Wrecking Pennsylvania
As we walked off the stage from our show tonight, one of the event programmers (think of him as a VP or CEO of this rock festival) grabbed my hand, shook it passionately and said:
Whether any of that is true or not is beside the point. It was just nice to hear. Last night we were the ugly step sister and today we were Cinderella (Mick has always had a thing about wanting to be Cinderella. Or Prom Queen.) Maybe the pet cemetary shrine (it guarded the washrooms in Senorita Burrita where we played last night) in a mexican restaurant should have tipped us off that things were amiss and evil was in the air. But hey...we're optimists. You have to be in this business. We played our show, regrouped and came back today looking to leave our mark on Pennsylvania. Preferably something in black and blue. But almost immediately after our arrival at the conference hall, several of the event organizers made an effort to find us and apologize for the misunderstanding (but no mention or apology for the creepy shrine). And how can you not understand? These guys were ambitiously mounting the inaugural Launch Festival. 150 bands in 15 venues is a lot to chew on. As Alex said, "You're going to break a few eggs making the omlette." All in all they did a remarkable job. We met some great folks, saw some great bands and did our best to leave our mark in Pennsylvania. Hopefully we didn't wreck it too much. But if we did, it's as much the fault of our host, Jeremy, as it is our own. Despite the fact that he'd lost his voice, he insisted on buying us drinks, taking us to see another one of his favourite acts, having passionate discussions about music and the music industry and stopping anyone of even the vaguest importance to introduce us. Ie.
"You guys are the best band in the festival. Bar none."
"That was...f#&*!ng religious!!!"
What a difference a day can make.
Whether any of that is true or not is beside the point. It was just nice to hear. Last night we were the ugly step sister and today we were Cinderella (Mick has always had a thing about wanting to be Cinderella. Or Prom Queen.) Maybe the pet cemetary shrine (it guarded the washrooms in Senorita Burrita where we played last night) in a mexican restaurant should have tipped us off that things were amiss and evil was in the air. But hey...we're optimists. You have to be in this business. We played our show, regrouped and came back today looking to leave our mark on Pennsylvania. Preferably something in black and blue. But almost immediately after our arrival at the conference hall, several of the event organizers made an effort to find us and apologize for the misunderstanding (but no mention or apology for the creepy shrine). And how can you not understand? These guys were ambitiously mounting the inaugural Launch Festival. 150 bands in 15 venues is a lot to chew on. As Alex said, "You're going to break a few eggs making the omlette." All in all they did a remarkable job. We met some great folks, saw some great bands and did our best to leave our mark in Pennsylvania. Hopefully we didn't wreck it too much. But if we did, it's as much the fault of our host, Jeremy, as it is our own. Despite the fact that he'd lost his voice, he insisted on buying us drinks, taking us to see another one of his favourite acts, having passionate discussions about music and the music industry and stopping anyone of even the vaguest importance to introduce us. Ie."Paul! Paul. This is The Free Press. Best band at the festival!"
At which point he'd give away one of the cds he bought from us and repeat the cycle in another two minutes. He's good people.
Some futher Saturday highlights were a few panels, including a demo derby. This is where you put your cd in a box and they draw out cds. Then severl panelists (music biz experts) proceed to dissect them. Usually pretty thoroughly. They drew us second last and we had submitted, "It's Killing Me That It's Killing You." It's always interesting to hear these cats talk because they hear music ALL the time. If your stuff isn't up to spec your experience can go pear-shaped for you very quickly. We've been on the other end of the Simon Cowell stick and it's a painful place to be. Today however, they loved us. They used phrases like 'bright future,' 'these guys are going to sell a lot of records' and 'maybe they can lend me some money after they're rich.' Again, really nice things to hear from a panel of pros.
Some futher Saturday highlights were a few panels, including a demo derby. This is where you put your cd in a box and they draw out cds. Then severl panelists (music biz experts) proceed to dissect them. Usually pretty thoroughly. They drew us second last and we had submitted, "It's Killing Me That It's Killing You." It's always interesting to hear these cats talk because they hear music ALL the time. If your stuff isn't up to spec your experience can go pear-shaped for you very quickly. We've been on the other end of the Simon Cowell stick and it's a painful place to be. Today however, they loved us. They used phrases like 'bright future,' 'these guys are going to sell a lot of records' and 'maybe they can lend me some money after they're rich.' Again, really nice things to hear from a panel of pros.
We also did some wandering around Lancaster. This included a trip to the Central Market. It's like the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto - a lot of stalls selling their goods ranging from meats and cheeses to baked goods and hand made clothing to amish furniture and jewellry. However, the Lancasterians (and perhaps all Pennsylvanians) are a lot more serious about their celery than we are in Canada. There was one stall dedicated ENTIRELY to celery and literature on celery. There was even a $6 (US!) bundle of celery. I didn't look closely but my guess is that it washed your car and made you dinner before dicing itself and submerging itself in a nice soup. Mmm. 
Soup. There was also a stall that sold vegetables and 'herbs.' I know the question has been posed, "What's in a name?" In this case, I believe the answer is, "a lucrative side business." Note the sign in the bottom right. I'm not sure he imports, but give him a call if you're in a jam.
Soup. There was also a stall that sold vegetables and 'herbs.' I know the question has been posed, "What's in a name?" In this case, I believe the answer is, "a lucrative side business." Note the sign in the bottom right. I'm not sure he imports, but give him a call if you're in a jam.
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