Providence Music Scene

[runawayjim]

I disagree. Yes, in Fall River and New London, it blows. I'm not a clubkid by any stretch of the imagination, but the gay scene here sucks too. Maybe the gay bathhouse -vo booth-trashy trampy twink crowd is alive and kicking because people do come here from all over NE for that.....but the old Cheers-like bars, dive bars,hang-out joints are gone. It has turned into a "the eclectic dinner party West End hag" everywhere you go....great for some people but definitely not my scene and that 's a shame because it always was.....just realizing this one after getting out of a relationship..The eclectic West End Providence South End Boston transplant queen crew used to dot the landscape.....now they completely dominate the spectrum...

sounds to me like you don't really know what you're talking about. i might not be gay, but i know plenty of them... providence is the place to be.

as for the neighborhood friendly bars... they're still here as well...

[Lone Ranger]

I disagree. Yes, in Fall River and New London, it blows.

Wait, I'm confused. Wouldn't that be considered a good thing?

[Cotuit]

I disagree. Yes, in Fall River and New London, it blows. I'm not a clubkid by any stretch of the imagination, but the gay scene here sucks too. Maybe the gay bathhouse -vo booth-trashy trampy twink crowd is alive and kicking because people do come here from all over NE for that.....but the old Cheers-like bars, dive bars,hang-out joints are gone. It has turned into a "the eclectic dinner party West End hag" everywhere you go....great for some people but definitely not my scene and that 's a shame because it always was.....just realizing this one after getting out of a relationship..The eclectic West End Providence South End Boston transplant queen crew used to dot the landscape.....now they completely dominate the spectrum...

It seems like you hate everyone and everything, I'm feel bad for you.

[Jerry2]

It seems like you hate everyone and everything, I'm feel bad for you.

Yes...you hit the hammer on the nail. I hate everybody and everything. Without insulting you or making a personal jab, what would you do if you ended your relationship and were suddenly thrown into the gay scene at 30+? Now maybe your a personals type of guy or a web hook-up type of guy, but if you wanted to leave the house like me, I think you would sing a different tune.

Whether it's the 110 conspiracy theory, the dead music scene, or the cliche gay scene, it all boils down to one common denominator.....the direction the city has taken...the transformation from having its own complete identity to one of a Boston suburb.....People can make as many analogies as they like. I've lived here many more moons here than you and most of the people that post here. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between and I'm still here. I'm not against change nor gentrification. I'm upset that the city has no comprehensive plan when it comes to zoning, development, tax reduction, displacement of residents, displacement of arts and leisure, pro-business development, non-profit intrusions, alternative transit, broken schools...among others including the special interest groups and politicians that hold any type of real reform back..However, besides UP being a great source of information, I happen to agree with 95% of what people say here. That's why I like this site. Just because my personal opinion doesn't always take the course of the majority of Providence UP posters or conform to your standards....doesn't make me hate everything...There are many things I do like about RI but I'm not going to write a Mark Patinkin style post to pacify someone's thought process. Your mileage varies!

[Kracula]

OK, first post ever. I've been along time reader of these forums, but here goes...

First of all, I don't think it's the music scene in Providence that's dead...it's the music scene in general. There just isn't much exciting going on in music right now. That's why we're not seeing as many big name acts coming to this city. The music industry is, unfortunately, at an all time low as far as profitability goes. Therefore, I can understand why so many venues have closed shop in the past couple of years. People aren't buying CDs, or even going out to see as much live enetrtainment as they did 10 years ago. A lot of this has to do with the economy (especially gas prices, which affects pretty much everything), as well as the fact that the major record companies have all consolidated and are pushing generic top 40 crap down the throat of the mainstream.

I'm sure we're all seeing this as a Providence issue since we all live here, but I haven't seen as much going on in Boston either. This just isn't a great time for the industry as a whole, and if cheesy dance clubs are keeping "the scene" alive, then I say it's better than nothing. I moved here 10 years ago from the Tidewater area of Virginia, and I can say Providence still has a music scene 10 times better than what we had in the Norflok/ Virginia Beach area.

On a side note, I've really come to love this city, and I feel it's getting better with each year of growth. We still have a lot more character than Worcester, Hartford, and Fall River combined. There's so much that Downcity has to offer now (AS220, PPAC, etc.), and I don't think we can become "Times Square" overnight.

I hope that made sense. I just worked a very long shift at work, and I'm half asleep. Anyway, I just hope everyone stays positive. Great things are happening. Let's not sink the boat before it sets sail. Or something like that.

[brick]

OK, first post ever. I've been along time reader of these forums, but here goes...

First of all, I don't think it's the music scene in Providence that's dead...it's the music scene in general. There just isn't much exciting going on in music right now. That's why we're not seeing as many big name acts coming to this city.

I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you as late as two years ago but I have to disagree entirely now.

the late 90's and early 2000's were indeed dark days for the music industry. Industry consolidation put a chokehold on mainstream creativity. Labels were looking for people to sell 15 million records and were doign it by trying to make everyone sound the same. Is it any surprise that people who like country music don't want Shania Twain sounding like Justin Timberlake? Is it any surprise that people who like punk were put off by every band trying to sound *exactly* like Blink 182? To me, not really. This sanitization of music took away a lot of the vibrancy.

But in the background, there were a bunch of folks growing up and refining their sound and making music because you aren't going to kill creative forces. There is a huge scene in the UK with a revival of post-punk and brit-pop styles and there are relatively large scenes in NYC and Toronto that seem to be pumping out new bands every other week. the Paradise and Avalon in Boston who couldn't really keep their schedule full without booking Bon Jovi cover bands are booked and sold out months in advance for bands like the dozen or so I mentioned and multiple dozens more. (and the ticket prices tell me that people are going)

I'll put it this way. If you look at my music acquisition habits (buying CDs, using iTunes, "borrowing", what-have-you) I purchased about 5 CDs worth of "new" music between 1998 and 2003. Sure, I bought Radiohead and U2 and REM but I didn't really pick up anything from a band I had never heard before and say "wow I need to own this." In the last 3 years I've probably picked up somewhere between 50 and 60. I have had this discussion with my friends and I really thought I was just getting old and wasn't going to ever find anything new to be good anymore. I felt kind of fogey-ish, listening to my old Cure and Joy Division and Pixies records. But now I've determined that I was "right" and that music just sucked for the 5-8 year period of the late 90's to early 00's, because there is plenty of stuff I am interested in being created everyday. (for the record, lest I be categorized unfairly, I'm not just talking about indie style rock, it was also a low point for hip-hop, one that the industry is still in, I think. but it's the same problem of everyone being made to have the same P. Diddy produced style sound. And if A Tribe Called Quest or Public Enemy or bands that wrote and performed like them were "out there" I would be at those shows, too. Unfortunately the only mainstream hip-hop I'm really down with is Kanye and I don't think we'll see him in PVD anytime soon, either. Maybe Gnarls Barkley will decide to come here when they do a club tour)

As for the argument in general, I do apologize for starting with the flash point of the Lupo-Cornish fiasco (and it was a fiasco). My intent was not really to be provocative, it was just to let people know that there was a reason to go downtown many years ago - there was just no reason to stay.

[BBascule]

Bloc Party

Interpol

Snow Patrol

Kasabian

The Arcade Fire

Mates of State

Cat Power

The Kaiser Chiefs

The Go! Team

Editors

Stellastarr*

Maximo Park

Hard-Fi

These are all shows I either took the time to travel and see in the past year or that I would have easily gone to see but did not because of conflicts mostly arising due to the distance, etc.

Those are the kind of shows that Ty Jesso used to bring to town with his "Totally Wired" series at the Last Call Saloon (mid-1990's). Most of the bands used to stop in Providence on their way from Boston > New York, so the shows would often fall on Tuesday or Thursday. It takes a really dedicated person to pull that off - it's a pretty thankless job. It also helps that there were a handful of indie Providence bands (Velvet Crush, Small Factory, Honeybunch, etc) that used to help pull similar bands into the area.

[Cotuit]

OK, first post ever. I've been along time reader of these forums, but here goes...

Welcome!

As for the argument in general, I do apologize for starting with the flash point of the Lupo-Cornish fiasco (and it was a fiasco). My intent was not really to be provocative, it was just to let people know that there was a reason to go downtown many years ago - there was just no reason to stay.

Don't apologize for the thread, I think it's great although it would be nice if the passion could be toned down a notch, or at least a half notch. I hope the people who are passionate about this issue can find a way to channel that to try to make something positive happen in town.

[matt]

First of all, I don't think it's the music scene in Providence that's dead...it's the music scene in general. There just isn't much exciting going on in music right now. That's why we're not seeing as many big name acts coming to this city. The music industry is, unfortunately, at an all time low as far as profitability goes.

I keep wondering about this. Is this the case, or is it that we all want the music scene to be what it was when we were 18-24?

[MikeR]

I keep wondering about this. Is this the case, or is it that we all want the music scene to be what it was when we were 18-24?

I think the decline of the music scene has to have something to do with increase of drug use. I used to go the Elbow ST. Cafe a LOT in my 20's for example; I loved all the live music played there. But I noticed with the rise of the "party drugs" , espicially Esctasy, the club scene was becoming one big drug hangout, complete with glow sticks and binkies, and I just stopped going there. The last time I checked out live music was about 8 years ago, and have no desire to go again until these party drugs go away.

[runawayjim]

I think the decline of the music scene has to have something to do with increase of drug use. I used to go the Elbow ST. Cafe a LOT in my 20's for example; I loved all the live music played there. But I noticed with the rise of the "party drugs" , espicially Esctasy, the club scene was becoming one big drug hangout, complete with glow sticks and binkies, and I just stopped going there. The last time I checked out live music was about 8 years ago, and have no desire to go again until these party drugs go away.

i don't know... the party drugs were around in the 90's when the rave scene was big. and the 2 scenes co-existed without much problem.

i think a big part of it is the music industry as a whole and i do have a feeling we will see an upswing soon as more of these underground bands develop followings and more and more bands bypass the major labels, which get them nowhere because they don't care about the music, just the money (and they don't get money from live shows).

[matt]

i think a big part of it is the music industry as a whole and i do have a feeling we will see an upswing soon as more of these underground bands develop followings and more and more bands bypass the major labels, which get them nowhere because they don't care about the music, just the money (and they don't get money from live shows).

Good point. there was an excellent Frontline episode on this topic:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/view/

[BBascule]

{sorry in advance for the long post}

Before this thread gives the impression that Providence is devoid of original local music, I thought I should post some info about what is actually a thriving music scene. It's not the kind of music that Brick is referring to. The music scene that Providence is best known for flies under the radar because the bands aren't typically radio-friendly. They're noisy, sometimes annoying, often costumed, and always entertaining. They will rarely, if ever, play at Lupo's and can mostly be found at the mills and factories that the music was born in. The current Providence music scene has a reputation and plenty of admirers in Chicago, San Francisco and San Diego where they seem to know more about it than we do at home. With this in mind, it's a little unfair to say that the local music scene is dead. On the contrary, there are niches in the local music scene that are defining and pioneering the very concept of music. In some ways the current scene is at odds with gentrification that's happening in the western parts of the city (there have already been plenty of threads about it). Ideally, it'd be great if this music community could still have a place in the emerging Providence.

Here's a Brown student's take on the scene:

http://www.emplive.org/education/index.asp...4&year=2004

"The Art of Noise: How the Providence, RI Loft Scene Hears its Godawful Racket"

...Some will find their way to the neighborhood known as Olneyville, where dozens of textile mills have become the home of a thriving alternative arts culture, of which "noise rock" has become a defining feature. Bands like Lightning Bolt, Arab on Radar and Black Dice have become the city's cultural emissaries, having ignited passionate reviews from critics worldwide and put the city on the avant-garde music-making map.

Here are some excerpts and links about how the rest of the country sees the current Providence music scene:

From a vacuous article on Wikipedia:

Providence, the state's capital, has a very strong local independent music scene, know especially for its contributions to the noise rock genre.

From Spin Magazine:

http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2004/12/art_noise/

In Providence, the cradle of neo-noise, one-man sound terrorists Prurient and Kites play alongside more traditional (but no less chaotic and skronky) groups Mahi Mahi and Daughters..."This is as incredible as anything I've ever heard since going to see groups in 1976," says Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, a longtime scene booster, who has talked up many of the bands in a column he cowrites for Arthur magazine. Though its origins lie in the '70s proto-industrial grind of London's Throbbing Gristle and the sonic assault of '80s and '90s Japanese noisemongers like Merzbow and the Boredoms, today's noise punk developed largely as party music. In 1995, Chippendale and some friends from the Rhode Island School of Design-including Mat Brinkman of the art collective Forcefield, who were featured in the Whitney Museum's 2002 Biennial-moved into an old mill and named it Fort Thunder. They covered every inch of the space with their art. Sculpture and found objects literally became the walls.

"Suddenly, there were people everywhere," Chippendale says. "It was really cheap, there was tons of space, and you could be as loud as you wanted. Nobody gave a crap. We practiced all the time, had parties and shows all the time. It was a really wide and free and creative place."

The scene was full of unbridled, childlike enthusiasm. "I thought of Fort Thunder as the future," says Gibson, the painfully shy but gifted bassist whose throbbing, whistling tones are the wings of Lightning Bolt's sound. "It was a model that was destined to be repeated. It was this seed that was planted and was going to spread. But right before it got to the point where it was going to be germinated, it got bulldozed." Fort Thunder was shut down in 2001, and its former space is now home to a Staples and a parking lot.

From a Canadian Music Site:

...The album

[urbie]

How about actual music? I mean stuff that someone over a certain age might consider listenable? I put on the headphones and braved a few cuts by V for Vendetta, Drop Dead, M-80, Verbal Assualt, and a couple of other bands linked from the last site mentioned in the previous post. To each his own, but... well, it's not my thing. Two bars with repeat signs around them, is the thought that comes to mind, with the processed sound of the scream from Strauss's "Elektra" played through a distortion box. At the risk of sounding like an old f*rt, our parents said the same thing about rock-and-roll of a few decades ago -- but at least Hendrix could play some pentatonic scales... Geezus, practice your instruments, kids!

Urb

[runawayjim]

How about actual music? I mean stuff that someone over a certain age might consider listenable? I put on the headphones and braved a few cuts by V for Vendetta, Drop Dead, M-80, Verbal Assualt, and a couple of other bands linked from the last site mentioned in the previous post. To each his own, but... well, it's not my thing. Two bars with repeat signs around them, is the thought that comes to mind, with the processed sound of the scream from Strauss's "Elektra" played through a distortion box. At the risk of sounding like an old f*rt, our parents said the same thing about rock-and-roll of a few decades ago -- but at least Hendrix could play some pentatonic scales... Geezus, practice your instruments, kids!

Urb

yikes... i decided to give it a listen... i'm listening to something called "immigrant radio" by the olneyville sound system... it's literally just noise, and i don't know how anyone who actually likes music can call this creative or even music. it's literally just some guy pounding the drums with the same beat over and over again and another guy screaming "WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING!!! ON THE RADIO!!" at the top of his lungs. that is not music or even the slightest bit creative. it sounds like a 5 year old playing and some crazed dude just screaming.

i'm gonna listen to more though. i am the kind of person who is interested in different types of music... and i'll listen to it at least once.

yeah... i think i'd need to be on something really strong to consider this music (although some of it is a bit more "melodic")... it's just noise if you ask me. i'll stick with my underground neo-hippy music.

[JimmyGreaves]

yikes... i decided to give it a listen... i'm listening to something called "immigrant radio" by the olneyville sound system... it's literally just noise, and i don't know how anyone who actually likes music can call this creative or even music. it's literally just some guy pounding the drums with the same beat over and over again and another guy screaming "WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING!!! ON THE RADIO!!" at the top of his lungs. that is not music or even the slightest bit creative. it sounds like a 5 year old playing and some crazed dude just screaming.

i'm gonna listen to more though. i am the kind of person who is interested in different types of music... and i'll listen to it at least once.

I say rock on ...I am only slightly familiar with the Providence noise music that has been referenced here, but as someone that used to be involved in the hardcore scene back in the 90's at my university outside Philly and later in Pittsburgh, I think the energy and D.I.Y. attitude that prevails in this kind of scene can be a benefit to Providence. Some of these kids can be the most socially conscious and energetic, and that energy if well-channeled can create an environment that is vibrant and lively also while injecting a dose of social responsibility as well. The fact that these bands can be recognized in "far away" cities is impressive seeing as how they receive no mainstream promotion. It's this organic growth of a music scene that gives me hope that similar inroads can be made in other areas of Providence.

[runawayjim]

I say rock on ...I am only slightly familiar with the Providence noise music that has been referenced here, but as someone that used to be involved in the hardcore scene back in the 90's at my university outside Philly and later in Pittsburgh, I think the energy and D.I.Y. attitude that prevails in this kind of scene can be a benefit to Providence. Some of these kids can be the most socially conscious and energetic, and that energy if well-channeled can create an environment that is vibrant and lively also while injecting a dose of social responsibility as well. The fact that these bands can be recognized in "far away" cities is impressive seeing as how they receive no mainstream promotion. It's this organic growth of a music scene that gives me hope that similar inroads can be made in other areas of Providence.

while there's no denying that there is a scene and that it is impressive that they are recognized across the country... i still don't know if i can consider much of it music.

hardcore is a lot better in my opinion.

[urbie]

while there's no denying that there is a scene and that it is impressive that they are recognized across the country... i still don't know if i can consider much of it music.

hardcore is a lot better in my opinion.

Hey, rock on, no sweat! Thanks for taking my comments in the spirit in which they were intended. I don't much care for a lot of Schoenberg and Webern, either, not to mention most of the symphonic music written in the past 100 years. Meg was an art major, so I tell her "you have to take your medicine," but she still cringes when we go to a concert and see the words "World Premiere" on the program.

Urb

[runawayjim]

Hey, rock on, no sweat! Thanks for taking my comments in the spirit in which they were intended. I don't much care for a lot of Schoenberg and Webern, either, not to mention most of the symphonic music written in the past 100 years. Meg was an art major, so I tell her "you have to take your medicine," but she still cringes when we go to a concert and see the words "World Premiere" on the program.

Urb

i actually like the strange modern classical music... i like the bizarre, but this stuff wasn't bizarre, just noisey. i'm also a fan of zappa. mostly i like bands that jam on stage (like my avatar, perhaps the greatest jamband ever).

[urbie]

i actually like the strange modern classical music... i like the bizarre, but this stuff wasn't bizarre, just noisey. i'm also a fan of zappa. mostly i like bands that jam on stage (like my avatar, perhaps the greatest jamband ever).

Heh... Phish used to be my "respite" band on the jukebox, when I worked at the bowling alleys and got sick of all the hip-hop and rap-rock the kids were always playing. I'd take a few bucks out of the cash register and play my own stuff for awhile. "Mike's Song," at about 15 minutes, provided a nice break.

Not as good as the Allman Bros' "Mountain Jam," though -- that one clocked in at almost 35 minutes!

Urb

[runawayjim]

Heh... Phish used to be my "respite" band on the jukebox, when I worked at the bowling alleys and got sick of all the hip-hop and rap-rock the kids were always playing. I'd take a few bucks out of the cash register and play my own stuff for awhile. "Mike's Song," at about 15 minutes, provided a nice break.

Not as good as the Allman Bros' "Mountain Jam," though -- that one clocked in at almost 35 minutes!

Urb

phish once played the same song for 55 min... it happens to be the same name as my screenname here.

[matt]

Before this thread gives the impression that Providence is devoid of original local music, I thought I should post some info about what is actually a thriving music scene.

<snip>

Thanks for this. It is true. There is some GREAT talent in Providence. Some of it is far from mainstream, but there is some good stuff coming to life here.

I don't listen to much noise-music, but I'm happy to support it. A good friend of mine is one of the most talented and educated musicians I know. He played in this style band for years and was tremendously successful. There is an audience for this.

There are, without question, some great musicians that bring Providence to life.

The music venues we have are busy, and full of good stuff.

[Cotuit]

How about actual music? I mean stuff that someone over a certain age might consider listenable?

I meant to respond when you made this post:

Why restrict the discussion to clubs requiring earplugs?

What has the city got in terms of coffeehouse-type places? That's my favorite kind of venue to perform in -- instead of bars, where everyone's getting pounded, in a coffeehouse, they're getting WIRED and paying attention to the music you're playing -- what a concept!

Doesn't have to be hippy-dippy acoustic folk, either -- not my thing -- but the sort of place where an acoustic blues band or a jazz group can play. Tatnuck Bookcellar in Worcester, that type of place. Does PVD have any of those?

Like I said in the beginning of the thread, I'm not really plugged into any scene, but when you finally get here you should certainly check out Tazza, Hi-Hat, AS220, and Black Rep. They sound like they are up your alley. I'm sure there's other spaces I don't know about. AS220 also has lots of flyers up about happenings around town.

[brick]

Hi Hat looked closed the last time I went by, I'm glad to hear that it isn't.

As for the Noise scene, I do hope it takes off. Quite frankly, though, right now it seems to be one of those self-contained scenes. I went to the skating rink a couple years ago and there was a Noise show and just about everyone in the audience seemed to be in a Noise band. In other words, they all seem to support each other but I'm not sure there is a lot of support otherwise. Then again, shoegaze started that way in the late 80's and they carved a little niche for themselves, so good luck to the noise bands.

[Mij]

phish once played the same song for 55 min... it happens to be the same name as my screenname here.

I would consider Providence Music to in more of a re-building stage (if I may borrow the sports analogy ) 5 years ago clubs were over booked with local talent, and alot of it was b/c of the bands at the time. Phish had a huge influence on similar bands on loacl or regional stature. Bands like Juggleing Suns, Jerryz Kidz, and Max Creek were a great alternative to touring with Phish. In the more mainstream rock, bands from Providence, Pawtucket, and North Providence - Shed, SOC, Freakshow, Amazing Royal Crowns, Gruvis Malt, Kilgore, and even to a lesser exstent in Providence but certinitly in Boston Sam Black Church, were all riding the coat tail of the rap-rock era that came and went. When Bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn and Fear Factory were loading the old Lupo's the rock sceene in Providence was at full tilt. Now with the major band in Providence being Zox, a round up of good show bands are hard to find. Take "Anomolys" (spell check that would ya" or "Filty Souls" great young talented guys... that cant keep it together long enough to develope the following that a Shed or Freakshow had. The more we lack for a great Mainstream band, Your Phish , and dear i say Limp Bizkit, the more we will see less of the great dirty bar, that in the past was the esence and sprit of Providence. As has been the case for a long time, dirty o'l Living Room carries the next generation of "who - evers" along with them until the next era of music rears its ugly face and demands our attention....

With all that said Almon Brothers and Gov't Mule will be playing Aug 26th at tweeter....