Archive for July, 2011

My parents recently took a trip to New York City, and what is a trip to New York City without a stop on Broadway? One of the shows they opted to see was the seemingly plagued “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

Cornell

Before my parents left Quincy, my dad tried to make me jealous by revealing this tidbit, and it should have worked. Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheroes. I have countless Spider-Man action figures and vehicles and played most of the videogames. I even liked the third Spider-Man movie. But I could not, in good conscience, support any $65 million dollar, Bono-ego-stroking abomination of musical theatre. Especially one focused on everyone’s favorite friendly, neighborhood superhero.

It was this fervor that led me to “The Spidey Project: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,” the quasi-satirical brainchild of playwright and actor Justin Moran. You may have never heard of it, but it is in fact the first ever Spider-Man musical to open in New York City. Practically a doppelganger to “Turn Off the Dark,” this musical production was written, rehearsed, produced and performed in 30 days on a budget of $0. It opened on March 14, which was supposed to be one day before “TOtD” premiered, but in reality, “The Spidey Project” opened three months before its expensive counterpart. The absurd amount of delays for the Broadway production is no secret to anyone.

Unfortunately, “The Spidey Project” only had two shows, both on the 14th of March, 2011. The first show sold out in under a minute on March 4, so the troupe decided to do a second, later show on opening night. Tickets were 100 percent free, so it’s no wonder they went so fast. The show was be put on for free due to a large and devoted volunteer base that covered all of the production including acting, writing, and set design. The goal of Moran’s project was to focus on story and characters instead of flashy showmanship. Anyone who watches the one-hour video can tell the group succeeded tremendously.

Fanboys like myself were not the only people to take notice of this little project. Playbill, the company that produces the free programs at many theatre productions, covered “The Spidey Project” on their website. Exposure ranged from New York Times to The Wall Street Journal to MTV. Even writer/actor/director/comic book aficionado Kevin Smith endorsed the project.

To find more information on the project as well as to watch a video of the show, head over to http://thespideyproject.blogspot.com/. It is unfortunately split into four 15-minute videos, but just imagine that they are scene breaks in a normal play. I hope you enjoy “The Spidey Project” as much as I did.

Patrick Cornell

There are several reasons why you should go to Kanrocksas Music Festival if you live in the Midwest.

Pritchett

The summer is going by fast, and this could be your last chance for you and your friends to do something awesome before school is back in session. This epic event will be taking place Aug. 5 and 6, and for  Quincyians, it’s only about a four-hour road trip.

If you’re a fan of the legendary rapper Eminem, this is one of his three shows in North America this year. Single day passes are around 100 dollars, and free camping and parking is available. Lollapalooza does fall on the same weekend, which could be a hindrance on the festivals inaugural success, but, you won’t be able to camp for free (or at all) at Lollapalooza.

This awkwardly named festival features a wide array of musical acts. Some great rock bands such as Flogging Molly, Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, A Perfect Circle and the Black Keys will keep the party rocking. But Bassnectar, Girl Talk, Kaskade and Kid Cudi could perpetuate this festival to greatness. The Flaming Lips never cease to put on a delightful performance as well, and the variety of this lineup could be the start of a new festival to rival Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Coachella in the future years. The headliners will be Muse and Eminem and are hopefully going to be the icing on the cake to what is sure to be a delicious summer treat.

So don’t miss the very first Kanrocksas Music Festival!

Daniel Pritchett

Slaughter

At some point in their life, everyone dreams of being a rockstar. It’s basically what people are referring to when they talk about “the life.” Band Slaughter has been living that life for the over 20 years, and they are still going as strong as ever. I had a chance recently to speak with bassist Dana Strum about his impending trip to the Midwest and what to expect from their show at Quincy Raceway this weekend as part of Rock Fest. He also shared his sympathies about the recent storms in Quincy, the most interesting venue he’s played, and how the band is better than it ever was.

Cornell

CORNELL: After over 20 years together, has anything changed in Slaughter besides the lineup?

STRUM: The only thing, really, that changed was the lineup as a result of death. The original guitar player died in a tragic truck/car accident in 1998, so that was something that was an unexpected hiccup. That was the primary lineup change. Just changed because of the death of the guitar player. Blando’s been in the band since 1998, and wildly, he’s now been in the band longer than the previous guitar player, the original guy, ever was. We still think about, every time we play those songs you know, the original guy. You don’t expect somebody that you traveled the world with and won American music awards to pass away in such a terrible way, but we’ve done our best to move past it. We often talk about him, and so that was a change by just a crazy world circumstance that you just can’t foresee.

CORNELL: So you guys are still rocking as hard as ever?

STRUM: Absolutely! I mean, you know, to be honest, when you first make a record and the record clicks, you never really, as you’re making, say, “Fly to the Angels,” or “Up All Night,” or “Mad About You” or any of the number one MTV Videos as they were written and recorded and then they went to do their thing, you never really talk about, “Hey, so what do you think were going to do in 10 years?” But you definitely, definitely never talk about, “But what do you think we’ll do in 20?” because honestly you don’t care. I’ve described to so many people, including other business managers and prospective clients: Who in their right mind would sit down, like you, thinking and projecting 20 years from now if you want to be at the New York Times? Somebody might say, “Look, within five years, I’d like to be here. But to say 10 years to 20 years? That one’s really rough, and as a careless musician, nobody, you really barely think two, three years ahead. So if somebody said to me, “Do you believe you’d be flying to the Midwest?” A couple days before we’re in Quincy, we’re doing a festival that’s Kid Rock, Rob Zombie, Cinderella, Slaughter, etc. If somebody said, “Do you believe 20 years later, it’s over 20 years, you’d be leaving Las Vegas to still continue to do that,” I would have said, “You’re out of your (expletive) mind.” Because nobody ever really brings any of that up. I mean, what interesting thing for a new and aspiring young musician or young artist, you know you’ve got to just go with your heart and your gut, and that’s really truly how the original Slaughter stuff was done. It was done on the floor of an LA apartment, very primitively on pizza boxes. You know, this is one of those funny little stories where you hear we spent little to no money because we had little to no money, but that’s really the truth. Everybody lived in a one-room apartment, and out came this interesting piece of artwork that has more than stood the test of time and to this day is played on radio and video mediums all over the world. No more flattering thing, I think, than lasting the test of time with the stuff. So the answer is yeah, rock – actually, the band is probably better than it ever was because at the time the band lacked some experience. We hadn’t traveled the world. Our first tour dates were on the KISS tour because our record was exploding, so Slaughter never played the clubs. It started on arena stages, and then during kind of the grunge movement, it went down to clubs, and then shortly after returned back to fairs, festivals, arenas, large shed amphitheaters, and has never turned back since.

CORNELL: There are a lot of genres out there. How would you describe the sound of your music?

STRUM: I really think Slaughter is just American Hard Rock, and I think its just American rock and roll. There are so many people that talk about hair bands and glam bands. I mean we really, in our previous band, Mark Slaughter and I played with the KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent, and the group was called the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Without question, we looked like transvestites, and without question, early Poison looked tame compared to how over the top that stuff was. It was interesting times, and it was a real learning experience. But to me, Slaughter has just become classic American Hard Rock, and then the live performances brandished with kind of an exuberant energy that a lot of people don’t expect when they first think, “Ah, I never saw those guys, I’ll go check it out.” Most people end up walking out and saying, “I never expected it to be energetic and them to give a (expletive) that much.” But we all go out there like we are the same guys in that apartment. We kind of stare at each other, and its almost a time warp. When you’re sitting in the dressing room knowing the set list you’re about to play, nobody’s really bored with it or looking for that paycheck with it. It’s really we love what we do, and I think it shows on stage. We’ve worked with some acts that you wonder why they’re really out here. They don’t look happy, and they don’t look very enthusiastic. With Slaughter, that’s never been the case. We’ve always been proud of the music that we wrote and recorded and produced. Keep one thing in mind: one of the things that sets Slaughter apart from so many of the hair metal or glam metal or just the hard rock bands is Slaughter from day one wrote, produced, recorded and managed their own destiny. We were recording our stuff almost similar to hip-hop and urban artists in our own studio environment before it was ever popular to do that. So it was different because there was no record company fat cat telling us what to do because we were in our own world doing it. So we never really asked an A&R guy’s opinion or a vice-president of a label, “What do you think of this song?” We turned it into the set of work and hoped for the best.

CORNELL: True American style there.

STRUM: Yeah, no, it is. It really was entrepreneurial style. It wasn’t done with a bunch of money; there was no silver spoon story, “Oh, hey, this guy’s father bankrolled everything.” It was really, honestly, from the heart, from the hip. Were there big-breasted girls in the videos? Of course there were because who doesn’t like big breasted girls? Either people are scared to admit that they do, or they’re married and if they dare say anything in print, they’ll be divorced shortly thereafter. But all of us have gone through our ups and downs. There’s not one of us that hasn’t made social mistakes. There’s not one of us that hasn’t probably regretted things we’ve done, but again that’s what I mean by that experience. Now you walk out there and you know, look, we’re here to kill it, and that’s why we’re in Quincy, that’s why we’re in Cadott days before. You fly out to kill it and go for it, and that’s the one priority you have.

CORNELL: Playing traditional American Hard Rock, are you excited to come to the heart of America in the Midwest?

STRUM: It’s one of the places that broke the band. To be honest with you, Salt Lake City of all places started to break up all night on “Fly to the Angels,” and then out of Illinois, out of the Chicago market, it really exploded. We spent a huge amount of early time living in the Midwest. People would ask us, “Hey, you guys live in Vegas,” and we said, “Well, not really between May and September we don’t. We live in the Midwest.” And that really was the truth, and if you look at our calendar: huge amount of work in the heart of America. That’s like I said, the music is really straight up, blue collar – I’m proud to say I’m like a white-trash type person, and I’m proud to say we carry the torch for white-trash music. We don’t really try to reinvent the wheel. We go out there loud, bold, and lay it down and like I said, we go to kill it and we love being in the Midwest because they’re real people and I never fit in in LA and Hollywood, and that’s why I left as soon as I could afford to do it.

CORNELL: When you’re in Quincy, you’re playing at the local Raceway. I was just curious what the craziest venue you ever played was?

STRUM: The craziest venue we ever played was a Saudi Arabian prince’s palace. In the back, behind his palace where he had his own private zoo, private landing strip to accommodate his 737 and helicopters. They built a stage that, wildly, was built on an incline. So you couldn’t dare insult the guy that the stage wasn’t level or safe. The stage was at an angle in the middle of Saudi Arabian area where you were just looking to play, do a good job, kill it, and get the (expletive) out alive.

CORNELL: Well I’m sure we’ll have our stage flat for you guys.

STRUM: Yeah, it’s going to be a little more of a predictable setup with a proper stage. We’re really happy to be doing it. We recently learned a few weeks back about the horrible storm that came through. Whether it be the earthquakes in California or the floods in Tennessee, every one of us has been victim to property damage and devastation. In one way or the other, every single guy in the band has lost substantially through property damage. We’re very proud to come there, and we hope the people will use it as a release and try to help get their lives back together, back on track.

CORNELL: What should the audience expect from your show this weekend?

STRUM: They should expect a loud, energetic presentation of music that they have either known for years or that they’ll get to know real fast. It’s all of the stuff off the vintage records, a few new pieces. Every where we’ve been around the world, it brings smiles and a lot of great vibes. If somebody said to us, “What do you expect?” we hope that we can bring lots of big smiles, great vibes, and really entertain people; give them a good time. There’s no nicer thing in life to do for a living than go place to place making people feel good. We guarantee that when you leave the show, you will feel good.

CORNELL: Is there anything more you’d like to add?

STRUM: We appreciate the opportunity to come and entertain for everybody. We’re thrilled about performing everywhere we go, and we invite everybody to come out, have a good time, and forget the bad times. One interesting thing to add: there’s been more younger fan’s faces in the audiences. I can’t tell — Slaughter had a song in Guitar Hero and Rock Band – its hard to say what its been, but there have been from 15, 16 years old up through 26 where you just, how would you even know what this stuff is? Obviously the Internet’s powerful and obviously iTunes etc., but it’s just been so wild and refreshing to see. If we do meet and greets, which we are doing one there, I always ask, “How the (expletive) would you know about this music at 17 with a skateboard in your hand?” And like, “Dude, its all over the skate magazines, everybody knows this, my brother, my father,” and it’s just so wild to hear it. As you’re at the show, take a look at the wild, young set that goes up to the front and watches this stuff, just crazy. I worked with the band Motley Crue; I’ve noticed it there too.

Patrick Cornell

Curreykorn (bluegrass)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday
WHERE:  Music Under the Stars, Mark Twain Boyhood Home, 120 N. Main St., Hannibal, Mo.

Marvina Bowker Marvina as Patsy Cline (country)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Quincy Park District outdoor concert series, Madison Park

Rock Fest featuring Great White, Jackyl, Harlot and Dead Giveaway
WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Quincy Raceways, 8000 Broadway

The End Times Spasm Band (acoustic/jazz)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Java Jive, 211 N. Main St., Hannibal, Mo.

Slick (metal/rock)
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bangs, 138 N. Front St.

Raised on Radio (classic rock)
WHEN: 10 p.m. Friday
WHERE: After the Gems game, QU-Stadium, 1800 Sycamore St.

Warsaw Riverfest featuring Raised on Radio, Eleven and Staggard (classic rock)
WHEN: 12 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Warsaw Riverfront

Rock Fest featuring Slaughter, Saliva, Predawn Hour and Days Taken
WHEN: 5 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Quincy Raceways, 8000 Broadway

Tri Point Paradox (rock)
WHEN:  7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE:  One Restaurant and Bar, 600 Hampshire St.

Harlot (classic rock)
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: HotSpots Bar, Clayton, Ill.

The Cheeseburgers (classic rock)
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bangs, 138 N. Front St.

Overhaulin’ (classic rock)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: The Grove Inn, 6510 Broadway

Pimpkatz (classic rock)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: The Dock, 1021 Bonansinga Dr.

Bombshell (classic rock)
WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Sherry’s Outsiders Inn, Oquawka Ill.

Looking for more information on local musical acts and venues? Go to the music page at www.thelocalq.com.

Planning a show? Submit the details on the calendar page at www.thelocalq.com.

Julie Ann Marra