[MD] New Model Army

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Ron]
There was an energy so intense at that show. It was thrilling It 
scared the sh*t outta me.

[Arlo]
Dynamic Quality will do that to you every time :-)

I've always like live music rather than recorded music for the same 
reason. This depends greatly on the performers, of course. 
Jourgenesen definitely had (and maybe still "has", just don't know 
personally) an amazing stage presence. You can say this about so many 
of the great rock artists, from Jim Morrison to Ogre (Skinny Puppy), 
from Buddy Holly to Joey Ramone. And its also why I've always like 
"bar venues" (apart from the ale) over colleseum-arena shows. While 
there is a certain awe in sitting among several thousand Night Ranger 
fans waving lighters to the slow beat of "Sister Christian", give me 
the immediate in-your-face slam dancing at a Suicidal Tendencies gig.

I read an interview with Johnny Rotten once discussing "punk" and how 
the early progenitors of the movement refused to even play venues 
where there was an elevated "stage". This was a critical reaction to 
the "separation and elevation" of the artist from the audience. While 
contemporary acts like the Rolling Stones were being hoisted onto 
every larger and more removed stages, the Sex Pistols demanded to be 
symbolically equal with their audience. Indeed, this may have derived 
from the progression of early punk shows where the various "acts" 
would often share equipment, and at the close the band would simply 
"trade places" with a group out of the audience who then became "the 
performers".

This breaking down the duality of "audience" and "artists" is a 
feature not simply of punk music. One of the hallmarks of early 
comedy skit shows was a dissolution of the invisible wall between the 
audience and the stage, often turning the audience into a part of the 
skit (e.g., the Andy Kaufman/Michael Richards skit on Friday's). 
Other artists, like Art Spiegelman, have used similar devices in 
their art, either "appearing as himself" inside the story, or in the 
case of "Open Me, I'm a Dog!" where a dog is turned into a book 
depicting his being turned into a book but including a plea that the 
book is really a dog.

[Ron]
On the opposite side, I'm on a Alice Donut kick at the moment.

[Arlo]
I've been listening to two Canadian bands a lot lately, Sloan, and 
The Tragically Hip. I've not seen either live yet, something I hope 
to do one day soon.