Awful review of Friday's Logan Square show

rice62witch

Another review of the same show.

http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/content/view/1515/4

BTW, does Chicago have a shortage of proofreaders?

...the floor literally shuck with footsteps...

...lead singer Dami en Kulash...

sherib

QUOTE (ihave7stars @ Nov 17 2006, 06:37 AM)

Another review of the same show.

http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/content/view/1515/4

YES! Someone with a clue!

Too bad they didn't realize the proposal was fake. lol

silktext63

What the hell?!?!?! This first review is unbelievable...


Yet, the second one...

"Throughout my five-year history as a music journalist, I have seen some of the world’s largest acts and most historic bands still performing, yet I have only uttered these words a handful of times – this is one of my top ten favorite concerts. Pleasantly to my surprise, out goes one band and in comes the new as OK Go has officially cracked my top 10 with one of the best shows I have witnessed in the last five years."

This one has more to do with the idea of an Ok Go concert I have in my mind!

birthjason56

I'm 36-years old, and I attended the Logan Square concert with my 33-year old friend, who had introduced me to the band. Because of a VERY busy personal life (two young children, a husband, and an MIL living with us), I didn't get a chance to listen to the album prior to the concert. As you may suspect, not being familiar with the music *did* dampen my ability to recognize, sing along with, etc. the music. However...

...the band had a GREAT stage presence, style, and the acoustic set in the middle of the crowd really had me in awe. To me, that's the kind of "gimmick" (which isn't a "gimmick" at all) done by more established bands n small venues, and I was pleasantly surprised to see such mature creativity and artistry in a band so new to the national scene. Even not knowing the music (now I do, though, as I bought the CD/DVD at the sales table, to the embitterment of my friend who had paid 5 dollars more for it in a big box store), I could see all that this band has going for them.

I got the distinct feeling that this is a band interested, first and foremost, in providing MUSIC and hoping to spread it to the masses, with fame being just a consequence of that. The acoustic set, I think, is proof that their music is their heart. Not many bands have the guts to rework their own songs with a first national album. The so-called gimmicks (the inflatables, doing the dance at the end, etc.) are just what they bring to their live show. And, it's exciting. And, it's ballsy.

I only hope that they come up with something "new" to wow us. The Million Ways dance and homemade backyard video are great, the treadmill video is great, but the (intentionally) unpolished and geeky dancing in unison cannot survive a third incarnation and still remain fresh.

Although I hate to degrade the ideas and antics of people 15 years my junior (I was young and dumb at one point ), I find the U of C article lacking in a review of the music, and it is typical of a college newspaper music journalist who is practicing her snark rather than her reviewing skills. I can't get my panties in a bunch about it because I'm sure that my own work on my college newspaper wasn't much better...self-absorbed ain't even close to most college journalists' writing styles.

That said, I *did* notice quite a few high-schoolers and college-age people in the crowd, but, because I *am* older, my eyes sought out those who looked (or projected) an age closer to mine. I saw quite a few!

I've eyed the Milwaukee concert a few times today, and I'm wondering if I can wing it time-wise and/or talk my friend into a trek north. Hmmmm....

ETA: My friend was the 5'11' Amazon who held the spotlight closest to the stage.

sherib

Yay, Carina. That was an excellent read. How exciting to have your first exposure to the band be at their live show--and a really great show at that. And I agree wholeheartedly about the band and about college journalists. I love how you worded it: "practicing her snark." *nods head and rolls eyes*

I'm 33, btw.

Welcome to the board, and to OK Go fandom in general And check out their first album as soon as you can. Another one chock full of extreme goodness (though I do like "Oh No" a little better as a whole).

nutrod51

hello all...

as a reader only of these posts...i finally feel compelled to add my own thoughts of the shows...i went to both as well...did feel friday was the more energetic of the two, but both were great on their own merits.

i found the teenagers in the front of the stage actually helped make the show more fun (i appreciated the "you've got to start somewhere" comment to the younger fans) as i've only liked them for a couple of years now...my friend knew about them sooner, but what can i say, i work nights...but i got a few off to see some of these shows....check out google video(couldn't go to youtube, the file was too big)...put "okgo dance in chicago" in the search to see a bit of what i could film...wasn't much unfortunately...you kiddies were jumping a bit too much to make anything usable...

also agree with the gal who got to see them without knowing much (or any) of their material....what impressed me when i saw them for the first time last year was their incredible energy...i was lucky enough to see them wednesday in philly with cheap trick....a friend came along who never heard of them and was completely won over...

by the way....i'm older than all of you
and going to the d.c. show....wish me luck at getting some better shots....if i do you'll be the first to know..

suit6lion

Hello to Carina and jackie j! Welcome to the board. I'm looking forward to your comments.

sherib

QUOTE (jackie j @ Nov 18 2006, 05:09 PM)

i found the teenagers in the front of the stage actually helped make the show more fun (i appreciated the "you've got to start somewhere" comment to the younger fans) as i've only liked them for a couple of years now...my friend knew about them sooner, but what can i say, i work nights...

Well, you've got me beat--the first I ever heard of them was a little over a year ago.

Thanks about the "starting somewhere" comment. Were you next to the girls I said it to, second row, kinda between Damian & Andy?

Did you stay after to meet them (and/or have you met them before)?

So lucky to be at that Cheap Trick show and now the D.C. show, another "hometown" show of sorts. So you'll have seen them four times in a little over a week then. Really lucky!!

Welcome aboard the board

nutrod51

why thank you! i'll try to have a full report of sorts on the d.c. show...

j

tiekorean0

oh hi carina and jackie j! welcome!

(hey, I didn't realize I'm already a hanger-on.)

sherib

ihave7stars, your new sig is reeeally cool!! Way to go!

hyannah77

Wow, that review's horrendous! I think the only way to describe this review that would do it justice, is to quote Frank Lloyd Wright "I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters". I have a feeling that in sixth grade I could've written a better review (one which a) used grammer, instead of abusing it, wasn't worded horribly awkwardly and c) didn't make me sound like a pretentios asshole). This article would be bad enough if she'd gotten all the facts right, but sadly, as has been pointed out, that wasn't the case. If I had Elizabeth's email, I'd be sure to remind her that in the future, if she's going to talk about how a song "sucked too much for anyone to make you listen to it" she should probably figure out what song she's talking about first. Also, it worries me that anyone can have a dirty enough mind to see those "giant pink cylinders" as she called them, as phallic. If she's going to mock people of a younger age, she should probably stop being so juvenile in what she considers crude. Another thing that bothered me about the review, (though I didn't notice it at first) was the title "OK Go falters under pressure of newfound popularity at Logan Square", maybe she should've looked up the definition of the word "falters" before using it.

Now, as I'm not one to point out the negative without also pointing out the positive, two good things came out of this article:
1) It gave us something interesting to talk about.
2) It made me realize how lucky I am to have such intelligent friends, because all though not of my friends got into Ivy League colleges, or even graduated from high school, all of them have IQs (and vocabularies) which greatly surpass those demonstrated in this review.

sherib

QUOTE (hyannah77 @ Nov 20 2006, 07:25 PM)

I'd be sure to remind her that in the future, if she's going to talk about how a song "sucked too much for anyone to make you listen to it" she should probably figure out what song she's talking about first.

That's the thing that really got me.