The Hot Topic of Concert Venues

I went to an Umphrey's McGee show last night at the House of Blues downtown. The show itself was good, but I can't get over the venue. I have never been so infuriated at a venue in my entire life. In fact, I never thought it was possible to hate a venue so vehemently. I had been looking forward to going to HOB simply because it was something new. I knew it was a chain, but I was hoping for something at least mederately unique and interesting.

It started as soon as I walked in the venue. As I was waiting in line to buy the show (UM usually sells a copy of the show immediately after it ends, pre-buying speeds up the process) I heard the merch girl explain the they weren't allowed to sell stickers because people usually stick them to walls in the venue during the show. A venue that doesn't want people vandalizing the inside? Curious. At most places vandalism = character. Once I got to the front of the line, the merch girl promptly informed me that they weren't selling the show, either. This, of course, is really freakin irritating. I can only assume this is because its a Clear Channel venue, and Clear Channel has a patent on the technology. Now, I've got my issues with patents, but that's best saved for another post.

Once we got in to the venue, I was absolutely appaled. I can't fully describe it simply because I don't have the words. It was so incredibly fake that it made my want to vomit. It was like they tried really really really hard to re-create the character of an 'edgy' venue. The only problem is that it looks like it was designed by people at a board meeting and not someone who knows what makes a good venue.

It was like someone took the soul of a real venue and ripped it out, leaving the festering husk in the middle of downtown Cleveland. Then, some enterprising corporation came by and tried to make it look like it was still alive, like it had a soul. There are a lot of things in this world that can be commercialized and commoditized, but there are some things that should never be. Maybe I like music too much, but what I saw last night really felt like sacrilidge; institutionalized scarilidge.

The whole experience was somewhat reminiscent of when MTV tries to be 'underground'. Its a joke, and everyone with half a brain knows its a lie. MTV can't be underground simply because they're the biggest, and when they try it comes off tired and lame. Its kind of like what Hot Topic did for the goth scene. I'm not, nor was I ever, a goth. However, I do have sympathy for the people who actually believed it. Originally, it was started by people who would take perfectly good clothes, and make their own out of it. It was really cheap, and very unique. Then, someone said, 'well shit, we can totally sell this crap!' Then, Hot Topic was born. It took the soul out of what was originally another anti-commercial movement, and left a commercialized wasteland in its wake that quickly because a breeding ground of fakers paying too much money for something they naively thought was 'edgy'.

Something similar to this happened with HOB. Someone said, 'well shit! We can make a venue that people think is 'edgy' but fake enough not to make people feel uncomfortable. The staff is obnoxious, the venue is small, but the sound was pretty good.

All that aside, the show was sweet. Seeing Pony play slap bass was amazingly satisfying, as it was my first time seeing that. Its nice to see him growing to do newer, and cooler, things. It also makes me want to get my bass back from MA. The show was a bit more jammy than I had seen in the past, which isn't my favorite, but it was still a lot of fun. The second set was much more entertaining than the first, and hopefully more approachable to people not very familiar with the band. Mostly, I didn't like the tons of jamming simply because I worry about people not familiar with UM not being able to appreciate the genius of the band. Then again, I'm not a huge jam band person, which might explain why I feel this way.

Overall:
Venue: 0/10
Show: 9.5/10