so, this is not exactly pop but its essential. definitely one of my most favorite event of the year. had a blast. 12 hours of continuous live music. what more can i ask. so much anticipation, embarrassedly, i was the 3rd to arrive. more proud than shame.
Below is the list of who i watched plus my personal review of each of the bands. please note my ratings are purely personal and by no means reflecting how good or how bad they are as musicians.
01artist: TALONS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 12:10 - 12:40
"the first band to kick off essential 2008. probably the hardest coz the crowd is small. their spirits were quite high though. pure noise. but they were having fun."
02artist: PIP BRANSON CORPORATION
venue: gaelic theater
time: 13:00 - 13:30
"they got quite good melody to their songs and great at interacting with the crowd. fun to watch."
03artist: THE JOHN STEEL SINGERS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 13:50 - 2:20
"they were quite fun to watch. if only they would bring down the noise alittle coz they have quite good melody. want to hear more vocals."
HIGHLIGHT04
artist: CUTHBERT & THE NIGHTWALKERS
venue: gaelic theater
time: 14:45 - 15:15
"a long name to fit the amount of musicians. this is probably the first band that i really enjoy. alot of hooks and good tunes. the mix was really good because i could hear the vocals quite clearly. the background vocalists were awesome. synchonized dancing. very 80s. the crowd were jumping."
05artist: CENTIPEDE
venue: the madison
time: 15:30 - 16:00
"first band to kick off the madison venue. was looking forward to them but was quite disappointed. the mix were really bad. too much noise and could hardly hear any vocal. pity coz they got quite good melody. it makes you wonder if they just wanna jam really loud because they wanna hide their shitty lyrics ?"
HIGHLIGHT06
artist: ERIN MARSHALL
venue: the madison
time: 14:30 - 17:00
"definitely the highlight essential. pure acoustic pop. definitely the only show that concentrates on vocals because that's her strength. coupled with beautiful lyrics and style making the show even better. cool bother to help support her."
07artist: BIRD AUTOMATIC
venue: the madison
time: 17:30 - 18:00
"quite a good band but i was high on erin to fully concentrate on the show. hah"
HIGHLIGHT08
artist: GRAFTON PRIMARY
venue: gaelic theater
time: 19:45 - 20:15
"omg the crowd were going crazy. everyone were jumping. so was i. electronic rock seems to be the in thing. great melody and hooks."
09artist: the e.l.f. experiment
venue: the madison
time: 20:45 - 21:30
"more of 2 djs spinning than conventional live performance. still it was fun to watch."
10artist: WOW
venue: gaelic theater
time: 21:45 - 22:30
"these people were just doing their thang on stage. again just spinning. really. does anyone really need to watch them live ? could easily buy their cd and listen to it at home. still they had great visuals projected and got the crowd jumping. admittedly, so did i."
11artist: GASLIGHT RADIO
venue: the madison
time: 23:15 - 00:15
"the final band in the madison. was kinda disappointed. again, really bad mix. really noisy, inhibiting the vocals. both they guitarist and bass player turned their backs to the crowd and they dont even have nice asses."
there you go. pity it ended. now i can't wait for essential 2009.
-------------------
dmented.tapes mix
noise: the mix. if the instruments are too loud overshadowing the vocals
melody: catch-i-ness and hook
lyrics/mix: good lyrics or if they can be heard
looks/clothes: ok lets face it. we all want our artist to look good. looks sell
fun on stage: if they are having fun or if someone is pointing a gun when they perform
interaction: interaction with the crowd
crowd: crowd's reaction
overall: well, if they could be a pop star and sell millions
-------------------
