March 2, 2006
Six Points Music Festival Lineup Announced
For those of you that don't know, Six Points is a D.C. music festival in its third year, hosted at venues in and around the city, including the Black Cat, Jammin Java, the State Theater, The Mansion at Strathmore and more.
This year's lineup was announced yesterday on the festival's blog. The GOG Blog has an interesting take on the festival, namely, that the bands selected are all homogeneous and don't represent the full spectrum of D.C.'s music scene. We don't entirely disagree. I actually sat on the selection committee, and while parts of the article ring true, I certainly don't think that declaring Six Points pointless is a fair assessment. Their assumptions behind the homogeneity were absolutely correct; to get a diverse roster, you need diverse submissions. I remember only three or four hip hop acts out of the 200 that I listened to, and only about four others that were outside of the "straight forward, male-dominated, singer/songwriter rock" bubble. There were plenty of women represented in the submissions and in the resulting lineup (Laura Tsaggaris, The Hickories, Hello Tokyo, Janine Wilson, Woodswork, Laura Brino), so that judgement is fairly unfounded. As DCist knows all too well, diversity in music coverage isn't easy to accomplish.
The festival started amongst a group of people with similar musical tastes, and its growth went through channels in that same circle. Time and yearly strides forward will no doubt raise the profile and the interest in an event like Six Points, but let's remember -- even the most revered of music festivals (SXSW, Bonaroo) have their niche genres. As a young festival, Six Points looks to make an impressive presence in D.C. this April.
|
Here's A Hint also did a Six Points breakdown. And unlike the GOG Blog, he's actually worth reading.
this lineup kinda blows. actually, it does blow.
i read the HaH posting. he seems to think this line up is decent. there are some pretty good acts, and some, whatever-ish acts (imho)
i give it an above average. i'll at least check out some of the dc shows. i dont' go across the river for fear of catching something.
the big story of the whole thing seems to be the complete mental break down of a commenter on there. who may or may not be involved with www.fullminute.com.
its jerry mgguire the musical!
He's taking the goldfish all the way to crazytown.
I can certainly think of a better overall lineup, but everyone can; there is no demonstrably perfect lineup (except mine :).
I think compared to the previous two years and as a whole, it is not the embarassment that many other DC Music Scene events typically are (see Wammies, The), and it's got more variation than, say, Fort Reno.
Certainly a step in the right direction to make DC local music seem relevant and non-sucky.
"I can certainly think of a better overall lineup, but everyone can; there is no demonstrably perfect lineup"
i think everyone has their dream lineup. their "scott stapp of festivals".
did you come over here to escape that loonie on the hah site? i'd hide your puppies, bunnies, and children.
"I can certainly think of a better overall lineup, but everyone can; there is no demonstrably perfect lineup"
i think everyone has their dream lineup. their "scott stapp of festivals".
did you come over here to escape that loonie on the hah site? i'd hide your puppies, bunnies, and children.
Awww, Chris isn't loony. You could make the case that his absolute mastery of the rock guitar has begun to drive him insane, but he's not there yet. It's not like he quit Full Minute and joined a cover band or something, he's just losing his patience with the disconnect between the business and artistic ends of the DC metro area scene. Given that he's got a foot in each, that can be quite a painful schism.
That's two shots at Fort Reno. I'm not that familiar with it, but I went a few times last summer and saw a young pop punk band (Lemonface), a hip hop group (Head Roc), stoner metal (Woolly Mammoth), DC/national scene folks (Q and Not U), undefinable stuff (Edie Sedgwick)... The names may not change that much year-to-year, but there's a comforting lack of commercial ambition there. No offense, Six Points.
Once the comments get into horizontal scrolling, it's hard for me to follow them...
Yeah, I think Fort Reno has it's place, too. 6 Points is certainly not horning in on its racket...
Gabe, honey.
you can't tell me that his "out to get me" messages don't seem completely irrational.
"comforting lack of commercial ambition there"
Or lack of ambition period. I'm just sick of the overwhelming mediocrity of the Fort Reno lineup year to year. But everything has its niche.
When you've been frozen out by a bureaucracy you always sound crazy, since you have no witnesses and are forced to be your own defense. I don't know crap about the situation short of the "he said/she said" but the painfully lawyerly and continually anonymous responses of that Velouria person lend some credence to Chris' claim that it wasn't just a misunderstanding. Court of public opinion sides with Dixon pending new evidence.
Chris is a good guy. He's very driven. Not that this excuses him from offending, but he puts a lot of time into his band, and he'll bend over backwards for people.
Chris is a good guy. He's very driven. Not that this excuses him from offending, but he puts a lot of time into his band, and he'll bend over backwards for people.
sweet hearts-
maybe he is driven. but he is not very bright because to the people that don't know him personally, I assume that's *quite a few*, he looks like a whiney beyond pmsing.
as a booking person, i wouldn't use his press kit as a dryer sheet for my knickers. clubs look for professionals. regardless of the "underlying" situation. i doesn't matter if he was "wronged" or not. what matters is the public spin he puts on it, and frankly, there are kids in bands playing high school talent shows that would be more professional.
Clubs looking only for "professionals" can't be putting on great shows, given that that would necessitate dealing with "artists," and not just artists, but "artists who play rock music" which is a group not especially legendary for their ability to keep their shit together in public. As a "booking person" I look for bands that provoke reactions, that have emotional resonance, that demonstrate that there's blood, sweat, and tears going into their art. Granted, that means I often end up trying to do business with people who can barely tie their shoes, but then again, I'm not paying them to tie their shoes.
The Rolling Stones postpone a show in the US to allow singer Sir Mick Jagger time to rest his voice...