Once Again, It's On...

New Year, new gear. Lots of music out there and lots of clever self-indulgent things for me to say about it. As a way to re-christen the old blog, I had planned on writing a glowing review of one of the last shows of 2006. And while I wrote a review, it is most certainly NOT glowing. Which actually makes me sad. I never like writing about disappointments or things I find to be of inferior quality. Critics who enjoy trashing something should find some other hobby or occupation. That said, sometimes when an album or concert fails to fulfill its promise by many miles, the only thing a writer can do is pan it. I will rarely ever spend my time panning a CD because I have very little experience as a musician and have never recorded a song in my life. I know what is good and what I like and so I feel much more comfortable expounding upon recordings that fall into one of those two categories. On the other hand, I've spent much of my life performing onstage and watching other people perform. While my own stage experiences only sometimes involved music, the elements that make up a successful live performance are universal, regardless of discipline or genre. So when I see a poorly conceived, orchestrated or executed live show, I can only feel compelled to comment upon it. There, I think I've buried the actual content deep enough on the page that only people with extraoridinary patience will read the review. I really wanted to like this show, and I am still a HUGE fan of The Margot in spite of the Dec. 30th event. "Dust of Retreat" is one of my top ten albums of the 2000's. And I can't wait for their second album and subsequent show that lives up to their immense potential and ability.