at large, wanting a piece of our action. Why? Because we have something to offer that goes beyond dollar signs – we have a sense of community, a sense of family, a sense of being that this scene, this thing we call Midwesthell, is mine, and yours, and ours.

It’s not perfect, but it’s ours. Our scene. Our voices. Our hands. We are building this thing, one piece at a time, one band, one venue, one promoter, one label, one station at a time. It’s mine. It’s yours. It’s ours.

It’s Midwesthell.