File under RUN AND STRAFE.
- I'm just going to come out and say it: I don't think WNY's college student population is pulling it's weight. We've got how many schools in the area with how many students, and shows like Sleigh Bells and Blitzen Trapper aren't getting the crowds they deserve. I just can't help but feel that these college students are failing miserably. I've heard a few theories as to why (they don't like to leave campus, they don't like music like students used to, the buzz for these bands isn't there), and I don't like the implications of any of them. Is it Buffalo's lot to land good college acts at a time when the local college population is too lame to take advantage of the situation? Getting the students into the city at large is going to be a big issue for 2014, that's for sure.
- And while on the subject of buzz, it makes me sad that buzz has become a currency that flows like global capital to cheap labor markets in the third world. It's one thing to have buzz guide us to new things and keep things lively, it's another to chase the buzz and automatically abandon that which had buzz yesterday for the sake of chasing buzz. This doesn't bode well for the viability of popular music at all. Is this what they mean when they say "foodies are bad for food scenes?"
- I'm not altogether thrilled by the dress code for next year's Arcade Fire tour as the band is requesting that attendees show up in "formal attire or costume," and frankly my nose is a tad pushed out of joint, if nothing else because I've defended Arcade Fire from accusations of pretentiousness and this is how they repay me, with intended feats of abject pretentiousness. While the dress code will no doubt be unenforced, the air of grandiosity is regrettable, and of course while I expect many Arcade Fire fans are already picking out their black tie and tails and gowns, the fact remains that this isn't a very Bruce Springsteen thing to do. Now, a costume however is entirely different... Tickets for Arcade Fire's March 13th show in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre go on sale this Friday.
- Black Sabbath however is a band that won't be issuing a dress code for their shows, which is good because they'll be swinging by our general vicinity April 11th when they play the Copp's Colosseum in nearby Hamilton, Ontario. Touring behind this year's Rick Rubin produced 13, the reformed Sabbath (minus Bill Ward) hit the road after guitar god Tony Iommi recovered from cancer treatment to strong reviews and solid enough box office to extend the tour into 2014. This might well be our last chance to see 3/4's of the classic Black Sabbath and Ozzy in his truest element, and at this point it could be a better bet than the fancy do that will be live Arcade Fire (he says somewhat facetiously). Tickets go on sale this Friday.
