Post-Show-Post: The Hotcakes in Montauk
*Editors Note: The views expressed in this blog are only the views of it's author and NOT those of rock & roll band, The Hotcakes.
I've been asked several times over the last 16 hours, "how was it?" ..."it" being the FIRST ANNUAL Montauk Music Festival (still a ballsy title on their part if you ask me) and I can honestly say I had a lot of fun. Also, now I can say, "I was a Hotcake" ...or was I?
I'd post a picture of the band, or us playing, or us doing anything, but those pictures don't exist. If I had to put money on it, I'd say it was part of a cheap ploy by The Hotcakes to keep any evidence of my participation to a minimum, in case they go on to be huge stars and I try to get in touch. Well played, band, well played...luckily I had this photo taken when they weren't paying attention (I know it looks like they were paying attention, but trust me, they weren't.)
I did take 2 pictures, one of the ocean (above,) and one of the map on the wall of The Memory Motel (below.) Why? Well, the ocean is a nice thing to see when you haven't seen it in a while, and the map on the wall of The Memory Motel maybe because it's still there since our last visit in 1999, and still missing a particular country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean (tee hee hee) but I wouldn't know anything about that.
Back to the topic at hand...the music festival was interesting. If I were in charge, I'd have done things a little different. Just a few things though:
-Maybe a cooler logo
-Maybe less venues.
-Maybe more shows back to back in a closer perimeter as opposed to all over the place with no rhyme or reason.
- And maybe, JUST MAYBE a hired staff of sound technicians to work the smaller # of venues involved.
I'M JUST SAYIN, FIRST ANNUAL MONTAUK MUSIC FESTIVAL, IF YOU'RE LISTENING.
This festival is, very obviously, wet behind the ears and maybe that's why they decided to include "first annual" to the title, because it was easier than saying:
"The Montauk Music Festival - please consider us next year after we've seen the error of our ways, or maybe we should just consider sticking to shark tournaments"
(shark tournaments, by the way, are not as exciting as they sound. Turns out it's just a fishing thing, and NOT sharks competing against one another in various 'sharky' events around the Montauk area.)
I shouldn't, but I'll take pity...you tried, "First Annual Montauk Music Festival," and for that I'm proud of you. I hope a Second Annual is in your future, you deserve it. We're all in this together. Firsts are a difficult thing to do...yup, let's just leave it at that.
About the music:
The Hotcakes played back to back nights at The Memory Motel...
Let me clarify, once again, I'm not speaking for The Hotcakes. They've got it together on stage. All I'm saying is I think I did a pretty damn good job.
Friday Night, we went on at 1am (scheduled for Midnight.) Anywhere else, and that's just too damn late, but out there it's a town full of people working at restaurants or bars. Most don't make it out until about Midnight, so the night literally ends when the sun comes up. Our first experience with the Memory Motel stage left us curious as to how it might have sounded in the bar. On stage it was a sea of noise, but to hell with it, we played well.
Saturday Night, we went on around 11pm (scheduled for 10.) Ironically, we'd have preferred the 1am start time. Saturday nights late night crowd was pretty thick, but hey, what can you do. Our second experience with the Memory Motel stage might have left the bar curious as to how it might have sounded on stage. Apparently we were "too loud"...to which I say, I don't know what rock & roll sounds like where YOU come from, but loud is a key ingredient in my town. I think it's a classic case of over compensation for a sound mix that wasn't up to snuff the night before. Regardless, we played well, dammit.
I have no qualms with blaming the sound mix, because we played well. It's a no excuses business, and I own up to mistakes. My performance wasn't flawless by any means, and I'd be the first to say "we didn't do so well" (in ALL honesty I probably wouldn't post about it if we sucked) but that's not the case. It's a part of the game, playing with dumpy sound, and in that game it just so happens we rocked people's faces off.
In a blog post riddled with sarcasm, bitterness, & competing sharks, I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to a great band for my temporary membership. I look forward to our paths crossing again and you can be sure I'll be promoting their upcoming shows via twitter, facebook & this very blog, even though I won't be *sniff*sniff* in the band. One question, does my membership expire immediately, or can I still use the pool?
In closing, if you haven't checked out The Hotcakes yet, get on it. NYC Rock & Roll by way of Brooklyn. I think it's been too long since lower Manhattan was taken over by a woman and her band of fellas...
GO SEE THEM, Mercury Lounge NYC - 5/25
see ya soon.
UncategorizedMatt Sucich May 17, 2010 2 Comments
The Black Keys: Akron, OH
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