Rock N Roll Is Back!

Posted Sep 17, 2006 by Sir Robert Davis

Updated Sep 17, 2006 at 01:49 PM

The Birthday Bash,  for those who have never been,  is a really good time.  Tons of music on three stages,  beer everywhere,  junk food everywhere and plenty of laughs to go around.  Yeah,  the bulk of the bands were of the decidedly roots rock/jam band variety,  but there were some pleasant surprises here and there.  The country-leaning bands were really very good and were noticeably having a lot of fun.  Nearly every band played longer than they were supposed to,  so it became impossible to tell who was playing by the end of the night unless you were already a fan or it was the last band on any given stage.  The Cuban Club is probably the best venue we have in Tampa, which explains why WMNF loves it so much.  But let’s get away from the event and on to my rant:

In the late 80’s/early 90’s pop culture didn’t reject pretentiousness as the story seems to go.  Instead,  the “in thing” became to intensely pretend to be un-pretentious - so much so that nearly everything in pop culture became annoying, except rap music which merely became a gigantic repetitive bore of epic proportions.  But the “indie” alternative to that was just as boring,  being bogged down with enough phony angst/boredom to drown a herd of elephants.  The hipster hairdo for most of the 90’s was a carefully sculpted bedhead - desperately working hard in a sad attempt to look as though they didn’t care.  Pleasure died an ugly death and everything interesting about pop culture went out - not with a vivacious revolution but with a yawn and a whimper.  No wonder so many people got into ecstacy and techno.  It was as close to “fun” as the mainstream would allow.

The 00’s haven’t been much better.  We’ve been drowning in mockery.  Ironic smirks and mean jokes have been “in” and to even pretend to be having a good time has been the source of many uncomfortable stares.  Indie rock lost it’s goofiness and mainstream music hasn’t the faintest clue about what a “hook” is.  Mainstream films have been so horrible that icons of the past,  such as Michael Caine,  are going on public tirades deriding the entire film industry - and for good reason.

But something has been happening this year,  this strange 2006.  People really want to let go and have some good old-fashioned F-U-N again.  Pretending to be angry and bored just doesn’t cut it anymore.  Repetitive wanking on about ho’s and bling is inspiring the yawns that it should.  Wearing black,  silly skulls and going on about disco and cocaine is finally looking as stupid to the average person as it has looked to me all along.  It is stupid.  And stupidity isn’t as “awesome” as Fox News would have you believe. 

The depth of cultural experience has been a void in most of us for a good twenty years and the hunger is getting too strong to bear any longer.  Beauty and pleasure are making a comeback.  I predict that in 2007,  bleak cynicism will loosen it’s clown-in-black grip and we can start building that golden age that the kids in the mid-60’s (or early 50’s,  or 1920’s,  19-teens,  and,  really,  the 1890’s) dreamed about and destroyed before it could take off.  The time is finally right. 

Aesthetics are more than meets the eye.  Don’t be satisfied with mere art - demand quality.  Taste isn’t negotiable - so learn what good taste really means.  Be humble and patient in your own self-discovery.  Insecurity can kill the flowers before they bloom.

Ten years ago (or so),  I declared Rock N’ Roll dead - before the horrible Lenny Kravitz song of the same name.  Little did I know that I’d be fronting the band that brings it back to life.

Last night,  the Seashorse Orchestra were the secret gem of the WMNF Birthday Bash.  Those who saw us will be talking about it for some time - at least until the next time they see us!  It was likely the best rock n’ roll performance most of them had ever seen - at least for the young ones since they never had the opportunity to witness the likes of,  say,  a Rolling Stones when they were a young happening band.