Agreed - stating that "underground" music, as a meaning of outside of
the mainstream and fulfilling an alternative vernacular, does not mean
it has to be relegated to a stage "underground" I.e in a nasty
basement with kids on drugs rubbing their sweaty nasty on you (as
opposed to the good on drug and rubbing the sweaty nasty). The awful
sound issue not even mentioned. It'd be nice to hear that music while
actually being able to breathe, and not stand next to a bathroom line.
On May 1, 2010, at 9:00 AM, darnistle <[email protected]> wrote:
If Paxahau has finally done something to address the truly awful
acoustics of the underground stage then I'll be impressed, but I
don't have high hopes that that space will sound any less horrendous
than it has every time I've gone down there.
The fact that "Detroit techno has always been underground" does not
justify knowingly and repeatedly putting DJs in a space in which
everything sounds murky. If the goal is to feature the music, then
it is important that the acoustics aren't a major obstacle to
actually being able to hear the music with reasonable clarity.
Warehouse parties are makeshift and grab bag by default. You don't
walk in the door and expect the room to have acoustically engineered
for crystal-clear sound. The underground stage is like being in a
warehouse, except that DEMF is a planned festival with corporate
sponsorship, so it is reasonable to expect better sound quality
especially when the underground stage is a known sore point and has
been for years.
Why couldn't they use that amphitheater-style area near the
waterfront stage, or set up a large tent somewhere else?
{}0+>|
On 5/1/2010 12:02 AM, John Sokolowski wrote:
Has anyone seen the setup of the Detroit stage this year? Has
anyone heard the sound? Let's reserve judgment until we see/hear
the results shall we? And looking at the line up I see real Detroit
artists on all of the stages.
Personally, I kind of like that the Detroit stage is underground.
Detroit techno has always been underground even within the city
itself. I grew up hearing the artists who have played the Detroit
stage over the last few years in smokey, sweaty, concrete venues
that were far from safe. It feels fitting to me. This is coming
from someone who prefers to hear techno and house outdoors as of
late too.
I can't argue the acoustics issue, which is far from good. I feel
like the Paxahau guys know what they are doing and are really
trying to make it work.
----------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:45:25 -0500
To: [email protected]
Subject: (313) Call to action with respect to putting Detroit
Artists in the concrete dungeon at DEMF
The underground stage area at Hart Plaza is an awful place to hear
music. The acoustics are irredeemable, and the place frankly stinks,
especially after 2 days of sweat, smoke and god knows what. If it is
actually full, it's a serious hazard to human life, as it holds more
people than could exit safely all at once.
Our irrepressible friend Tom Cox is asking people to contact Paxahau
and try and get them to stop using it as a stage area, and
ESPECIALLY
to stop using it to hide the real Detroit artists from festival
goers.
http://infinitestatemachine.com/2010/04/30/dear-paxahau-this-is-not-okay-no-more-underground-stage/
_________________________________________________________________
The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple
calendars with Hotmail.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5
