The Elders, Pitch Previewed
I should’ve linked to this preview of The Elders‘ two gigs at Kansas City’s Record Bar this weekend, before they took place, but I was busy watching snowflakes the size of cream crackers fall this very weird April and got distracted.
Anyway it works just as fine after the event in getting across The Pitch music editor’s wide ranging views on Kansas City’s favourite Celtic Rock band, such as:
Some people think the Elders are big cheeseballs. They kind of are. Some think they’re fookin’ great. They kind of are. Persnickety Irish folk geeks think the band rips off Irish trad. music and fuses it sloppily and shamelessly with bloated American rock. They… who the F cares? I’ve seen the Elders twice, and I’ve had a blast both times
At the end the preview asks if it’s a waste of a good venue to have the boys playing both nights, before answering the question. Well, kind of answering the question.
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
More inane commentary from the literary giants at The Bitch Weakly.
I mean, who exactly thinks The Elders are “big cheeseballs”? As for those “persnickety (God, I wonder how long this lad’s been waiting to use that word) Irish folk geeks” (of which I am proud to be a card-carrying member), most of my ilk are proud of the way the lads have taken some very traditional arrangements and given them new life, not to mention some of the incredibly moving original tunes by Hoad, Byrne, Phillips, et. al. (for those Pitch readers still trying to keep up, that means “and the rest of ‘em.”)
Of course, this nitwit is a bloody expert on the lads.
“I’ve seen the Elders twice, and I’ve had a blast both times,” he says.
How nice of him to see not one but TWO WHOLE SHOWS to do his in-depth research!
To top this off, this illiterati explains how he offered to “by” Ian a shot.
Too bad no one ever offered to “buy” this ignoramus a dictionary.
And Heaven forbid a putz like this might learn a bit of actual Irish history from the lads. “You don’t even have to pay attention to Byrne’s lyrics about immigration to America,” he proudly boasts in his own curiously uneducated way.
Yup, this boy’s a living advertisement for ignorance being the better part of bliss.
He ends his rant with a concern that such a wonderful venue as The Record Bar might be wasting their time scheduling both Friday and Saturday nights on a “local” band.
Maybe if he’d bothered to get his head out of his ass he’d know that our lads are no longer a “local” band but an internationally-touring band that a dive like The Record Bar is incredibly lucky to get.
I think he’s also jumping to a wrong conclusion when he speaks of “Byrne’s lyrics” about immigration. I suspect what he’s thinking of is former Elders member Michael Bliss’s lyrics about immigration (”1849″) and Ian’s introduction to the song.
It seems like the Pitch, when they write about music, are more interested in being entertaining that in accurately writing about entertainment.
Seems to me that in general, articles on musical performers always get something wrong, somewhere in the article. Most, however, don’t turn it into the artform that the Pitch does.
And now that I notice who posted that first post, let me add a note that my generalization of articles on musical performers is not something I’ve observed in his paper.
P.S. #2. And I guess this is an online only thing, which probably explains the lack of basic editing (”by” for “buy”). And explains why I didn’t see it till you linked to it.
Hey, don’t get your shamrock-print underoos in a wad. I wasn’t claiming to be an expert. I was just getting the word out about a band I like, even defending them against the criticism they frequently get. You seem to think I was leveling that criticism at them myself. Or that I’m not worthy to like them because I think it’s OK simply to enjoy them outside of the context of their Irishness. Or, well, I don’t know what you’re thinking, exactly, except that you’ve used this as an opportunity to hurl invective at the Pitch. Congrats on that. But why so personal? I haven’t done anything to you, and I wasn’t ranting against your “bys” the Elders. I did feel it appropriate to examine why the most active live music venue in town was reserving two weekend nights for a band that many frequenters of said venue don’t particularly care for.
By Bye,
Jason Harper
Seriously people, give Jason a break. It’s hard being a music critic. If you’re honest, then you’re always going to piss someone off. In the end he likes the band, get over the rest of it and realize that. As for the typo, congrats you found out he’s human! But wait, so are you!