yesterday i received a text and also saw a facebook post that rademacher was doing a surprise show at tokyo garden with the band mad happy. i'd never heard of mad happy, but thought i'd go because it would be rademacher's first show back as a four piece. that's right, last show they were a new three piece featuring r.c. on bass, and now they're a four piece with r.c. on bass, eli on drums, johnathan hadden (back from n.y. & in the band) on rhythm guitar and malcalm sosa on lead guitar and vocals.
i knew it would be a small show, and did my best to spread the word a little via text and twitter. two friends decided to join me and i headed off to the show.
so, as mad happy sound checking, one of my friends was saying how he bought their cd the last time they were in town. he admitted he was a little "influenced" at the time, and we were giving him a hard time about his purchase. by the end of their set i was considering a cd myself, although i abstained. but here are some thoughts i jotted down last night:
- secret surprise show = no people
- strange band fresno people don't know = no people
seriously, mad happy had one fan there. there was me & my two friends. there was one guy sitting at the bar. three other people came in later. seven people for two bands.
- mad happy was a little too demanding during sound check. i know, you want your monitors right, but they guy just seemed a little primadonna-ish
- bring your own fans. really, we wondered after the show when it was planned. mad happy basically drives around the country in a car with their baby and their dog. so, i'm sure they get in touch with people and set up shows, but they've got to have some network of fans.
- very fun stage presence. they're a two piece, and the guy is just dancing and flying all around the stage. the girl might've been more animated, but she had her baby in a frontpack.
- that's right, there was a baby. on stage. with headphones. the baby with headphones was a pretty funny touch, especially when we called them earmuffs during a song that was littered with f bombs.
- since most everyone was city at the bar, the band made a joke that we were at an anti-bar-mitzveh. a mitzveh being a blessing, a barmitzveh being a party to celebrate, i guess he didn't feel we were having enough fun. but we were.
- music was cool. it had a jewish feel, with hip hop harmonies. really, the vocal interplay of the two was dope.
- the said they would trade green for a cd. not green paper, but green. they also said they'd trade green paper for cd's as well.
- i never would have expected that i was coming to a jewish hippy hip hop show when i left the house tonight.
----------
- rock-a-macher showed up tonight.
- the sound was very tight. reintroduction of john hadden wasn't a problem at all, even with just 1 practice as a four piece.
- mike on lead guitar = good!
check out the song i bootlegged that inspired the previous comment. it's called charles.
- r.c. on backing/shouted vocals is super nice
- sounding the best i've heard in quite some time
- when jonathan was in the band before he was the only one playing guitar, and i think this limited him. with mike on guitar as well, hadden was able to play with more flare tonight and it was cool.
- the show ended up being basically a trial run/band practice for rademacher's upcoming weekend shows (cellar door in visalia, the smell in los angeles)
have another bootlegged song if you got some magic.
hey, i had a good time last night. it was only $3, and it felt like a private show.
5 comments:
This sounds good. For some reason Tokyo seems really hard to get people to if there's not a band with a substantial following (Rademacher can usually do it, but like you said, it was last-minute). A few of the shows I've attended there (including last Friday) had less than 10 in the audience. Maybe it's because it's not in Tower. Maybe it's because there isn't a "regular" schedule (e.g., shows vs. karaoke, etc.). Hopefully as more people move into the surrounding lofts things will pick up. It's a nice little place.
Anyway, it sounds like a good show. I'm excited to see the new Rademacher lineup. Keep up the good work.
thanks, conlan
BOOTLEGGER! Call the music cops, shocking sir, I would never.
Yeah, when you do ZERO promotion you're not going to have anybody show up, esp' when Tokyo (like Conlan said) has no schedule. I always assume nothing is happening at Tokyo. It's hard enough to get people out to a regular venue with good promotion.
yeah, i was even going to acknowledge that i stole your game of bootlegging in fresno, but i just decided to steal it outright.
As one of the few fellow witnesses to the crime (and the show) I have to say it needed to be recorded.
Remember when every Rademacher art hop show shook Fulton?
The music is even better now*.
As for Mad Happy, I admit to owning their CD. They were fun the first time around and they were funny this time. Have you ever seen a singer breastfeed on stage before? I haven't.
What's missing from this blog entry is a picture of Dad, Mom, and frontsack baby on stage.
* No offense to Brad, Greer and any number of drummers.
Post a Comment