Tuesday, January 15, 2008

For Those About To Rock Club, We Salute You

Great story in the Washington Post this past Sunday about 4 guys (very much like me) that have sworn to re-invent the notion of the "book club" for those of us that would rather go check out a local concert...


For Those About To Rock Club, We Salute You - washingtonpost.com: "Getting four ultra-busy guys together every week doesn't happen easily. After his initial plea for regular rock-and-roll meet-ups was welcomed with open arms, Andelman fleshed out his plan, suggesting that each week, one member would research and select a band. But the concept that sounded great in an e-mail could very well have failed. (How often do people plan to get together regularly, only to meet sporadically, if at all?)"

The weeks rolled by and the guys went out, wrote reviews and went out again. Amazingly, the whole thing worked. The secret to Rock Club's success? 'We see a wide range of bands,' says Fintel, a consultant. 'And we've gone to all kinds of venues: the Black Cat, 9:30 club, Rock and Roll Hotel, Velvet Lounge, Verizon Center, DAR, Wonderland. And we even braved a snowstorm to see [New York band] the Mooney Suzuki.'"



Amusingly enough, it turns out that one of the guys (follow the link in the blockquote above to read the whole story) actually has a kid in the same class as one of my music-loving buddies. So, sure enough we are now trying to figure out how we get our asses off the couch and out to more shows. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I'd be up for this once a week, but maybe once a quarter to start.... if it goes well (and as the kids get older) maybe we can crank it up to once a month.


Here are some tips for setting up your own Rock Club, and don't forget the "rules"...

"The Rules of Rock Club were drafted and ratified: Shows were to cost no more than $20; the person who picked a concert would write a review on the blog; no wives or girlfriends allowed."

Who's in?! :-)

9 comments:

Me2 said...

...but then you're forced to see a crappy band like Mooney Suzuki...

Jumbo Slice said...

It's true. The Mooney Suzuki are a crappy band. The word is they're also a bunch of assholes.

Let us know at Rock Club if you'll be at the same show as us. We'll buy you a round of drinks.

Anonymous said...

I think with only 4 shows per year we can avoid crapola like The Mooney Suzuki.

Me2 said...

guys - clubs are small enough already, to make a club, a blog, get written up in the paper, just got to the shows you want to. if you get paid alot to do something or are in a restrictive marriage..maybe live music has passed you by..

ps, here are the great records of my lifeimte:
http://godisseven.blogspot.com/2008/01/here-are-my-30-favorite-records-put-out.html

jherskowitz said...

Josef -

Live music has indeed passed me by - and I'm looking for ways to get back out there. Having a family and living out in the suburbs inflicts an awful lot of inertia on folks like me. It's *way* too easy to say... "uh, I'm tired, my kids are going to wake me up at 6am and I have to drive 45 mins into DC (and find parking)... I'll pass."

I'm not looking to be the next great music blogger (or any revenue from going), I'm just looking to get some friends together and try to get back out to see some shows again.

When I was your age and lived in the/a city.... I'd go to a couple shows a week, easy. Now... I've probably been to two in the last 5 years.

jherskowitz said...

Jumbo Slice -

If you guys every can't get to a show, you may want to try supplementing with a Listening Party (http://tinyurl.com/34mjjg).

Also, I'm working on getting organized for a maiden run to that Buffalo Tom/Revival show next week @ The Black Cat. That Revival album is pretty good, and I'm still a Buffalo Tom fan from "back in the day". I'll let you know if I'm going to make it.

Me2 said...

J -
Making a real effort to go see a show is admirable...and yes living in a dense urban area affords me some of he luxury of going more often. That being said, you don't have to be an active show goer to be an active participant. For better or worse, the web has turned everyone into a Music critic.

My comments were by no means pointed at you. They were pointed at a press piece on friends getting together to go see a show. That's great, but making rules and banning wives/girlfriends is a little silly.

Jimbromski said...

J--are you the guy who went to the Squier/RATT show? Fantastic. I noticed your comment on the Squier post. People forget how big he was.

Josef--we don't ban wives/girlfriends, the writer got that wrong. They can come along whenever they want and when we see a band we think they'd like we always try and get them to motivate and come out. As to our "rules", they're pretty much bullshit, the only real rules are, (1) try and see one show per week, and (2) leave some sort of record of your opinions on it on the blog. That's pretty much it.

jherskowitz said...

Well, I wasn't "the" guy at the Ratt/Billy Squier show (there were lots of us). I'm trying to think what year it was... it must have been somewhere around '84? I guess would have made it his "Signs of Life" tour, which... unfortunately was the in support of that god-awful "Rock Me Tonite" video you guys posted on DCRockClub.com.

But, I don't *think* he did that dance on stage.... if he did, I must have blocked it out.

For your watching enjoyment... All Billy Squier, all the time:

http://www.mystrands.tv/artist/billy-squier