December 03, 2004
Live Audio Posting
http://TheNewJazzThing.com/streetscene, powered by Audioblog.com
Live Audio Posting
http://TheNewJazzThing.com/streetscene, powered by Audioblog.com
September 09, 2004
Street Scene 2004: It Worked For More Than Just Rob
Rob Hagey, from George Varga's Pop Scene Street Scene 2004 wrap-up "For Street Scene chief, changes paid off",
"The risk was high, but it worked beyond all our expectations."
It worked for me too, but it is a totally New Street Scene Thing and not the old Street Scene thing.
Full article text included here as a protest to the UT's policy of not creating a publicly and freely accessable archive of their stories.
Continue reading "Street Scene 2004: It Worked For More Than Just Rob"
September 05, 2004
Street Scene 2004 Early Returns Good
George Varga in last Monday's UT: Younger Folks Flock And Street Scene Sets Record,
"San Diego's biggest annual music festival looked, felt and sounded more youthful, literally and figuratively."
I'm posting the entire text because I want a record and UT doesn't let me into it's archives...the link above will probably not work in week or two, so...
Continue reading "Street Scene 2004 Early Returns Good"
September 02, 2004
Street Scene 2004 - Day 2 Pictures
Here are some pictures from Street Scene 2004 - Day 2, from backstage, frontstage, and everywhere in between.
Authority Zero Opening Day 2 at the Time Warner / Road Runner Stage
Here's the recap...
I did Street Scene 2004 Video Fest interviews with Authority Zero, The Accident Experiment (POD replacement's), and Cypress Hill.
August 29, 2004
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - Cypress Hill Front stage
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - Accident Experiment Marcos, Will, Pete Post-Interview
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - The Accident Experiment On Stage
August 28, 2004
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - Backstage In The Artist Trailer and Food Service Area
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - The Accident Experiment On Stage
Live from Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - Authority Zero On Stage
Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - Authority Zero On Camera
Street Scene 2004 Day 2 - John Butler Trio
On The Scene at For Day 1 of Street Scene 2004
Some thoughts about Street Scene 2004, Day 1, the opening day of what really was a totally New Street Scene. Just for context, I spent a lot of the day / evening with camera man Braydon and grip Pam, backstage at the Captain Morgan stage trying to wrangle the Street Scene Video Fest interviews I was on the hook to wrangle. I did make my way, a couple of times during the session, south-east, past the Best Buy stage area to Street Scene / Rob Hagey Productions / Time Warner headquarters in the old Wonder Bread building, but only briefly, so my scope of reporting is somewhat limited. But I'll do my best.
First, here's Street Scene 2004, Day 1 Photo album...some pictures I snapped backstage, frontstage, and all over!
Galactic Rocks Day 1 On The Captain Morgan Stage
Now, on to the recap...
I was able to do Street Scene Video Fest 2004 interviews with (in order completed so any progression / digression of my interview skills can be seen): Amp Fiddler, Brazilian Girls, Dilated Peoples, Galactic.
As predicted, the trolley running through the scene seemed to be the biggest bottleneck, at least early. There were lines of people waiting to cross the tracks going toward Best Buy, creating lots of crowding. They seemed to attempt to make it a one-way south-bound only during one of my crossings, but that didn't hold later. It will be interesting to see what they attempt tomorrow when typically the SS crowds are much heavier that Friday.
It was interesting to walk down the 'center' strip of the scene, separating the stage / all-age area from the further-back / over-21 area. You would be walking through this zone and there would be heavy crowds near the fence of the over-21 and the under 21 side would be totally impacted near the stage area. Hard to explain in my current state. The next explains the impact.
There seemed to be some really heavy stage crowding at the Best Buy stage late in the evening. As I passed during one band, the band was fully, explicatively (?) telling the crowd to back up, as there were multiple people passed out in the front. I saw multiple stretchers deployed at the Scene tonight. A result of all-ages? A result of more room at fewer stages making more crowding? I'm watching the late night news rerun and they report 19 people injured (along with other gripes from drinkers and vendors). I wonder how they what the response is to these?
The Scene seemed much more open...more room at the stages, probably because it was...no buildings and street blocks really made it seem flat and wide open. But, strangely, the stages seemed much more crowded, especially as the big-ness of the acts increased as the night progressed.
Artists hang out in the back stage area. Even when there is lots of music going on at other stages. It just seemed strange to me. But I guess this is a relatively 'quiet' area where they can hang with friends...but I think I'd be hanging with my friends having a beer somewhere listening to something New. Just me, probably.
My interviews went pretty good. But the interaction / integration between the SS folks and the TWC folks isn't very good, I guess. Why can't we contact the publicity people / managers / artists well before the event and get the releases for the performance clips and interviews? I spent lots of time backstage waiting for managers and artists to show up so I could describe what we were doing with Video Fest and have them agree, with a signature, to let us do it and post it. There's got to be a better way.
I HEARD SUCH KILLER MUSIC TONIGHT!!!! And I talked to such killer artists tonight!!!! Spacey, futuristic, culturally expansive music from the Brazillian Girls. Straight up funky soulful music from the man with smile on his face, Amp Fiddler. Beats in your face and mind with the lyrical Dilated Peoples. Groove-laden, rock and jazz from the other world of Galactic. And that was only one stage! If the other stages rocked that hard, then they rocked!!
Remember, you heard it here first!!! Tomorrow night should be a whole other New Thing!!!
August 27, 2004
Galactic Out Front!
Galactic Fireworks
Galactic Side-stage
Dilated Peoples On Stage
Dilated Peoples Givin' It To The People!
Grips - Pam and Manette
Amp Fiddler On Stage
Brazilian Girls - Captain Morgan Stage
Louis XIV - Best Buy Stage
Amp Fiddler Backstage
Street Scene Video Fest 2004 by Jantzen
The Brazilian Girls Aren't From Brazil!
Links:
Verve Music: Includes some bio and links to a couple Quicktime videos of the band in performance.
Brazilian Girls Website: Looks to be pretty much under construction.
Questions:
You are a relatively new band on the scene. Can you describe your music?
Are there particular political or cultural things you are trying to express with your music?
None of you is from Brazil, correct? How did the name and the band come together?
Sabina wears a cloth 'mask' while performing. What are you trying to express?
Your new album is schedule for a January 2005 release. Are you preforming that material now? How do you feel about the long lead time before the release?
Are there other musicians at Street Scene that you are particularly interested in checking out?
NCTimes.com: This Ain't Your Father's Street Scene
North County Times - Jeff Pack - Street Scene celebrates 20th anniversary
:
"This ain't your father's Street Scene; heck, it may not be your older brother's. The elimination of the blues and jazz acts, once the fuel for Street Scene's success, may drive away some of the festival's longtime faithful. But developmental changes downtown, soft ticket sales during the past couple of years and a desire to stage a bigger, more professional festival are what drove the organizers' decisions."
What Would A Scene Be Without A Trolley Running Through It?!
I snapped some pictures of the Pre-Street Scene 2004 venue on the way down to the radio show last night, just to get a sense of what this new Scene is going to look like. It was pretty interesting to be driving around where fences were being put up and rows of porta-heads lined the streets like stumpy blue trees...they needed to keep the streets open until sometime today, I would guess (a good reporter would have given you east village dwellers that info). While there will be streets inside the venue, I don't think you'll get the same sense of that at the show since there are no buildings around to give it that 'street' feel. Another interesting feature is that the venue straddles the trolley line, so it will be interesting to see how that is handled this weekend. Enjoy the pics!
August 26, 2004
From The Archives: Street Scene 2003 Photo Album
Here are some pictures from last year's Street Scene 2003, on the day I announced Jazz acts on the Starbucks stage. Some highlights include the different views from the streets as the Scene opened up, my boss working in one of the alcohol stands, the big grass fields that are no more in east village, Jazz 88's J.Otis Williams hasseling the security guards, Mr. Contortionist, Bill McGee on stage, Father Joe Carroll minding the food store, Stone Brewing's Greg Koch, your's truly introducing Carlos X and the Jazz Pigs, hooking up with Wade and Debbie, introducing Gilbert Castellanos at the Jazz stage, and the big screens on the stages (this year?).
What will the new Scene be?
Street Scene 2004 Day 0 - 10th St. Entrance Next To Petco Park
