SlipLive

Now are there any other "Old School" Rhode Islanders that find it disturbing that BAM completely skipped the city where 2/3 of the band grew up?

guess where they played like 5 shows ago - Lupo's. Guess how many times they'll play in RI by the end of summer - 1-2 I bet.

So that means that while Mass gets 2 stops and NY gets 4 stops on the tour the hometown gets ditched? "Buying in" is a joke. Suprising? No Shocking? No Disrespectful of the roots? Yeah, I think so

So that means that while Mass gets 2 stops and NY gets 4 stops on the tour the hometown gets ditched? "Buying in" is a joke. Suprising? No Shocking? No Disrespectful of the roots? Yeah, I think so

C'mon. There could be many reasons for it. Is Northampton too far to drive?

new york is huge. all of the towns they're playing are 3 or 4 hours apart. mass gets two stops, and they're nowhere near each other. what do you think, the slip is your personal jukebox? there are fans in utah, how many times will they get the slip this year?

Rhode Islander wrote:Disrespectful of the roots? Yeah, I think so

ooohhhhhh, poor you!

You have to drive all the way to Boston to see them. Which actually isn't any different from what tote or myself or Tara or anyone else in RI/SEMass has to do. I don't know if you noticed, but the last time they played Lupo's there were only about six people there. Nothing like the full-to-capacity madhouse when Phil played last week. I guess they could book into Tazza, or maybe the Century, or go really roots and play the Living Room.

You're right though. It's really disappointing to see a band try and make a living through their art. Even more so when it means they have to limit local shows to places that will actually make them some money and provide thm with a sense of worth. It's even sadder to think that maybe they're in it for themselves, and that maybe they're not here for you or me, but if that's the sort of altruistic model you're dreaming of, I've gotta ask : "what's the last thing you did for them?" Was it drive an hour into Boston to see them? Or drop a pitiful whining post on their bulletin board about how mean they are to do what's best for them?

And even after all this discussion, Brad and Andrew grew up not in Providence proper, but in East Providence, a separate city with it's own city hall, council, police, etc. And they've never played there publicly even once, to my knowledge. If you wanna go really hometown, why don't we bring them down to Little Compton? Maybe we can get them to play at the Stone House.

Hmmmmmm. Maybe they can open for the White Thighs.

brad and andrew grew up in providence. on the 'east side' which is not east providence.

"Disturbing": No way. I could say "somewhat of a curiosity" but at this point it's more like "no big deal" (been there, done that). Disturbing is how my hair looks after a major party after a Duo show (like this morning, I scared myself in the mirror, thought a bird made a nest in there!). If we poke around the known history of all shows, we see many gaps. These just go with the territory (being a national touring band).

BAM has a fluctuating schedule, and it's very patchy at times, punctuated by really long studio sessions and other hiatuses. There's no set rule for hitting the same town or hometown, it's largely the availability of venues and timing issues with other bands and BAM's own travel schedule. Good venues might book 5 or 6 months in advance (even more for summer festivals, etc). It's not always possible to even "play Boston" if it's a weekend gig...there are only so many days in the week and only so many venues to fit a band's given crowd pull in that market. This is all very complicated logistical stuff...they never want to "abandon" anyone, they just have to pick and choose based on where they're going to be and when (also for how long, windows of opportunity, multi-show runs, just think of how long it takes to drive from point to point). It's not magic, it's hard work.

I don't know about Ethan's Lupo's assessment...the last Diesel gig I saw was pretty packed and the kiddies even couldn't get out of the way as I tried to make my way through to get some photos. Some folks up front were nice enough to help part the seas so I did get a couple of close-ups, but the photos confirm that there was a very good crowd there. I don't know about the last Lupo's versus Lupo's at the Strand, maybe that's what Ethan meant.

There was a phase when BAM was (maybe is or will be) playing more venues in CA than in all of New England combined (close even if you include New York and even PA as the "major northeast"). This just happens...the timing of the CA venues may have been better for their booking schedules, so it makes it easier to do a tour and who knows maybe they had a birthday or something to also attend out there. I'm sure BAM does other things besides just play for us and make CDs for us. They have lives and friends outside of our impression they are our sole entertainment (this is the impression I get when I hear all this whining about not playing my hometown, their hometown, whatever).

Buy a friggin' planet ticket and take a real trip...go to Chicago or something. The people you will meet and experiences will make you realize it's sometimes better to go track down the band instead of expecting the band to track you down all the time. Like Ethan says, what do you put into it? All this begging and what in return? Happy thoughts?

As for NoHo, well that's not my favorite venue. I like Paradise better, Avalon better still. There's more to the venue also than proximity, I look for tasty beers, good staff attitudes, lighting, sound, openness, cool crowd, easy parking...all these make an enjoyable experience, much moreso if the fans don't mind travelling more than an hour to see something a lot cooler than you might get right next door (on that specific Tuesday night, maybe Avalon was booked, so Paradise is the next best thing...otherwise we can put our money down and open our own club).

Even though Pearl St. isn't my favorite venue, it's not the worst and I always have a good time out in western MA because I have friends there. Also there's the kick-ass food scene so there's something to do before the show (after I don't know if they'll want us back to the Best Western, maybe have to find another hotel now ;-}). Or no blizzard means we get to that jammin' house party next time.....

BAM will skip Providence and will skip entire time zones. Wait 'til they go on a European tour and they just skip the whole US. Sooner or later they will hit that point, and I'm not going to bitch, I'm going to get planet tickets and take a few weeks off from work!!!

Can you say "road trip?" That's a solution. Or "patience" (the latter is much harder to come by these days it seems....).

-Phrazz

dude, it says there's still more Northeast dates to be announced in April or May. Chill. A Providence show could yet be forthcoming. (Or even better, cross your fingers for a Narrows show. Fall Reeve is only 20 minutes from Prov, I hope that's not too bad for you.)

One great thing about the Narrows is that the BYOB means you can be real choosy about what to drink (martinis, etc). Nice room, too and you get all that exercise walking up and down the stairs. Fall River is a bit sketchy, however, and I wouldn't wander much outside without a shotgun or at least an aluminum bat.

nah. fall river isn't that sketchy. it looks like shit, yes, but its really not bad.
if you want sketchy, go east a few miles to the south end of new bedford. now there's a place you best carry a shotgun.

these threads/posts always make me laugh.

it's rare that i have to drive less than 3 hours to see my favourite band. the other night it was 8 hours. i've gone as far as 22. monday will be another 3 or so.

I always thought this was a board where one could express an opinion and the people who read it would be open minded. I've read this board for almost a year and know that there are only 10 people who post on here and you are all afraid of what each other thinks about the other so you all just fall in line and are afraid to agree with someone who may shake the boat.
I must of missed the part where I said that I wasn't going to drive off to boston or anything. I missed the part wher I said I've never driven 3 or 4 states out to see them. I guess that the 24 hours I spent in the pouring rain in a VFW field miles away from the Berkfest grounds waiting for a shuttle isn't "hard." I'm sure that there are going to be other things that I don't say that you will want to criticize me for saying. I guess I am lazy and will only go a show if it's within our 1500 sq. mile border, thanks for filling me in.
I am only saying that we all know they're from RI, they sing about it, ethan pointed it out well in his eloquent defense of W&WS:

G) The words "My home in sweet Rhode Island"

How can brad sing about his "sweet home" 30 miles away in Boston and not want to play a show there? This is why I directed this question to Rhode Islanders. People from RI know that there is nothing better than going away and coming back to the same great places in our Big City.

Wouldn't it be great if they played the Living Room again?

Only one person addressed the question I asked out of the 2 pages of throat jumping and Phrazz is usually the only one to retort to a "controversial" statement with anything relevent to the actual post, but ( I may be wrong, but as I understand it) he is not a Rhode Islander
Ethan obviously knows all about the good times at the Living Room, but I guess he (just like everyone else) is just more afraid of what the other 9 of you think about him.

Once again, to recap:
"Buying in" is a joke
Stay on topic
If BAM had a manager when they were playing good music they'd be filling arenas right now
Singing about missing your home means you can drive right by it and not spend a day there

AAAA-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Suck it up... I live in PA and I'm happy to get whatever shows I get and believe me, I've driven longer than 1-2 hrs just to see them.

First, they can't hit everywhere, I mean, shit, they're doing a tour of the midwest... do you know how long it's been since they've done that!!

As for all of us being afraid of what each other think.. I'm guessing we're all thinking about the same thing right now, that you're a whiney little douche that's complaining cause you have to actually put some effort into seeing the boys....

just my $0.02

I have yet to see where I was complaining about going on a trip.

All I'm trying to say, and everyone seems to jump around the point, is Who drives around the Hometown? Who Skips the place one grew up in? Can you sing a song with a line like "My sweet hime in Rhode Island" and then get on the Mass Pike and drive past 93 95 and 146? Play a day at home.

Once again try to stay on topic.