CMJ Day 2 Wrap: Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing

Trying to gameplan my line-up for Wednesday night was almost impossible. Not only was I criminally hungover from Voxtrot the night before but there really is too much shit going on. Too many venues, too many bands, as we'll see, too much documentation. It's just too much. But, you can either fight CMJ or you can roll with the crowd so we hit The Delancey for one of the more impressive line-ups of the evening.

It's just after 9PM and Cut Off Your Hands is ripping through a set of post-punk brit-rock that would make you think of Bloc Party 2004 or The Wombats EPs of the last calender year. Twitchy, down-stroke guitar riffs and syrupy background vocals give this band a sound that will find an audience. The Delancey is buying it as their lead singer grabs hold of a drainpipe and swings his body out over the crowd. A photographer makes a face as he is pushed into a wall by this brief moment of rockstar posturing. After all, why get a picture of the most electric moment of the night when you could just be annoyed by it?

Cut Off Your Hands finish their set and sit leaning against the wall on stage. The guitarist mouths "I am so fucking tired" as their handler informs them he's just booked another late night showcase. It's 10pm and they've already played two shows. Presumably, they accept. You don't come all this way to turn down things that have "late night" and "showcase" involved in their name.

Soon enough, Foreign Born is hitting the stage and, at first, they are completely underwhelming. This is what all the LA kids talk about? This shit? But they build. And after a massive, Pete Townshend-inspired leg kick from their lead singer, the band takes off. The energy and the set builds to a fever pitch and the crowd is on board. This is what you come to see and by the time they're closing with "Union Hall," we're sorry it's over.

Between set changes, the girls who have been eyeing us find a reason to come over and talk. It's not entirely unwelcome but the ear-burning volume of the between-set-music makes anything approaching flirting impossible. We can be charming as hell but in the land of jet-engine French-techno, our words are useless. As we tread water and say "I'm sorry, I just can't hear you," Mina K shows up and adds a touch of class to the whole affair. Nothing makes you feel worse about flirting with 2007 college graduates than when your editor shows up to keep you in line.

Oh No! Oh My! goes on just after 11. I would love to say I'm enjoying watching the set but the flash-bulbs popping in front of me make it look like a Japanese morning cartoon. Am I about to have a seizure? How many photographs do you need? Mina takes care of her photo duties in about two songs and heads for the door. These other photographers can't stop. Oh No! Oh My! is not exactly the most animated live band and it's hard to tell why each of these shooters needs to get 75 pictures of the same thing. The lead singer isn't spitting beer at us. No one is doing anything particularly memorable. In fact, the venue is hardly packed. Why then are there 6-7 photographers dominating the front row and absolutely ruining the show with egregious flash offensives and ridiculous posing? Just how much coverage of this little band do we need?

This is all part of CMJ. I see at least three kids with notebooks, "covering" the show for someone. These photographers are getting shouted at by the crowd to "stop with the fucking flash." Can we just enjoy this moment without being so concerned about documenting it forever? And I am a part of that. This website is a part of the complete over-documentation of CMJ. But, we slam margeritas not push people out of the way to get "the perfect shot."

The challenge goes out: if you see one LooseRecord staffer ruining your concert experience, call them out. We will publically apologize. I promise, we bring way more fun than we cost. Something the photographers at The Delancey could learn a little something about.

[Photos by Mina K - No flash bulbs were used in the making of this post.]