So I’m making a compromise and settling for a slightly less in-depth post rather than the lenthy stream of consciousness I really wanted to write but would probably never get around to. Edit: Apparently not, haha.
I went to see a band called 100 Monkeys last week and they totally blew me away. I loved their sound. Kind of indie rock (but not in a pretentious way) meets blues’ bottom line, with a little folk thrown in. Kind of similar to the theme song from “True Blood,” but with a little more blues to it. Their musicianship was incredible. Great guitar playing and keys. They all rotated through the instruments. On the music side alone it was enough to make me a fan, but their lyrics were also well-written and well-sung. They were clever and witty and sometime downright hilarious. I really love this band.
But they’ve got an unfortunate problem.
Jackson Rathbone, the actor who plays one of the Cullens in the “Twilight” movies, is in the band.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing. Great guitar player, great singer, great stage personality. It’s not unfortunate that HE’S in the band, it’s unfortunate that he’s in the “Twilight” movies and in the band. Because his association with the Twilight phenomenon means the people that come to the 100 Monkeys shows are squealing teenagers. And because of the squealing teenagers, the type of people who I think would ABSOLUTELY LOVE this band, will probably never give them a chance.
I mean, I wore earplugs. For the first time in my life.
(At first I actually just put one in because I was shooting and, since they were on the 2nd stage at Cains, I had to squeeze myself in right in front of a speaker. But as soon as the band came out, the lovely girl to my right started screaming, constantly, at a pitch that made me dizzy. So. Other earplug, in.)
Now, before I go on, you need to know some background about me.
One, I know a thing or two about crazy phenomenons. Hi, I was a Hanson fan. In the era of 140db CROWD NOISE, I was there. I ran a fansite [that no one read but my parents], I waited in line for tickets, I was your typical obsessed teenager. So I’m not knocking the girls at these 100 Monkeys shows that are really freaking excited about seeing a movie-vampire in the flesh. I get it, I was there ten years ago.
Two, I like Twilight. They’re not classics, but they’re a light, easy read, and, as cool as I am (heh), I have a soft spot for stupid love stories.
And three, I heard of 100 Monkeys because of Jackson Rathbone’s involvement with Twilight. I went to their show out of pure curiosity. I listened to a couple of tracks online and wasn’t really moved, but I wanted to know what a highly-paid movie star was doing touring the country in a smelly van. They could either suck and just be touring “because they could” or they could be really fucking good and be touring because they loved playing music.
Verdict: They were really fucking good.
So I shot the first half of the show (pictures on flickr) and then retreated to the back to take in the rest. While I was watching I couldn’t help but think about the conundrum. I mean, any band wants the ability to tour. They want to have fans and make a living and spread their music. That’s a really hard thing to do when you’re just starting out and no one’s heard your music. And 100 Monkeys are fortunate that, with their Twilight connection, they have an easier time getting booked than most. But are they getting booked because the promoter liked their music or are they getting booked as “the band with that guy from Twilight?” Does it matter? I don’t think it necessarily matters if the music can hold up against the hype. Which, in my opinion, it absolutely does.
But specifically, there’s A LOT of backlash surrounding Twilight. Most people are so sick of the saturation that anything even remotely related to Twilight throws up a red flag and they won’t have anything to do with it. This sort of all-encompassing boycott (not exactly the right word, but you get the idea) tends to happen a lot among artists & musicians. I think it stems from feeling like the thing that’s being over-hyped isn’t worth (or good enough for) all the adoration.
And frankly, that’s usually the case.
But I REALLY think that artists & musicians would love 100 Monkeys. It’s just a question of whether or not they can put up with the fangirling. It’s hard to do. While I do understand the excitement, I am “old-grumpy-person” enough to get a little frustrated when the sound of the music gets lost under the squealing. Look at Hanson’s career. Many of the people who like Hanson today wanted nothing to do with them in the ’90s. Because it was all too much. But ten years in, when the screaming died down and the fanbase grew up and began to LISTEN, people on the outside finally felt comfortable testing the waters.
I hope, in the case of 100 Monkeys, it won’t take that long. I hope that they’ll stay together and continue to tour for years to come. And I hope that their crowds will become a little less manic. I hope that in the cities they play, die-hard music fans will give them a chance no matter their opinion of Twilight. Because really, 100 Monkeys…the band, the music…have nothing to do with Twilight. They are simply, incredibly good.
Their Twilight connection may have brought them to my attention, may have booked their tour, may have sold the tickets, but their talent should sustain all that and, when the phenomenon is stripped away, there’s a killer band behind it all.
