SnowGhost Music

The Context

SG: Having expectations for a show brings up another important factor for a band and the show you are going to see. The context for which you see the band is definitely a big factor in how much you enjoy the show.
Ted: Yeah. I guess it would be important to clarify that so far we’ve been talking about the typical one to three band tour rolling into town. Annual festivals and traveling festivals are different animals. I’ve seen some incredible festival performances, but I think they need their own category. I mean, just thinking about all the factors involved in judging a singular performance within a festival, and then judging the scene of the festival, the vibe, and the performances as a whol... read more >

Perhaps you've read some previous SnowGhost blogs, and you've already made acquaintences with Ted. Most recently I wrote about our exciting adventure to a Bright Eyes show together, and coincidentally, this led us into an even more recent conversation about live shows in general. As you might recall, I was mainly bummed about the sound not being so good, whereas Ted was pissed that the show started early and he missed the opening band. We essentially felt the same about the show overall, despite having totally different criteria and experiences. So we decided to put on our lab-coats, fire up our Bunsen burners, and come up with some kind of equation for what makes a good show. The mathematic equation looks like this:read more >

Ted and I went to see Bright Eyes last weekend. Actually, I went to see Bright Eyes. Ted was there to see the band opening for the opening band, who we missed anyway because Ted had to find a Spike’s so he could have a Junkyard Dog and decide if it was truly the best junk food in the Northeast. Ted insisted that we had time, even though the doors opened at 5. I was pumped when we arrived just in time to see the second opening band finish off their brief set, and Ted was not. He had a mini-tantrum, culminating with this exchange with Piercing Pin Cushion who took our tickets.

TED: You mean to tell me that the show actually started at 6?

PPC: It says so right there on your paper ticket, dude.

(Ted w... read more >

Now put yourself in these shoes: You've just left Ted's studio. Despite only knowing how to play three chords on his vintage guitar and refusing to ever play in front of anyone, Ted has ProTools and a studio and plenty of instruments. And while he dreams of one day luring Blonde Redhead into his home studio so he can help make the greatest record of 2009, he is happy allowing his actual musician friends to use his stuff in the meantime. Which is exactly what you've been doing for the past week, and now you've got an album's worth of songs to do something with, including one track which Ted considers to be, "revolutionary- maybe the best song not by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah since 2005."

You are also a relatively obscure art... read more >

Put yourself in these shoes: You've just left Ted's house. Ted is not just any friend. Ted is the guy who has European EPs on vinyl of bands that only existed for 2 weeks, has tickets to the show that the venue doesn't even know about yet, and has a lifelong to subscription to Rolling Stone, yet he loathes it for never containing any information that he didn't already know. You wonder, if Ted loves music so fanatically, why hasn't he actually made any of his own? But that's Ted's inner struggle to deal with. You respect Ted's taste and you meet most of the bands you like through Ted. It's people like Ted that keep us from ever having to rely on the radio to hear "new" music, so you're okay with the fact that after playing you a... read more >