Photos: Jack Tomascak & People Who Love People live at The Space. Hamden CT. 4/15/12
Last night, Connecticut’s preeminent bundle of teenaged feelings Jack Tomascak played a rare solo show under his own name, performing some of the various tracks that he’s released on his bandcamp page over the years in addition to some unreleased material. Highlights of his set included his opening song “Schillervision,” a delicate but impassioned opening tuning jam, and the bitter straight edge anthem “About Face,” which he prefaced with a story about the song’s origins. Jack’s set was focused on emotional cleansing, hushed vocals, and reverb-heavy guitar noodling, but he also demonstrated a willingness to cut loose at points during the set. This manifested itself in the form of humorous (if deadpan) stage banter and a few classic emo revival covers, including one of Snowing’s “Pump Fake” and another of Joie De Vivre’s “Vicodin Lite,” the lyrics of which Jack amended to suit his Connecticut origins.
Also on the bill were Fairfield County’s People Who Love People, which I playfully dubbed “Jihad the Music Industry-core” after blogging about them yesterday. For their first show ever, their set last night was pretty damn impressive, even though it was (sort of adorably) clear that they were new to this whole “performing” thing. With a condensed three piece lineup, they veered wildly from aggressive, high tempo punk rock to folk punk and slow, moving folk music. Frontman Jake Bellissimo was a jack of all trades last night, exchanging his bass for an acoustic guitar multiple times throughout the show depending on the circumstances of the given song. Highlights included their reckless, awesomely sloppy performance of “The Dirty Misogynist Gets His Wings Cut Off,” their cover of Andrew Jackson Jihad’s “Gift Of The Magi 2: Return of the Magi,” and their quieter, emotionally overwhelming acoustic song “Glory Hole.”
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Jack Tomascak and People Who Love People can both be found on their respective bandcamp pages. Give them a listen and support great local music!
glad to know that my face gets red whenever i do anything like this. thanks to chris for shooting this, and thanks to everyone who came out last night. which was like nobody except for lisa, chris, and the hopkins kids. but thanks anyway.
there is a difference between the philosophy of “do-it-yourself” and “earn-it-yourself.”
killer cool productions operates on an “earn-it-yourself” method. (not associated with the actual “EIY” movement that gardening, not architecture whines about constantly)
the idea of having opening bands sell tickets in order to play a show is on some long island bullshit that is dead and should stay dead. that concept, at least, should stay out of a genre of music that is adamantly against any type of pay-to-play situation regarding shows.
throw that shit at some power-core attack attack ripoff band from the local high school. who cares. but trust that the punk scene can draw numbers.
trust that bands in the indie/punk/emo scene can gauge how many people they can draw. and then simply ask at the door “hey, who are you here to see tonight?” and keep track of what people say. that way, you can tell who is being a good draw and who isn’t, without subjecting bands to a tired and downright awful form of promotion.
the above method is what works at the space in hamden, ct, where an into it over it / the world is a beautiful place… show was scheduled to occur at in april. that method is used on most all of the shows promoted by the space themselves (not by outside promoters as far as i can tell). i have seen it in action and it works.
apparently there is going to be a “live debate” between jeff menig of killer cool and evan weiss. which sounds idiotic. there’s no need for that. evan shouldn’t have to subject himself to that. then again, it’s up to him what he wants to do.
the bottom line here is that DIY does not equal EIY. do not confuse the two, at least in punk. there is not a “difference in the term ‘DIY’” between menig and weiss, as menig stated on his facebook page. it is a confusion, on menig’s part, between DIY and EIY.
the website address for killer cool productions is “FUCKillercool.com”. i’m glad that address comprehends so concisely my feelings towards this “production company.” you won’t be seeing me at any of their shows anytime soon.
New York post-rock monsters Moving Mountains are doing only a handful of shows this spring - and one will be right here in Danbury at Heirloom Arts.
The gig is on March 25th (Saturday), and will be with MovMou side project Caravela, former Deep Elm labelmates and fellow NY post-rockers The Cast Before The Break, and Connecticut’s own Wess Meets West.
Presale tickets are on sale now through this link right here for $20. It comes with a limited screenprinted poster that is very limited in its availability. Advance tickets by themselves will be 10 dollars, and posters (f there are any available) at the show will cost $15, so if you like the poster (like I do, very much so) and are intent on going to this, buy the package and save five bones.
the underground music scene was created in order for a safe space to thrive for all of the kids who felt rejected. all of the kids who felt like they were misfits in their school. they weren’t popular. they listened to weird music and had weird impulses. they found a scene, a high school scene where they could play or listen to music without judgement or feeling threatened. and lately, in the state of connecticut, there has been an alarming amount of threatening behavior especially in this new high school scene that is beginning to take shape.
i’m going to say this bluntly. if you use homophobic, racist, or misogynistic language while considering yourself a member of the scene, you are poison. you are killing the scene that you claim to love. and if you feel the need to rationalize your use of any sort of hateful slurs, it is unfathomable how much you are destroying such a beautiful thing. just because you are young doesn’t make using the pseudo-adjective “gay” okay. just because you have black friends who encourage your use of the word “nigga” mean that you can walk around at shows saying it to your friends. by creating exclusivity and naive hate, you are alienating groups of people who want to get involved. you are on the same level as the jocks you claim to hate. and you’ll make those people coming into this scene feel the same way. there are bands right now full of older people who are setting this example. use your brain. know that it’s wrong. don’t support them no matter how good their music may be. they are shutting out accessibility willingly by saying things that can be triggering or offensive to certain groups.
have a brain. if you don’t use it soon, your scene is in for a rude awakening.
