It List: Monday 4/24/06
1. Half Handed Cloud/Vollmar/Fishboy (Metrognome Collective Ft. Worth): Lately it seems that Metrognome has been pulling in some pretty intereting shows without that stupid focus on new wave revival bands that Dallas clubs. Tonights show features two out of town acts, Half Handed Cloud and Vollmar. HHC is a solid folk pop band that is actually interesting, and Vollmar is a strange lo-fi electro folk band that is probably an intriguing live act. Fishboy is Fishboy, and we like him.
posted by stonedranger at 3:49 PM
24 Comments:
i'm so excited about this show.
check out vollmar's other band
http://www.myspace.com/mtgigantic
psychotic
awesome
it is sad and true. we need more people to come to the shows. we have cranked up our publicity machine, flyering, and gotten mentions this week in a couple of newspapers... and last night was still a real disappointment in terms of attendance. We are considering moving weeknight shows to 8pm. would this help? Would you be more likely to come if the shows were earlier?
I hate to think people are staying home because we aren't a bar. byob means you can bring ANY kind of beer, wine, whiskey, or coffee you want, and drink for half the price of the cheapest of beer bars.
surely $5 isnt too much to pay to see 3 bands?
we are here to serve.
-james
What kind of audience do you have in Fort Worth? Is there a contingency of kids at TCU and the surrounding area that are into the kind of music you guys show there?
I don't know anything about Ft. Worth, so I don't know what kind of audience you could get in the best of conditions.
As far as Dallas people, I think it will be pretty hard to get them to come out to shows on weekdays either way. They barely go to shows in Dallas.
we have a very small number of tcu kids. i guess they would rather see pablo and the hemphill 7 at the moon. we have some younger kids who will someday move off to denton, after they graduate from high school, but our bread and butter should be the wreck room crowd. they show up for the bigger shows, the bands they know well, but not for smaller bands that they havent heard of.
I guess i should have done a detailed demographic survey of the area, to see if anyone would actually come to shows in fort worth, but i assumed that fort worth's lack of interesting venues would make us a strong draw by default.
We wont book crummy shows just to get people in the door. and we try really hard to keep filler to a minimum. i can safely say we have only had a handful of crappy bands since we opened, almost everything has been interesting even if not suited to everyone's taste.
the truth is, the only reason i even care if people come is that i believe in the bands, and i want to pay them for playing a good show. I HATE when we can't pay the bands, even though almost everyone has been gracious about it.
i absolutely love metrognome collective, and i really wish i could have made it to this show. it really is just the location that throws it off, but right now Metrognome looks SO nice. like REALLYREALLY amazingly nice. i just wish it was in dallas or denton D:
i still think that with time, things should pull together. rome wasn't built in a day, you know?
whatever. i'll see you fellas on thursday.
agreed. everyone I know that has been there (myself included) really liked it, and thinks great things can happen there. For us Dallas folk, its the location that is obviously the biggest drawback.
But give it time. You guys have the brains and the right attitude to make it work.
for me, it's location. weeknights, or otherwise. although i do plan to make it out to a show at MC sometime soon.
i'm just speaking for myself here, but driving over to FW from dallas is a big chunk of gas, and it doesn't matter much that I can BYOB when I've gotta drive my ass back on a weeknight, which means I can't get tipsy, anyway. And a cab from FW is monetarily out of the question. so i stay home or go see somebody else here in town.
Early shows are a good thing in my book... especially if you guys are trying to draw people in from Dallas and Denton on a weeknight.
It's nice having a place like metrognome in ft worth because it's sorely lacking anything like this. I think given enough time and word of mouth it'll grow. Everyone I've told about it has loved it.
Just got back from Halfhanded Cloud. I was amazed. And not only at the music, but the location and the people. I love the Metrognome. I haven't been there since the gallery has opened. It's great. I love that I can look at some art while hearing a show. A very cool concept. Anyway, Halfhanded Cloud was really great, and I think I'm going to go see them tomorrow at Good Records. I'm also going back to Metrognome on Wed. to see Washing Machine. Everyone should go to this show.
I'm in the process of working out a Metrognome show for Fra, Stumptone (if they can) and a band from Israel called Lebanon. It's not until August, but it'll be a rad show nonetheless.
I definitely dig the space. I have no vehicle and live in Denton- I don't get to make it there as often as I'd like, but so would if I lived in the area.
I'm with Andrea, it's just daunting to drive to FW & Denton sometimes. I love the BYOB aspect, so that does weigh out the gas cost, in my opinion. For shits & giggles, I just started this group: Carpool Dallas. Let's do ride shares between cities/'hoods. Save some gas, meet some new folks and see more shows!
i have to say that i'm glad you guys have the metrognome... you now don't have to drive to dallas to have a cool show b/c you've got a place for that in your own town... it also gives small bands who don't have a citywide fanbase a chance to play in a different area w/o driving hours to get there... that's kinda the benefit to living in a place like this... you can play somewhere downtown one day, then go to denton, then play the metrognome in ft worth. and chances are, you won't see many of the same people @ each show. places like that give the band a chance to build a better fan base w/o wasting a lot of gas.
...i'd love to see some cool places to play spring up in the Richardson area (north dallas... everything bar-wise is further south... but everyone seems to live North), and the Oak Cliff area....
i mean... i'll drive to denton to see a band i've seen 20 times if it'll be a good show... same w/ fort worth... i'll be driving out to see the metrognome soon, i hope... but the benefit that i see w/ venues spreading out across the metroplex is that it gives the bands a chance to have some shows out where kids who don't want to drive to deep ellum or greenville can get to.
....it also keeps places like the metrognome, avenue arts, rubber gloves, etc etc etc from feeling the need to compete w/ eachother.
too many shitty bands to venture... 1919 hemphill books better acts.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
i think earlier shows during the week days are a great idea james.
---Lydia
isnt 1919 just a buncha young crustPunx or something?
1919 usually caters to high school punk crowd but they do book some good bands from time to time. they also treat bands well.
1919:
Go see good bands there now.
Or wait 'til about three years from now when they're cool enough to play Hailey's and your trendy ass.
Oh, and I don't think everyone praising them has anything to do with the place.
I drive an hour to get there.
there is a good..
punk rock record swap on may 19th at 1919.
maybe metrognome can have
a faux hipster record swap or something..
Oh sweet, theres a fake JR!
The artistic community of Fort Worth should be praised for their accomplishments. Spiral Diner, Hemphill 1919 and now the Metrognome Collective are three such accomplishments. All three have a tremendous sense of community and actually have the courage and dedication to make something interesting and purposeful available to its citizens. They are generally friendly and receptive to the struggle of individuals who seek non-corporate choices. They are leading Fort Worth into the future.
Denton (my beloved dwelling place) is an insulated township whose artistic community has been and especially recently is open to realizing the possibilities of collaboration, participation and enthusiasm. There is a sense of a commitment to offering its citizens a chance to experiment and explore the more expressive elements of modern life. The 8th Continent and the soon to be open Secret HQ are great examples of dedication to viable outlets for those seeking non-corporate community communion. Denton remains unique in its sense of adventure and style. The advancing hand of urban/suburban sprawl will present the greatest challenge to the underground artistic community of Denton.
Dallas has so many tremendous attributes. It also has the potential to be very productive in the realm of art-spaces that cater towards creativity as opposed to pure profit. It may just be a matter of time. While the "death of Deep Ellum" is underscored by a sort of hip disdain, the decline of that neighborhood has nonetheless been monumental to the concept of underground art in Dallas. The rise of Deep Ellum in the mid 1980’s was spectacular and ambitious. Unfortunately, it met its demise at the hands of the very forces it was originally founded in contrary to. Obviously, Deep Ellum was not and is not the only area in Dallas that offers artistic opportunities. There are places in operation today that many readers on this blog consider vital. However, in my opinion, the Dallas artistic community seems somewhat fractured in scope and vision. Nonetheless, the desire for a positive result is evident.
It may be impossible to unite all of the Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton underground in some sort of cohesive movement. It may be more beneficial to view these matters in terms of synergistic neighborhoods. However, when one has the time, money and desire to do so, we should venture out to one another's neighborhood to seek, communicate and experience what we as a metropolitan area have to offer one another.
The most important aspect of this discussion to consider is that positive communication will lead to positive organization.
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