Lineage

Apr26
by Bitterman on April 26, 2011 at 11:19 am
Posted In: Music

 

All things come from somewhere. The history of the path from a common ancestor is not always of interest to people trying out on their own, but it still exists. For the topic of this post I’m talking about musical lineage. Even purists have a line to follow, those who came before gave each musician a jumping off point. How far they jumped, and to where, is where it gets interesting. Growing up I had some pretty diverse influences. That, along with the incredible need to be different, pushed me to seek out things that were not as popular as what my classmates were listening to. My father played Indian Classical Music, Latin Jazz and BeBop around the house, as he played both the tablas and the congas with other musicians. My mother, in that period of the mellow rock sounds,listened to James Taylor, Carly Simon, Carole King.

Looking at the charts for lets say 1978, you’ll see Queen, the Bee Gees, Meatloaf, Kansas and other FM staples. The Ramones, Talking Heads and Paul Simon are on that same list of radio favorites. By then I was listening to Jeff Beck, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Genesis, Yes and the Dixie Dregs. Not liking Kiss or Olivia Newton John made me a pariah in high school, though Zeppelin, ZZ Top and the Southern Rock bands filled my needs. I still leaned toward fusions of different things, blues/rock, rock/jazz, etc. Finding a way to meld those different likes into one thing was very pleasing, even to an immature drummer of 15.

I also was fortunate enough to have other family member who played at a high level, my uncle, Peter Donald. His musical career carried him from gigs with pop acts who paid (Olivia Newton John, Peter Allen, Paul Williams, Helen Reddy, The Osmond Brothers) and jazz acts(The Toshiko/Tabackin Big Band, The Bob Florence Big Band, The John Abercrombie Quartet, 3 Prime)  who pushed the envelope. Another drummer, his excellence was something I studied from an early age. His path to Boston and Berklee is something I ended up following in time. Between him, my father and others who listened to more challenging music (both listening and playing wise) my tastes began to lean towards those who not only play their instruments really well but were doing new things built on a history and a vocabulary.

Very few players live entirely in a vacuum; the ones who say they don’t listen to anyone else and are influenced by even less, I don’t trust them. I know people who assemble their ability, choose a direction and then avoid being influenced by people on their path, trying to listen to the voice inside and maybe be unique. I tend to steer towards people who are still fans, still love music and learning something new. In this day and age, you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism, either intentional or unconscious ; it’s much better to outright steal what you like and make it your own, in a good way.

So as a teen I was listening to Fusion, Progressive and flat-out Jazz while others were supping from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. A diet of Zappa, odd time signatures and high tempos probably caused my brain to swell and misshape. Don’t let these descriptions convince you I became a complete snob musically; there was plenty of room for good, simple or sloppy tunes, as long as the performers were real. As time went by I actually made more room for the less technical stuff, the less-is-more school finally made sense not only economically but spiritually.

OK, where is this going? At one point in the 90’s I was working for a musician who I felt lacked a bit in the history department about his own instrument. His immediate influences went back 5-10 years and really just broke the surface in the levels of possibility. Like my father, I tend to step into an educator position with music, drawing lines from one person to another, one style or period. I am compelled to expand the musical vocabulary of some and therefore the understanding of the performance or logic within it. Most people are not only reluctant but completely uninterested in being challenged by what they are hearing. I understand; the familiar and the easily consumed can be background, a comfort zone, a recognized vehicle  to calm, to propel, to work out, to release.

Music isn’t always beautiful or soothing. It can be sad, angry, uplifting, dissonant, polished, raw, sickeningly cheerful… just about anything. Everybody has their personal tastes, not only with genres but with mood, tempo, instrumentation and the like. I also tend to believe that a limited musical vocabulary tends to make certain music unlistenable because the listener doesn’t really understand what they are hearing. I’ve written about this before and can’t honestly remember where it is posted (or if it is), to this little abbreviated thing will suffice, as it isn’t really the point of this post but an important tenant of where I’m going. So at some point some listeners say to themselves “I want to do that!” Not all motivations begin or end the same; ranging between “I want to be the greatest guitar player ever” to ” I just want chicks to dig me” is a thousand levels of “I want to be a part of that”. Begging for an instrument from your parents, borrowing, stealing, building…learning chords or beats, playing with others, going from nothing to something, the progression from imitation to creation. This is where the personal lineage begins.

The simple songs my first garage band (the actual thing, not the software) played were easy chord progressions to copy and all the subtleties and detail would come later. I can remember “Evil Ways” by Santana, “Hymn 43” by Jethro Tull, maybe “Funk 49” by the James Gang… (as the drummer, I was at the mercy of what the guitar players could pull off!) You begin to realize that your ability and the ability of your bandmates limit your song choices. Practice, practice, practice…maybe. If you’re lucky you become a big fish in a little pond, then make the jump to a larger pond and realize how small you are. You grow or get ate; most people just get the hell out of the pond. You study the guys you admire and maybe pay attention to who they say influenced them.

Shadowy figures and unknown names get repeated; why would rock guys mention old blues guys, dead jazz guys and classical composers? At first you don’t see the connection; how would a sax player influence a metal guitar player? How could the guitar player on “Miss You” have wanted to be Robert Johnson? Lineage is a good word, but realize that very few people come from a single line anymore. Even purist forms, “classic” styles such as gospel, bluegrass, classical of all forms, they are becoming more hybrid and mutant, blending outside influences and creating more personal music.As I’m writing this, I started with a linear list and it is quickly becoming a cloud or multiple rays coming toward a series of self-centric nodes.

Trying to decide if I should pause and create a graphic to insert into this post at this point… Ugh, not a good idea. I’ll look at it later, as a truly incestuous ancestry hairball that needs some clearer thought. I want the Org chart to go backwards and it just doesn’t wanna.

LOTS of crossed nodes.

What inspired this post was the discovery of a branch of the tree now known as “Djent” (said to be coined by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah) which gives me another one of those “YES! YES!” moments that I had when I first heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ combination of rock and funk. One of the bands I played with in Boston during the early 80’s attempted to blend the genres in the same way and didn’t quite nail it. When I heard the Chilis, all I thought was, “Yup, that was what we were trying to do.” I called my old band mates and they all nodded for me over the phone. This music nicknamed “Djent” just hit me in the musical solar plexus the same way, perhaps as it took elements of many of my favorite styles and nailed it. It’s heavy, it’s technical, it’s truly DIY in that it has such limited interest the guy who started the band could have only created it with the wide reach of the internet.

 

I stumbled upon an article about Misha Mansoor and his current band, Periphery. I usually take guitar mag articles with a grain of salt, the flavor of the month either manufactured or rehashed.Though I have a certain weakness for “chops” music, not much of recent tips have produced any lasting interest to me. Older, more established players finally getting the distribution that the internet provides usually are more my speed. The one exception is a few bands who play heavy music that have some remarkable talent and that stand out audibly from the pack. Meshuggah and any Devin Townsend-related projects come to mind. Though brash and aggressive, there is more than meets the ear.

Periphery started with Misha posting clips of his ideas online to a service called Soundclick. He also participated in forums about Meshuggah & John Petrucci, the guitarist of the band Dream Theater. As Misha also played 7 string guitar he posted to sevenstring.org. The modern 7 string is like a typical guitar with an extra bass string, extending the range lower. Guitar player Steve Vai, who played with Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth made them popular in the 80’s; the group Korn really got the kids excited about them during the mid-90’s. With lower tunings and the extended range, they became quite common in heavy music.

Louder and faster, more angular, the heavy scene may have lacked some of the finesse of some other genres both technically and harmonically. There is no doubt of the veracity and ferocity of many players, there just wasn’t  always much substance. In the same way that BeBop jazz and Fusion took tremendous ability in the players, the compositional complexity fed another level, the one that requires an extended vocabulary to realize that what is being performed is beyond the textural and temporal character.

Lineage calls when I hear a number of bells ring within me, both of the familiar and the new. As I listen to a song like “Racecar “, I hear direct influences and then secondary ones that Misha might now even be conciously aware of. These are the ones who inspired the people he listened to.

So for me I see this (by no means complete or linear ) line that goes from Indian Classical Music  to Charlie Parker to Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Mahavishnu, the Dregs, Jeff Beck, Weather Report, Chick Corea and the Brecker Brothers to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and other Prog Rock bands to King’s X, Alan Holdsworth, U.K., Mike Keneally, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani to Strapping Young Lad, Meshuggah, Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane, Freak Kitchen, Mars Volta and Tool; this is the next layer of the planet.

Misha wasn’t the only one who saw the compositional complexity, the tempo and heavy texture as the next step. Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders, Chimp Spanner, TesseracT, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Scale The Summit and Fleshwrought all carry elements of this extreme music that is firing on so many levels that my recent immersion is by no means total and comprehensive. In the same way that BeBop and Free Jazz had limited appeal (heck, still do) but were created as a reaction to a staid and undynamic music scene, Djent and other heavy paths challenge the ear, the brain and the central nervous system.

It gives me hope, as well as some of those who went before, who keep pushing both the creative possibility as well as their audience to listen and enjoy their efforts.

Here are a few examples of this music if you’re interested:


Periphery- Racecar (instrumental)


Animals As Leaders- CAFO

I fear the next post will be a Lineage pt. 2 post with a direct focus on drummers…

 

 

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The Canyon Effect

Mar14
by Bitterman on March 14, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Posted In: mobile tech, Network, Politics

This time of the year is filled with convergences. As the winter loses its bite and nature begins incubating the bursts of buds and brightness, there are changes within communities, within people themselves. Maybe after the holidays and the gray swath of cold a mental Mardi Gras is needed, not a trade show of fractured attempts but a chance to hear what others are saying on and off the page. There are plenty of metaphors that could be used for spring, for this part of the cycle, for when there is a need for realignment.

 

It’s not just about prepping the beds for the next set of flowers or for the summers work load. It seems to be across the board, some form of universal need for a chiropractic POP! to be delivered. Is it merely seasonal or is there a growing awareness beyond me?

 

I guess it’s time for a slight disclaimer in that some of this is clearly personal as I write it. I have recently been through a period of depression that was debilitating as far as thought or progress was concerned. The only difference this time as compared to any previous bouts since the mid-1970’s is I actually sought professional treatment. Earlier in my life I either self medicated or did the Eeyore until the cloud lifted. This time with the watchful and caring eye of my wife and the seemingly gargantuan dose of dispair I had the docs tinker until there was some improvement. There may not have been a blinding return to Technicolor but certainly a sense of an unread pile of books and a full DVR.

 

Have you ever been off the network or engaged in something that has taken you away from the modern lifestream for any period of time? Did you have a sense when you returned that you missed something or that you’d never recapture it because of the linear nature of the services you currently use? Similar to missing an important meeting at work or the season finale of a drama, you know down deep you can get the information but have missed the moment. This may not be a universal experience, even for heavy internet users or social media types. I have experienced it while traveling and also when life conspired to keep me from staring at the screen. For many, Real Time is not important. I think for those who have experienced it during an event or been part of a spirited discussion can understand.

 

I became interested in Real Time through the Gillmor Gang and one of its timely spin offs, News Gang Live. For many, the discussions and dissections performed by “Dr.” Gillmor and his team were often obtuse, repetitive ,techno-wonky and obscured by clouds (even before clouds were hip). Listening to these group conversations were not a destination, a product or answer to a question, they were often the process of finding the question so the listeners could think about the answer, both around the table and by the speaker. In a society where people prefer to be spoon fed, jerked off or told they are pretty, the show is a challenge even to regular listeners, because it can’t be absorbed casually. People want answers, not questions.

 

Over the past 5 years with the advent of status and location check-ins, the streaming of personal and professional information and the act of sharing or “liking” items of interest, many people have turned to devices other than their TV or radio for information and entertainment. The traditional outlets have scurried into the fray, attempting to maintain a presence and generate revenue for their corporate boards, while protecting their interests. What’s more, affinity groups and activists have bypassed the blockade that their governments and media outlets have created. The speed and (current) self determination of information sharing have created situations and outcomes that no one saw coming.

Current events have made much of this strikingly clear. Egypt, Libya, Wisconsin and Japan have been remarkable things to watch unfold online. As we have always been dependent on organizations for news, they start being an obvious choice but individuals with mobile devices have become our new news teams. How do I find these individuals? Not by the recommendation of a news gathering company but from friends and their friends. A government will stop a camera crew at a border but a native with a smartphone can send us, within seconds, images of what is happening, now.

Gillmor during the 2008 election run up would mix tech and politics and when both the listeners and the participants would say “Why Obama, why Twitter?” and he would answer “There’s no difference.” That’s a huge chunk of WTF for most people to sit down with. I think a lot of us nodded because of him being the embodiment of Oscar the Grouch, George Martin and Yoda for us but we learned after a few snout smacks that we often just talked until we figured out what we were talking about and then produced the question.

For the past two weeks I’m getting that event horizon/ convergence feeling again and I’m not sure it’s because I’m pulling my head out of my own ass or if there is something at play here. Wisconsin was telling because what we saw on Twitter was not what we were seeing on the TV networks. There was some serious high end message manipulation going on that most people who live here probably don’t think is possible, or would be un-American. How would they know, unless they used the other, newer network? Would they actually believe that public school teachers caused the Wall St. meltdown? Did the major media outlets think that no one would be interested in 100,000 people gathering to voice their opposition to legislation (as opposed to a sporting event or an American Idol audition?)

Maybe someone somewhere honestly thinks that iPads and iPhones are only gonna be used for Angry Birds and watching trailers for CSI: Tishamingo. There are plenty of people who don’t want to see the scale of the suffering in Japan or the theories why unions are saving or killing our country. They have the right to be uninformed; they should just have the choice of not being misinformed.

One headline really got my attention last week: It was about Stephen Harper, the PM of Canada, trying to get a law off the books up there because it prevents networks like Fox News from being broadcast: it’s illegal to lie on the public airwaves. We lost the “Fairness Doctrine” in 1987 and now you can blatantly lie without much pushback. It makes you wonder if the truth is important to people if it goes against what they believe or say what they believe. Is the Wikileaks stuff true? Does it matter?

So, as individuals with access to the network (in most countries) we can sift through more information than we ever could if we did it every second for the rest of our lives. We count on others (reliable sources, friends, F.O.F.’s) to parse what is important. Even algorithms get involved. We can look at a map and see which people are actually there to experience it. We either have to trust these people, suspend our disbelief or not care if it’s true, content to parrot headlines to be “first!” or some other form of cool.

I began writing this article because of a feeling that’s been nameless and directionless for the past few weeks. I can feel and hear something coming but I’m not sure from which direction. Like a gunshot in a canyon the echo bounces off the cliffs and fakes the ear out, making the need for other senses to get involved in the location factor. Part of it may be our instinct for where the sniper should be, rather than any clue see or unseen. A glint of glass, a puff of smoke, they would be helpful but all I have is that echo bouncing around my head.

In that echo I hear a few things that might have something to do with it or not; identity and integrity, the continuing idea of having a single unified identity online and how some would be surprised how few people actually want that; that people want the layers of the onion and some kind of protection from being exposed as being human, flawed, weird, kinky, criminal, selfish, greedy, stupid, dishonest, gullible; the Asian concept of “Face” and how universal it is, like it or not; how “Groups” never really work, that “Circles” might, the intersections dangerous, exciting, promising, somehow being able to juggle your life in orbits you could manage; new roundtables, fresh energy and angles, new ears to listen to the clues, the ability to triangulate, find where the echo is coming from, find the sniper before we feel the sting of what’s coming next.

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Stolen Advice

Mar09
by Bitterman on March 9, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Posted In: Poetry

Flexing this muscle before the others

Advice falling out of my mouth

now grasped

 

This exercise just as hard to start

To work its way up to the point

When the ache and excuses have no sway

Spiritual endorphins released

When the self slips away

 

It’s not as if there’s nothing to share

The poet wants it to be a garden, not a list

Not for self adoration

But to let it grow into something else

 

A long sigh,a warning, a road sign, a memory

 

Is this ego or a conjurer’s secret wish?

Perhaps it is, as a by product

of exercise, of honest allocation

The gym rat’s dream of muscles

The gardener’s dream of rainbow blooms

 

The poet to take complex feelings and simple observations

And through language pumped by an honest soul

Create something more than a grocery list

Something that stands erect

And can be noticed.

 

 

AEM

3/9/11

FB,TX

 

 Comment 

First Signs

Feb19
by Bitterman on February 19, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Posted In: Poetry

Subtle shifts
Back to the right kind of pain
Finally noticing the first word
In the term human frailty
Switch the second to shortcoming
Or potential
The first word is the mystery, the adjective
The one that lacks perfection and adds character

As the dark weight breaks
And other familiar notions visit
Human explains both the broken balance and the fallacy
How could anything be organic when such a noble ego,
The silent poet, who feels and never speaks
Could be the only reason a marriage, a family, a life to be failing

Fragile ego
Stubborn that it could be the body
Not granting the brain its food
Just as the long scar on my chest
Reminds me of how the pipes didn’t give the heart
The blood to pump and spread
Throughout this body that somehow keeps working
Despite the lazy mind that watches, worrying

So the time for the brilliant brain
To be a patient passenger
Is here, again not allowed to insist
On terminal uniqueness
To trust direction from outside, unbiased
And wait for the flowers of spring.

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The Big Mess

Feb07
by Bitterman on February 7, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Posted In: Life, sports

who's gonna clean this up?

A few weeks ago my wife Angela won a pair of tickets to the Big Game. Even when recording a video for the company that gave them away, it couldn’t be referred to by name, just the Big Game or the Event. I’m surprised that NBC didn’t complain about that. The name is protected by the NFL in that there is a layer of promotion and advertising that occurs with and without it; they enforce this and have strict guidelines (as well as financial considerations) that must be followed.

Everyone knows that this Event is about money. Cities fight for hosting it, companies spend 3 million dollars for a 30 second spot on TV during the game and the price of everything goes up for the finale of the American football season. Tickets, parking, concessions, lodging, drinks and merch are more than the week before. As much as this sounds like corporations flexing their capitalistic muscle, it also plays into the very real passion of the sporting fan, their team, their community, their love for the game. It’s a perfect storm of greed and passion, played out on TV worldwide.

I know a thing or two about events, from town parks to stadiums. I’ve been working in the event business for 25 years in many different roles:stagehand, roadie, vendor, stage manager, production coordinator. I’ve also participated in 3 different Super Events in 3 different roles; in 2005 I worked for a band at a televised off site event, in 2009 I worked for another during the Halftime Show and this year in Arlington, I went as a crowd member.

I am somewhat jaded when it comes to events, as I have spent so long having All Access passes and not having to herd along with the Great Unwashed. You might find this ironic but as much time as I have spent in arenas and stadiums, I really dislike crowds. For me a backstage pass isn’t about getting somewhere else, it’s about getting away from the crowd. Spoiled as I am, I still go to events without anything other than a ticket and can have a good time.

There is so much that goes into making a good event. Execution does little good without planning. Advance work and the ability to make use of time before doors is key. As my friend Chopper showed me, a good advance leaves you with time to deal with the 200 or 300 things that happen every show day that are unanticipated by people at every level. A good production person is one who handles those audibles with a level head and a smile.

Others I’ve worked with are pioneers in the event industry who created the modern festival format, stadium security and video reenforcement. Without the basic infrastructure, the most simple acts can become a tragic error. Putting colored tape on the edge of the stage, lines on the floor to follow, barricade, proper staffing… they all go unnoticed but when missing can be a dangerous fault.

OK, what does all this have to do with the Super Bowl? (there, I said it) My experience yesterday began on friday when we went to pick up the tickets. This week in the DFW area has been extraordinary weather-wise, with an ice storm. freezing temperatures and a 4″ dusting on Friday. As these are things that are usually momentary here in North Texas, a week where all these special events are going on (many outside), you can see why the game is usually held in Florida or somewhere else that has a good chance of being safe from inclement weather. Dallas is usually pretty mild, but ice storms, cold snaps and some light snow are not unusual. They just don’t usually shut down the city for a week.

Friday Morning before the Super Bowl

Here they sand the roads a bit, especially the big bridges and overpasses on the freeways but rarely plow. In our town, until Saturday afternoon when the temperature finally got above freezing, the major streets were still rutted ice, from Monday. Schools were closed all week. Fed Ex wouldn’t deliver on our street for days because of the lack of roads being cleared.

When we went to pickup our tickets, there was a high sense of SNAFU going on. Though the contest had been going on for a month,the tickets were not delivered until way after business hours on Friday. We figured it was the company who put on the promotion or the brokers they used. Once we had them in hand I checked a chart and found that they were in the temporary seats constructed on the west end zone “party plaza”, a giant concrete slab that is filled with standing room only patrons during Cowboys games, nearly 30,000 can fit on both sides for a somewhat reasonable $29 a head. While there you can drink $10 beers and watch the big screen standing up. Of course you’ve already spent $70 to park your pickup, so, you’re well on your way to a $200 day anyway.

The NFL erected giant temporary bleachers on these plazas, above the end zones. The seats extended way above the giant video screens. This way they could fit 15,000 people into assigned seats; the venue was designed to be able to do this. It was not some last minute jury rigged fix.

Green and Gold

Angela and I left the house about 11am and drove to our new light rail station one mile from our house. The Super Bowl committee got the transit authorities of Dallas, Forth Worth and Arlington to band together for the event, issuing a $30 transit pass for 4 days which would work with all the systems in a nice sleeve and lanyard (which, at the Super Bowl, people wear multiple ones to show their elite status). We traveled south to catch the TRE (Trinity Railroad Express), the commuter train that runs from Dallas to Ft. Worth. At the mid-point, Centrepoint Station, busses waited to shuttle the remaining 7 miles to the stadium. We were dropped off at the nearby Rangers baseball park and joined the throng walking the half mile to Jerry’s House.

And a horse made of crackers...

For the Superbowl, the outer part of any stadium is rebuilt for the event, corrals for the endless media, segmented areas for corporate shmoozing and the slaughterhouse-like funnels for security and ticket scanning. What struck me first was the general lack of signage and the serpentine tapeworm layout for the general public. The mood was positive and the amount of bedecked fans from both sides was trippy.

When we got to the ticket scanning part, both of our barcodes created scrunched faces of the ushers and they announced to us we needed to go to “Resolutions”. Being over a month from New Years, I was concerned. No one was really sure where this was, just “down there, at the end”. Walking at a 90 degree angle of lunging football fans for a 1/4 mile we arrived to a pile of disgruntled patrons also labeled “Resolutions”. Information was not forthcoming from our keepers so we all compared notes and tickets and found that most of us were all in the same temporary seating area. Many of the people in our group came from the season ticket holder lottery on both the Pittsburgh and Green Bay sides. They won the chance to pay face value (another source tells me they mostly paid 3 to 4 times more than face value) and get their butts to Texas to see their teams compete.

As with most American crowds when money, sports and passion are involved, it didn’t take long to hear bitter raised voices. They just wanted to get in and see their team win the game. We were shuttled out of the cordon and to an NFL office where information was being given with an eye dropper. We were eventually told to go to the “Resolutions” area in Parking Lot A. After a time we found an unmarked 3-sided white party tent with 2 bare banquet tables and no people. Eventually a nice English gentleman from the NFL was thrown under our wheels to explain.

He said that there was a problem with the temporary seating we were supposed to be seated in, that they were trying to resolve it and that if they could not, they would pay up to three times the face value of the ticket to refund. This was not an acceptable answer for most of the crowd.We were then directed back to the security abattoir for another screening and then shipped into some plaza party area away from the TV cameras. There was talk of a $10 voucher but it never materialized. A second sheet of paper was handed to us explaining about the seating problem and putting the refund offer in writing. Patience was wearing thin. Most of us got into the security line between 11am and 1pm; it was now nearly 4pm, 90 minutes from kickoff.

Cursing in the chute

The crowd cursed. It cursed the NFL, it cursed the Cowboys but mainly it cursed Jerry Jones. Living in Dallas, the first makes sense, the second doesn’t and the third is a given. He’s not a hero to us either. A reporter found his way into our ranks and was passing our story out into the world. I tweeted and Facebooked. I suspected that there were a few groups of us around as this group didn’t equal 7000. We found ourselves pushed against a chain link fence, inches from the admitted public and about 100 feet from the outside of the stadium. While some drafted a class action suit and others quietly discussed the stupidity of it, others participated in a more traditional response, drunken yelling.

Build it and they will sit...

Around 4 an Arlington police officer walked through the crowd and told the security to open the gate. Apparently the fire marshall had signed off on the bleachers. Our gaggle cheered and staggered towards what we thought was an entrance (remember, signage is an issue). We found our way up to the rafters and the shiny aluminum seating. The outside staircases were still roped off with hazard tape and guarded by bored looking ushers but the interior stairs were clear. It looked save enough, compared to some I’ve seen; it can be a mess when it’s not…

Well, we got in. The section seemed pretty full but we didn’t see a lot of the people we were in line with. Since yesterday we’ve heard that 400 of the ticket holders were taken to the field level bars or bunkers which you can really just watch TV from. In the following photograph you’ll also see 2 (of 4) sections we spotted that looked temporary and were empty for the whole game. They appear to be big enough for about 100 people and would account for the ones below. A friend had his tickets in a section in the 300s (331 I think) which on the official chart is empty but was there during the game, without people.

note the 2 empty black areas on the third level...

( update : Also see photos at Dallas Morning News…)

So the game goes on, the crowd cheers, beers are spilt, Margaritas are sold for $19 and a team is crowned world champion in a league that is only played in one country. We get up and begin to depart, no signage to guide us (through scaffolding racks and road cases with thousands of others), a few false starts and backwards through the muddy tapeworm, back to the street. When we arrived back at Rangers Park, we find a line of people the length of the park waiting for the shuttle to the train station; there were no signs, we had to ask the least drunken person what it was. An hour in the light cold rain listening to smashed logic from visiting fans who have hated their Texan Super Bowl experience and we finally get on a bus which arrives in time for the last TRE trains heading to Dallas and Fort Worth at 11:30. I know it’s Sunday and North Texas, but it’s the Super Bowl! Is it because it’s a school night? We arrived at Victory to grab the last Green Line train home. We made it there, saw the game and got back but it was not a pleasant experience.

big fun in the attic

Ok, so we were inconvenienced for a while, were able to see our first Super Bowl from the seats we were assigned and got home safely. What could be done better in a place with the most ridiculous venue I’ve seen, far between the two city centers with a truly unpredictable weather history?

– Improve the Mass Transit options for an event this size. Get the info out. Super Bowl Week is a corporate junket for some, a bacchanal for some more and a grand sporting tradition for others. Why are there people taking cabs from Arlington to Denton? Why are they considering paying $300 to get from the game to Dallas through Waco in someone else’s van?

-Please, please,please rethink the layout of the infrastructure on the stadium grounds. The media area was positioned so that the stadium was the backdrop for all the reports but it made getting in and out of the venue a pain in the ass and potentially dangerous. Invest in some arrows, signs and people who know where the fuck things are.

-According to the NFL, they knew that seating was an issue during the week; why were they working on a fix until doors? The set up and inspection should have occurred days before, with or without the weather. I know how the Fire department loves to show up an hour before show time and ask you to change everything but doesn’t that mean the NFL should too?

-I know from experience that many people who work for the NFL don’t live in the game city and don’t know the area or the building. How about educating them before the public shows up?

-Please have Maroon 5 next year at Halftime; I want to watch their career end too.

after the loss

From talking to many life long fans and frequent Super Bowl patrons, the North Texas Super Bowl experience left a bad taste in their mouth. They were angry, felt ripped off and said they would never return to North Texas if it was held here again. I was embarrassed to be from here and see so many people so bitter about it. For the rich and the famous, these are all issues that will never touch them in the luxury boxes and their shrimp cocktails. The experience of sitting in the stands is like being in coach class with 100,000 people. Parking is like paying for 2 checked bags. Cowboys Stadium prices make you homesick for Heathrow. As much as this may be the facts of moving numbers in and out of a megadome, if the average joe don’t show up, the scallop sauté station isn’t long for the VIP area.

"the belt"

I hope the NFL looks at how this “Event” was handled and makes an effort to make their bread and butter feel a little more part of the team.

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