The Hold Steady – 8.9.07 Brooklyn, NY, Prospect Park
In a recent interview Iggy Pop talked about the difference between playing music in 1965, as opposed to 2007.
“In 1965, when great young white artists in the English-speaking world were successfully re-channeling hillbilly and black music– you know Bob Dylan, Ray Davies, Pete Townsend, Keith Richards– they didn’t get any money at first. They were all broke. All those giant people had to stay around quite a while to cash in because the industry ripped them off more efficiently. The information wasn’t as widely available as it is now. Now, like I’m sure the Killers have a great record deal, and a lawyer to track their publishing and a guy to renegotiate their European cash flow streams and all that. It’s just different. I don’t know why.” – Iggy Pop
Certainly, the statement must hold true for some bands. However, contrary to Iggy’s statement, in the era of internet boom, surely just as many artists (if not more) are getting ripped off by charlatans, bandits and thieves in that ephemeral dream of making it, cashing in and getting paid to do what you love. And of the bands who are out there, you get the feeling that The Hold Steady have paid their dues.
When singer Craig Finn thanked the audience for the opportunity to play for them at the free show in Prospect Park, NY, on August 9, 2007, one was left with the profound sense that the man was truly humble. And what a show. Not only was the band incredibly tight, but there was that wild-alive electricity between the band and the audience you get 1 in every 10 shows. So if, like me, you came 3 years late to The Hold Steady, my advice is go out, buy all their albums now and catch them live.
Click here to see photos from the show.
Iggy Pop quote taken from Pitchforkmedia interview by Bret Gladstone. Click here to read the full article.
I don’t know enough about the music industry to know if alot of bands are getting ripped off by sheisters or not. But for quite awhile I’ve contended that there are alot of great bands out there that just never get as wide a publicity.
I tend not to go in for live shows much, but there are quite a few musical groups I’ve found either through Rhapsody or just by looking up a passing reference via Google, groups who I think have more interesting music that some of the currently popular artists.
I always assumed that making it to the “big time” of music fame was like playing roulette: maybe some exec from a major label found you and geared up their massive PR machinery to pump you into the American consciousness. But they get so much talent shoved at them on a daily basis the odds are they’ll never know you existed.
I totally agree with this sentiment.