It’s Hard to Make the Good Things Last

4/20/10 2:00 PM

This time next week I will be taking my final final exams. As my college career comes to an end, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic and sentimental about the past four years. Like Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips, I have begun to “realize that life goes fast” and just how hard it is “to make the good things last.” The day after I receive my diploma I’m leaving everything and everyone I’ve known the past three years and moving up to Atlanta for an internship. I’m going to be overwhelmed with possibility and surrounded by music and art. I have no doubt it will be the most incredible summer of my life because I’ll be doing something I’ve always wanted to do. But I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that in as...

Seeing Copeland Live, One Last Time

4/13/10 9:56 PM

All anyone knew to say was, “thank you.” When a band decides to call it quits after releasing four emotionally-wringing albums and consistently playing local venues like The Social, Backbooth and The Plaza Theatre throughout the past 10 years, no other words quite cover it. Attending the last night of Copeland’s farewell tour with Deas Vail, Person L and I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business at The Social this weekend was heartbreaking. Hearing Aaron Marsh, the Lakeland-based foursome’s frontman, say, “Thanks guys, we’ve been Copeland,” caused every member of the crowd, myself included, to utter a collective say-it-ain’t-so sigh. This was the tenth time I’ve seen Copeland live, and it was the most energetic, authentic set...

The Hazards of Loving Folk

4/6/10 4:06 PM

When The Decemberists released The Hazards of Love last year, the art of the opera became a new fascination of mine. I had heard rock operas — Tommy and Quadrophenia by The Who, The Wall by Pink Floyd, Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and, let’s not forget, American Idiot by Green Day (though I wish we could) — but never a folk opera. A folk opera with heavy metal tendencies that tells the tale of two lovers, William and Margaret, and their encounters with a fairy queen (William’s mother) and a rake that kills their children, to be exact. It’s a bit odd, I suppose, but intriguing nonetheless. I remember wondering if folk operas would become the next big thing — a new musical trend that every artist would try to mesh with their...

Artists as Activists

3/30/10 10:15 PM

Perhaps they want to “show [us] a place, high on a desert plain,” like U2 did when they released the single “Where the Streets Have No Name” in 1987. Or maybe they just need the positive publicity. No. I’m sure they’re just inherently good people who are passionate about whatever cause they’re advocating. It’s not about the tax write-offs at all. Although their motivations will never be clear, musicians will always be known for their charitable giving and support of various causes, both political and humanitarian. Some have performed at benefit concerts like Free Tibet, while others have started non-profits and foundations of their own that benefit their cause of choice. Some just give: donating hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars to...

Time to Pretend

3/23/10 10:52 AM

I wish I could say I spent last week wandering the streets of downtown Austin, going to concerts from noon until 2 a.m., with shrimp corndogs and beer being my only forms of sustenance. But like most poor college students, I didn’t have $750 for a music badge or five days to spend at South by Southwest/SXSW/Suckswuh. Soon - and very soon - school and money won’t be able to keep me from the things I love (three cheers for graduating in May!). It will be very strange (in the most awesome of ways) when I actually do have the opportunity to camp out in a field for four days of non-stop musical goodness, because ever since I was 16 I’ve unnecessarily tortured myself by looking up the schedules for SXSW, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza — pretty much every major music...