SlipLive

http://www.theslipstream.org/

A member submited this article he had written for his schools newspaper.

its pleasnt.

Dan

from theslipstream.org:

The Daily Orange-Syracuse University Student Newsepaper

As a fleet of thunderous Harley Davidsons rested at a perfectly timed red light in front of the Mezzanote Lounge on Friday night, they had the chance to meet the roaring audience of The Slip. The majority of the crowd, now on the street for a traditional set break smoke, screamed against the roar of the engines of the choppers as they had for the performance all night. Even though the bikers attempted to rev the crowd up with their antics, they were no match compared to the energy produced by The Slip's first set.

The Slip is all about the music. Built upon a foundation of jazz, this trio of funky Berklee School of Music dropouts from Providence has created new sound encompassing elements of funky jam rock and sweet nostalgic progressions. The band consists of brothers Brad Barr on guitar and vocals and Andrew Barr on percussion, with Marc Friedman on bass.

The Slip headlined its sold-out show at the Mezzanote Lounge Friday night, an act independently promoted by Syracuse's own Hollerback Productions. The venue in downtown Syracuse, located at 658 N. Salina St., is the ideal college Orpheum. The two-story lounge had a continual play of live music on both floors before and after The Slip's show for the sole purpose of dancing. The show itself was held in a small wooden room of the lounge that was packed well before the trio took the stage.

The three talented musicians opened up with upbeat melodic songs, including "Even Rats" and "I Hate Love" from their new album scheduled to be released sometime this spring.

"It's important these days to hold off on the release of a new album," Andrew Barr said.

When asked about the unique blend of jazz, rock and other world music that together create The Slip's sound, he commented about his musical studies abroad in Africa and Brazil, as well as his influences here in the United States.

"We're just trying to find home ... we have been through a lot of different progressions between working on our hands and working on our hearts ... (the band) has been switching back and forth simultaneously to the point where music becomes life, and life becomes music," Andrew Barr said.

Throughout the show, the band displayed flashes of its instrumental brilliance and ingenuity as each member kept his eyes closed throughout the majority of each song. The band could be seen focusing on every note that was played; members teased one other by changing jazz time signatures and progressive harmonic movement.

The show reached its peak when the band played its most popular new song, "Children of December," which displayed how The Slip has evolved its sound into tight indie-rock with personally drawn lyrics. For this song, all eyes were fixed on guitarist Brad Barr, who mouths out the elaborate notes of his solo in what looked like a struggling effort. Nevertheless, he wowed the audience with the perfection and supreme choice of melodic lines. As the moment intensified, Brad Barr stood on top of the PA speaker to the left of the stage, intensely building the solo. The audience members in the front row held back the microphone stands to give Barr a clear landing space. In a matter of seconds, as the brothers smiled and looked into each others' eyes, Barr jumped and landed on the stage as the band finished the song - the crowd went wild.

"These guys can move bodies, and that's what is most important," said Adam Gold, managing director of WERW, a Syracuse University student-run radio station.

The band moved everyone, including the unfortunate ticketless fans outside, who pressed themselves up against the steamed glass that stood behind the fiery Slip.

"The band had really cool original sound and the (Mezzanote) lounge was great, I liked it a lot - just fun, man," said Dan Schultz, a freshman pre-law major who saw The Slip for the first time.

What a noob.. doesn't he know the new songs suck!!!111!!!



Good to see a good review for once from this tour... they need more of that... cause if everybody keeps complaining, people won't go see them.. example: clinton lined up a taper, and that michelle chick fuck it all up with her bad review because she thought the slip was gonna play and not just SMMD, and now he's not going... Positivity (although, I'm not saying to completely fluff the band) can go a long way... especially when I want records of the SMMD tour out west!! That's right.. I'm selfish!!

my buddy shain did a really nice review of the Syracuse show for Jambase, too.... i dont have a link handy, but yeah, its out there...

People don't have to like a show. One thing that sucks about post internet is that so many people make thier decisions based off of reviews and such. In the early 90's you would have to read newsletters, magazines, or god forbid talk to like minded people in person to get the scoop. Now you log on and trash a band (usually exagerating) and thousands read it right away. It's tough. All the instant this and that stemming from the web. Just like people logging on to a website to say "does anyone know the tapers from last nights show" or "where can I download last nights show". You were there, the taper was there. Why not talk to them there instead of hiding and then going online to look for the person you were in the same room as the night before. Totaly mixed blessing. Also when the scoop breaks. A decade ago if it was leaked that Mike and Trey are playing an acoustic tour next year it would take weeks and months for the word to spread. Now tens of thousands know because of message boards. It's crazy.

ahh, the de-evolution of the times.... you know, i've given this some thought... the internet, messageboarding, chatting, text messaging, etc etc... essentially, the lack of voice, in its truest sense, the sounds that come out of your mouth vs. what we have now, silent talking.. typing, rather. i read something a while back that talked about evolution of species and whatnot, and it made mention of our baby toes, and how they're essentially useless to humans, and as we grow and evolve as a species, we'll see the baby toe become non-existent..... maybe a little far fetched, but i was thinking the same things about voice, verbal communication, etc etc.... not the best explanation, and im at work and just got called away... but, you know where im goin with that?

Cleantone wrote:One thing that sucks about post internet is ...

dont you ever make fun of the internets again. you'll piss off al gore and tim. its all they got, damn it!

Yeah, it's a bummer not to be talking on the cell phone all the time, but what's wrong with a little reading and writing? Boards aren't all bad...they are simply an evolutionary form of communication. We haven't replaced cell phones or televisions with a worse form of communication!

I just got a call from my favorite girl and also called a pal who has his birthday today. I call just as many people as I write messages...I think this makes me "balanced". But I never watch TV -- I read books or go to bars.

In another aspect, those who abide on boards tend to have a higher standard of writing (not all of them) and also think about this when writing reviews. So in an indirect way, board use encourages more "in tune" (pardon the pun) analysis of music and leads to better "press". This can be disturbing when someone announces a Matt Murphy's show and the kiddies don't know they need good fake ids, so it's hard to find a spot or even get into the door. But even these "flash mobs" settle down and the more prominent social factors take over. There is still an inherent need for people to talk to people directly. I even enjoy going to work on some days, but I've had better jobs (where people were more social after work, as well as on the job...ie, can you have beers with your boss at lunch-time is a good indicator you don't work for a "stuffy" company). Still, I much rather prefer hanging out in person than even chatting on the phone. We all have different communication "styles", which change to fit the bill as well as our mood and skills (I type faster than I think.... ;-}).

You can't drink a beer on the net, but you can meet people who drink beer off the net. I have met tons of people through the net, and this also is another social aspect we don't think about if we think the net is exclusionary to other forms of communication. These forms are complimentary, intermingled and even co-dependent. They are merely mirrors of natural human desires to communicate.

We're not going to lose our little toes, or our nose, or our other appendages, so don't worry about humans mutating into jello blobs. Our evolutionary siblings have fewer appendages, so maybe we're increasing, not decreasing. We can get drunk and babble all sorts of sci-fi and conjecturalize to the point of fantasy, but I would rather grab a guitar and play a solo just with my pinky than to worry about my fingers falling off thousands of years from now (the worms will ensure they are stripped to the bone in only a dozen years after my death, so that actually makes me worry less in a morbid way ;-}).

-Phrazz