And the Band Plays on: @joyformidable Deals Expertly with the Pandemic
Like Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield, I am a hard core fan of live music. Pre-pandemic, I made regular trips to Austin for SXSW, and that annual pilgrimage led to weekly (or more) shows at great venues back home like the Stone Pony, Brooklyn Steel, Iridium, Brooklyn House of Music, and Bowery Electric, where I could hear full sets from the bands I heard there, like Black Pistol Fire, Mike Krol, and the Strumbellas. I also paid homage at these venues to old friends like the Pixies, Bob Mould, the New Pornographers, and the Distillers.
As Rob Sheffield and others point out, there’s absolutely nothing like rock concerts: the noise, the crowd, the amazing bands and their followers, the energy make for a euphoric experience, an escape, and an adventure into musical artistry by some of the very best out there. I miss it like crazy.
For the past fifteen months, as concerts got cancelled or postponed, I dabbled with some of the many livestream performances that were being offered. I contributed to SaveOurStages after being persuaded by performances from the Foo Fighters and Rise Against, which were short sets but excellent. Sound quality and song selections were terrific. I supported shows and holiday specials performed by Goldfinger, Mike Krol, Parquet Courts, and the Distillers. Some productions were better than others, but every single artist poured their souls into their work, were truly appreciative of the fan support, and can’t wait to be back in front of live audiences around the world. I now have a closet full of merch (ok, t-shirts), that I wear everywhere to support the teams.
I tripped over an interesting offer from The Joy Formidable, a terrific Welsh trio I saw twice in one night at SXSW 2019. I also saw them at Rough Trade in Brooklyn before things locked down from COVID. They frickin rock. They offered a “membership” in The Joy Formidable fan club during the pandemic. For £75 (about $100 US), they promised at least four on-line streaming events, early access to new music they were writing, and entry to a fan web site that featured other goodies such as unreleased videos, limited sets of merchandise, and other benefits.
This has been the best £75 I spent during the pandemic. Each of the livestreams I’ve seen (acoustic and unplugged) have been outstanding. In each show, guitarists Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd have played hour-long sets from a location somewhere in Utah featuring a mix of original TJF songs, covers of other artists, traditional Welsh folk songs, and other musical treats. They are offbeat, fun, and enormously talented. Across the ocean, they’ve managed to remotely loop in drummer Matt Thomas for several numbers.
TJF has also offered its members free gifts, and the opportunity to have our names inluded on the cover insert of their forthcoming album, Into the Blue. It’s been a wonderful experience in a crappy year for live music. I give it (and have bought) a 4-Tshirt rating.
But I still can’t wait to get back to the Stone Pony.