NO FUTURE III POST SCRIPT FALLOUT
Tom Grimley took a shitload of videos at No Future III - thusly, we have a bevy of visual reminders of what was, at once, the most musically complete and well regarded No Future ever, and the most poorly attended, especially in proportion. Promotion vs Attendance is still a mystery to me - between articles in the dirty local rag Independent, to mention in that glossy pop rag SPIN, there was no lack of attention from the print.
Although, now that I think about it, said mention in the Indy was hardly promotion - after all, I thought there was already a roundtable discussion in the pages of the Indy talking about what noise was, but Grayson revisited the discussion again, further extending the subjectivity of the art form by overworking the nuances of the genre, without spending much time celebrating the diversity of acts at No Future. By spotlighting harsh noise, quoting Crumer, disagreeing him, yes maybe the reader developed an enhanced sense of awareness of what will most likely continue to be endless discussions about what noise is and isn't, but the poor readers missed the whole point - that No Future III was as much about noise as it was in general about music and art and weirdos.
After all, Auk Theatre is not noise at all, period, and Noxagt play noise rock, but aren't a noise band. Harrius did something which might be called noise, but I'm not so sure it wasn't more in that category of music best called weird. Tom Grimley isn't really a noise musician as much as a genius, carpenter, electrician, and visionary. So ultimately, I just take issue with Grayson's article because I feel like it was more of a self-indulgent rant on the eternally vexing ins and outs of noise, and missed an opportunity to actually talk about the music which was to be on display - thereby leaving the masses of the Triangle to sit and read about a music form but giving them absolutely no incentive to get up off their couch ass-groove and check anything out.
Nevertheless, No Future III was hardly a failure, and if not enough people came to satisfy me or Crumer, it wasn't really just Grayson's fault - maybe we should have had more locals play? I had a blast, with Bloodyminded taking the cake by far. I managed to end up with their set list as a souvenir, and that in itself is worth all sleep anyone lost mopping up Rodger's blood and sweeping up broken glass. I listed the songs on the next post. Everyone needs a Macronympha set every now and then, it's not a big deal if it lasts til 3:15 or they take thirty minutes to set up. Helping Rodger pack his stuff back into his backpack after the set made me feel like a Boy Scout again. And yes, I did have fun during the Squelchers, thanks anonymous! American Band played what was an EPIC, unplanned set, Grateful Dead proportions, with the feeling of being strapped to the bottom of a prop airplane for an hour. Lee has a big drill.
Maybe No Future III was just a little too close to New York's No Fun 2007, in both geographic and temporal relationship, and to that end, perhaps some mid-Atlantic noise junkies saved their dough, opting to go see all the stars like Merzbow, Keiji Haino, Incapacitants, The Rita, Religious Knives, whatever. Hey - Crumer's playing with as part of American Band + Air Conditioning - that should be a hoot!
Whatever - yes - "Whatever". I invoke the choice term of dissatisfaction, apathy, and malaise for my generation to indicate that all this wondering about what did and didn't happen at No Future III may not matter in the end, cuz I've got the Farrior House Show on Friday to look forward to.
PEAS
12 Comments:
The headline of the article was "NO GOOD"
Journalistic sword fighting, yeah, how lame.
That article really pissed me off. It freaked me out because Grayson was there having a good time the whole time. Seemed like after basically trashing my efforts of the last five years he'd at least have the decency to not show up. So he got to look real smart by proving me wrong in print (though the argument took place after I left) AND enjoy a high-quality line up of awesome diverse noise artists. Win win for him.
Also - this was the only no future fest with ONLY ONE FLIER. I made them, everybody dropped the ball, that is THREE people / groups of people, this poster will self destruct, ryan martin, and the nightlight. I made my poster intentionally square thinking you guys would come up with some freaky shit, you didn't. Chapel Hill dropped the ball. You'd think people would have more pride in themselves, their town, this festival, their venue or whatever it takes. I don't even live there man, it really would've taken an hour. That was pathetic.
This fest had a ton of hype outside of the town of Chapel Hill, but nothing in town.
Also, the nightlight ownership change can't be discounted as a reason for lower attendence. Fuck, people were wearing bracelets, there were RULES and it was a lot more anal than before, really that can't be forgotten. Nightlight is only really acceptable when it's wild and free, and the town knows that.
Overall though I think most had a good time and would play again / come back. The attendence was like 1/4 of the last year's though. I understand that people were busy etc, and many people put MUCH hard work into making the fest happen. Thanks to Alexis and Charlie and FUCKING ETHAN (wow, what did he do to deserve that !!) for their tireless good natured efforts. Thanks to yes Grayson for again helping to pick people up from the airport, to Alexis again for the same thing. It killed me, but it was worth it. More work went into this no future fest than any other. Maybe we tried too hard.
Next year No Future will not happen or be organized by someone else, or largely by someone else. I may be too burnt out, between over-bearing club owners, parasitic journalists, and an apathetic public I think it would be wise to just give it up.
BURNT
Crumer
AND - BLAST BEAT last year probably had something to do with it. Maybe people were scared, or traumatized ??
Oh - it is you Jason - OK I have your pedal-it's at the house. I was just playing with it, in fact.
Sorry I didn't make a flier, I thought I would make up for it by posting almost every single one you made, though. Nevertheless, I think there are some serious intangibles going on here, and I appreciate the candidness of your theories. Feedback is essential, not the type that comes out of speakers, but feedback from all angles.
I don't know if its fair to say that the rules, formality, and whatnot, prevented people from wanting to attend, since they wouldn't have known about that beforehand. The bracelets were meant as a way to make sure that only the band members got the free beer, and since there were like over 40 people performing, it was too much to ask the bartenders to remember. And how would anyone from Chapel Hill have known that No Future was any more or less formal than years past unless they actually paid to get in and hung around for a while?
It couldn't have been cost, since people will pay 12 bucks on a weeknight to see three bands at competing venues. People will pay 40 bucks to see some jamband like Widespread Panic - and there you have to go buy your tickets at a place called the Hardee's Thickburger Box Office. No Future III was the deal of deals.
Also - yes, I failed to mention that maybe the aftershock of what happened last year late Saturday night had people scared, but where were all the weirdos who get off on that kind of spectacle? Is everyone going soft?
I'm a little burnt too, wondering about attendance at our little club in general. Well, now Nightlight sells wine. Maybe different booze will mean different something else.
Thanks for all your hard work Crumer. No Future was fun!
Charlies
Actually, No Future II only had one flier - First No Future was the only one with two. Also, square as your fliers were or whatever, they were eye-catching and they were EVERYWHERE -More so than any other year, Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill/Carrboro - Greensboro too, right? The Matt Hart poster from year two has hardly an ubiquitous presence due to the limited supply - 30 or so maybe? - all placed sporadically in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. It would have been nice to have multiple designs, but I don't think this had any significant impact on attendance.
I dropped the ball in a big way this year by letting personal issues stand in the way of the Saturday night show, which I deeply regret. I wish I could do it over again. I need to stop being so sensitive I guess.
The Indy press did sort of miss the point of the fest - which was that there were all these amazing folks playing together on the same bill. Maybe Grayson was woefully unfamiliar with the acts. I know there's a lot of them, but some simple myspace and google searches would make most noise/weirdo/etc music fans salivate.
One thing is that things feel pretty different in town - it felt like there types of shows were picking up more momentum, but this town refreshes itself so much that it's hard to sustain. Most college kids are painfully square, which sucks, and the alternative yupster ones are primarily looking for a nice social backdrop for their unproductive incestuous hang-out time. Fuckers!
I mean, not that those sorts are a prime No Future audience, I guess it just seems more local kids fall into this category than in previous years. Less visceral sorts. Ah well.
no future two had a flier by me and a flier by you - two
Dude, you're thinking of No Future One! No Future Two had a Matt Hart flier only, unless you made one I never saw
I had a great time, aside from getting hit in the face with a cable within 5 minutes of walking in the door on Friday and having to look at a lot of butt crack from my spot behind the stage...
Can't really add anything to the recriminations, except to say that this past weekend's Signal Fest events (not just at Nightlight) were also poorly attended.
I think this is just an awkward time of year for big events, as the student population is wrapped up in getting the fuck out of town... most of them are painfully square, yes, but we're talking about tens of thousands of people, plus assorted boy/girlfriends.
My highlights:
Tom Grimley, Irene Moon, Lexie Mountain Boys + whoever played after her, Ferveur Noire on Saturday (he apologized really nicely for whacking me on Friday), Damion Romero, Laundry Room Squelchers, Noxagt and American Band. Also -- it was really nice to see more women performing.
+Fucking Ethan
TOM GRIMLEY was great. And I'm sure you (ethan) loved it because you didn't have to do sound.
He partied at the house for 8 days, before and after, the fest, really a great guy and a joy to be around.
A big factor that I didn't mention before is the overall ARROGANCE on the part of the organizers (me). The previous years were like "check this cool shit out" and this year was all "attendance is mandatory - pussies" so that's my fault.
NO FUTURE !!!
JASON
Well I got to defend Grayson a bit here.
This is ridiculous. Did any of you actually read Grayson's article. All he did was celebrate the stylistic variety of music and noise as music and celebrate what I associate with Nightlight, what Jason says is best, when it is "wild and free".
Grayson concludes his article, " That said, I don't care if noise has a mean spirit as much as I care that it has a spirit—something important to be communicated. And one of the things I love about noise (or improvised music at large, not that all noise is improvised) is its lack of apology, its ability to try something risky even if it fails and embrace success or failure. The indeterminate elements that introduces simply can't thrive when people have complete control over their sounds. Watching a noise musician adjust a tone the wrong way and recover by folding that error into his set is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced, and, to me, it's good noise: Watching someone take their limitations and foibles and strengths and build something unexpected and wobbly and unorthodox from it. Then again, it's just silly noise. I'm glad it's here."
I realize we can interpret that last sentence pretty differently, but I only read in this article that No Future is one of the most exciting opportunities we have in the Triangle to see this kind of music at one time in one place. That "good noise" is as unbounded as "good music". That is why he was there the whole time having a good time. In the article that is precisely what he says he was going to do. I guess he didn't mention the diversity of acts enough or specific acts, but honestly would any readers have any fucking idea what he was talking about? He knew who more of the artists were than I, but I guess I am not so in on the noise scene. Plus with 40 acts or so and 200 words how could he isolate certain acts when there was such diversity.
Now yes I know Grayson and I play in a band with him too so defending him here maybe suspect to folks but I was at most of No Future Fest and I loved some of it and some of it was brilliant and thought some of it was shit and unsurprisingly Grayson and I and others I spoke to disagreed about which was which, regardless I appreciated every musician and person there. Opportunities like No Future are rare, and I think Grayson expressed that, and I don't know about attendance, I have never understood attendance in this town, but yes it did seem poorer attended but there is no accounting for taste and there will always be squares and who the fuck knows what people do with their time. I didn't have a wristband and it seemed like I could walk in and out and experienced no problems of more rules and, although I backed the fuck away when they were playing last year, I really doubt people were so afraid from Blast Beat that they avoided No Future this year.
Thanks to Jason and Ryan for organizing, as always thanks to Nightlight folks and even Fucking Ethan
Aaron Smithers
Wow!
10 Comments! I should organize another No Future in a couple weeks just to see the online banter. What fun - I haven't had this much fun or online self indulgence since, since, since ...
Luv
Hey, I think it would be cool if you could separate the 2 (or 3) sessions/nights of music by genre. For example, one group of musicians is that brutal assault ear-splitting noise type stuff and one set or day is more of the general weird but melodic stuff like lexie mountain boys. I would have loved to see them again but I stayed away because I knew there would be some acts i really wouldn't care for on the same bill. Now that I am old and no longer jah-bless I am not as willing to assault my aural sensibilities to get to the more strange and wonderful things. Also, attendance may have been helped by more local acts? Sometimes people come out to shows just because their buddies are in one of the bands. boner machine comes to mind here. haha.
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