Tuesday, October 9, 2007
at
22:55
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I love articles like this; artists of the music industry are the ones who are innovating -- leaving the record labels behind in the dust.
The day the music industry died - Times Online
Plummeting album sales aren't due to on-line piracy; they are due to the recording industry cramming pre-manufactured refuse that has lost its' soul down our consumerist throats, while paying corporate radio stations indeterminate sums as a catalyst to further indoctrinate an otherwise blind, deaf and dumb public as to what "talent" is supposed to be.
And we have finally had enough.
I, like everyone else in the developed world, will gladly pay for quality music. However instead of innovating, the recording industry has opted to "fight the good fight" by suing nine-your old kids and ignorant grandmothers.
Where has it got them? Nowhere in ten years -- which is incidentally how long MP3 has been a buzz word in newspapers across the globe. In fact, the only other thing that the recording industry tried, was copy-protect their CD's, which went over like a lead balloon.
Where is the money now? It's exactly where it's always been; in touring and paraphernalia sales. Fans still support their favorite artists; and those artists who are being proactive in communicating with their fans on-line and in concert, are coming out ahead. Those who are hiding being their corporate labels are the ones that are losing.
Regardless, I am excited that music, as a commodity, is heading in this direction. This will mean that the successful artists are going to be the ones who can perform their art live; those who are merely an image or whose "greatness" can only be realized through technologies such as Auto-Tune will become a thing of the past. As a live performer, I think this as exciting news.
After some seventy-five years, the musician is cutting out the middleman. We have only the acquisition of technology to thank for this, for now is the first time in history that the artist has been able to record a professional-sounding recording with a minimal amount of investment. What used to cost millions of dollars in recording equipment costs a mere few thousands now. The artist can now craft his songs now on his computer on his own time.
I am so excited to see what the next five years will bring in the music industry. For the first time since the pre-disco era, are we going to see live music take over -- everywhere. From the stadium down to the grungy-bar, the live band is going to live long and prosper.
Mark my words.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
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20:58
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 This post is long overdue, so sue me.
Seriously, please don't.
The month of August has been very busy for the members of the band, even if we only managed to get out and play two weekends.
Since the back-to-back weekend, we have been working very hard, by kicking up our heels, sitting on our rear ends, and enjoying what a "normal" work day is supposed to be.
That's right, I'm still catching up on lost sleep.
What an astounding two weekends it was! Once we got the willies out of our system, which I thought, may have crippled us at the beginning. Setting up a new PA from scratch -- not knowing how it will perform or what to expect is always unnerving. I still think there is a little way to go in terms of getting the sound right, but I think we are 90% there in that department.
The first night was nerve-wracking. It seems to be when you haven't played in a while. There were lots of blunders, missed endings, and forgotten lyrics, for example, but no major train wrecks. I took the opportunity to spend Thursday night in my "traditional" Royal Hotel style -- drunk out of my wits. I further punished myself by going to work the next day having only three hours' sleep, I might add a tad hung over.
By Friday, the improvement was immense. It was like a 200% improvement over the previous night's performance. We managed to have packed houses both Friday and Saturday, and I have a sneaking suspicion that we turned a few heads.
The staff and management of the Royal enjoyed our repertoire and professionalism. I am confident that we will be back again soon -- like November, maybe.
The next weekend at the Redcliff Hylton was just as successful. We managed to enjoy busy nights on both Friday and Saturday. Some familiar faces from the weekend before even arrived and stayed a while. Could this be the beginning of a devout local following perhaps?
Thanks to everyone who came out those weekends. Spread the word; we will be back sooner than you can say "Australopithecus".
Posted by
MC
Labels:
Gigs,
Hylton,
Redcliff,
Royal
Sunday, August 5, 2007
at
11:07
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It's been several weeks since any of us has posted an update on this site, but we have been very busy this summer preparing for our upcoming performances.
As longtime readers may have gathered, our first performance at the Redcliff Hylton was a bit premature, in the fact that we did not have enough time to prepare the material necessary to play an entire night. Thus, we had to repeat more than 25% of our material every night that weekend.
What was most important was to test-drive the material and check for crowd response, as well as prove to ourselves that we could actually play a gig, and only suffer minor glitches.
But we really did that show on a whim. We hardly had any of our own equipment at that gig. The PA was rented, the light show was what came stock at the club. Even to some extent some of the back-line gear was mooched from other players.
I'd like to say that now, we are much more prepared.
I have managed to update the song list with a pile of new material we are excited to play in the coming weeks. This brings the song count to about 45, which is more than we need to play an entire night.
We have also been very busy building a (expensive) PA system, which is now 95% complete. We are only missing a few cables and as such, we are at a point where we can make do with what we have. Lighting on the other hand, ended up being a system that MA Jerry-rigged himself, which should get us through a couple gig, that is until we can afford a "real" lighting system.
In less than a week, we will be playing the Royal Hotel for a three-night extravaganza. We are very excited, and we hope to see many of you there.
Posted by
MC
Labels:
Gigs,
PA,
Redcliff,
Songs,
Website
Sunday, May 20, 2007
at
23:02
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 There isn't much left to be said about this last weekend's gig at the Hylton. The number of patrons that came to the Hylton to check us out was, for the most part, above average, and they were very supportive of our material, with a select few exceptions, whom were obviously in the minority.
I'm not about to sit and gripe about the things that went wrong this weekend. There are certainly many things that require improvement, and there are those who need attitude adjustments, but thankfully those do not belong to any band members -- or anyone close to us anyway. Yes the gig was an rousing success, and honestly, I felt it went far better than I had expected.
I thought about posting a bunch of pictures from this weekends' performance, but given the time it would require to tweak some 50 pictures, and a few video files, I decided against it. Instead, I may post the odd photo here and there, with a few interjections by me. For example, the photo that accommodates this post is entitled "Ouch! My Eye!!!".
Tung N' Groove has a lot of work to do before we hit the stage again this summer. More posts are to come in the near future. Ciao!
Well, it's done; the first gig is complete!!!
And a rollicking success it was. (what the hell kind of grammar is that?)
Sure, the wheels fell off a few times on friday night, a few endings were blown, a couple of harmonies missed or messed but all in all, despite all the jitters, it went well. Then saturday really cruised!!!
There is no doubt that this band will raise the bar locally, and in no time be quite in demand!
It is such a pleasure to be on stage with these guys and I really felt a sense of unity starting to form within the ranks over the weekend.
A very heartfelt THANKYOU goes out to those who came out to support us and we look forward to seeing you again. ( I'll leave it to MB to post pics and do his normal eloquent meandering!)
Thank you all.
MA
Posted by
Mark A.
Labels:
Band,
Gigs,
Success,
thankyou,
Unity
Thursday, May 17, 2007
at
23:34
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This is it -- finally!
This is the culmination of two years' worth of drinking, planning, scheming, drinking, contemplating, and practicing. Tung N' Groove takes flight tomorrow at the Redcliff Hylton.
And boy, are the guys pumped.
It seems like we have been rehearsing three times per week for the last two months, trying to get enough material together to play a full night. 32 songs -- that's what we managed to get until time ran out. That's three sets -- about a full dozen songs short. At this point, there's nothing we can do, except bite the bullet. We may have to repeat material late in the night, but in a bar, the clientèle usually rotates, so we should manage. By August, we will be ready to gig again, with material to spare.
This evening was spent loading equipment into the bar, setting up, tuning our instruments, and ensuring the PA system worked, as well as getting a good sound out of the PA. I even brought my new Canwoods out to play them this weekend. It took quite a bit of time, but I felt that we got a really big sound out of a (relatively) small PA. Even DH commented that the band sounded really big, fat, and overall good, yet retaining enough headroom to keep the sound clean.
I'll say this another way: We are going to be a loud band, but not too loud. Just loud enough to sound really big.
Once we had the sound happening, we test drove a couple songs in front of about 10 patrons. From my perspective (behind the drumkit), I felt the balance of instruments was pretty good, which allowed me to relax. I think we all felt comfortable on the stage. I didn't have to push, or hit the drums too hard. All in all, it was grooving.
A few of the patrons who listened to our soundcheck received our material positively. I think that's a good sign for this weekend. It's going to be a blast. I speak for the entire band when I say that we can't wait until tomorrow.
Only one thing remains: How the hell am I going to sleep tonight?
Friday, May 11, 2007
at
00:25
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Tuesday, April 3, 2007
at
11:19
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This is almost hard to believe! M.B. and I (and Becks, and Hienecken, and Coors, and Corona, and Gibsons, and Hennesy etc. etc. etc.) have spent sooooooooooo much time together planning, drinking, plotting, drinking, running to the john, searching, drinking..........................oh hell; you get the point! To finally connect with D.H. & K.R., get to work and see light at the end of the tunnel (train?) is really exciting! (For a guy that thought he was done with live music 10 years ago, it's even better!) So, even though our first (so far) gig is on May long weekend (hope for rain) and it doesn't seem like enough time, these are quality musicians that work hard and I know will get it done. Hope to see you ALL soon!!!!!!
M.A.
Monday, April 2, 2007
at
23:03
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Welcome to the official website of Medicine Hat's newest Classic Rock Sensation!
Tung N' Groove is a pro-level band whose mandate is to raise the bar as to what local patrons expect to see in live local talent. We stripped all aspects of the band down to it's bare elements, and are rebuilding from the ground up. No big PA system; no big light show. No pyrotechnics or lasers -- this is entertainment for entertainment's sake: a 4-piece rock band with a professional attitude and presentation.
We are starting with a solid rhythm section, coupled with chugging guitars, screaming keyboards, and a vocal ensemble that (hopefully) will be the envy of our peers. We will feature a vocal section with a wide dynamic range, with 3-4 part harmonies, and our command of our instruments will not only compliment the songs of yesteryear that we have grown to love, but will also show a new level of technical ability not seen in local bars in ages.
Yes, we will play the Classic Rock songs that everyone remembers and loves; we will also bring material to the table that is meant to challenge us as musicians, and (hopefully) impress those who come to see us. The recording, production, promotion and performance of at least one original album is a long-term goal for us.
The band was originally slated to begin performing in August 2007. It has been brought to my attention that our debut date has been moved forward almost 3 months, therefore I had to accelerate my schedule for getting this site on-line. It is but a skeleton at this time, but in the coming weeks, the site will grow into a multimedia site depicting sound bytes, biographies, and perhaps even video. Anything is possible.
The first performance is scheduled for May 18, 2007 at the Redcliff Hylton. We look forward to entertaining you in the future, and many years to come.
Posted by
MC
Labels:
Band,
Gigs,
Mandate,
Website
Sunday, March 25, 2007
at
23:01
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This post is to claim the blog address tungngroove.blogspot.com.
The site will be constructed and maintained in the coming months.
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