RATM..for sure.

This weekend, while working at VooDoo Music Experience, I had the opportunity to see Rage Against The Machine. Incredible. At least 45,000 people watching one band at one time. It was such an experience to see how a festival this size can capture the attention of so many people, all because of one band. Granted, many people came throughout the day to see other acts and local shows, but RATM stole the night. They have the ability to control the crowd like no other. Now I have seen many bands over the years who were beyond phenomenal, but no band has had the complete and utter attention of their fans.

To begin with, their set design was simple, yet bad ass. Their stage presence was more than you can ask for from a band. When you were watching them, you knew they came to play a show for thousands of fans. There were mosh pits, crowd surfing, chanting, pictures being taken at every second, and lighters lit for majority of the show. When the main stage lights lit up the crowd, I was blown away by the masses of people joining in unionson with dancing and fist pumps.

I'll stop ranting, but if you get the opportunity, please go see RATM, even if your not that big of a fan, because the crowd alone will amaze you. And, support VooDoo! VooDoo Music Experience is a great 3 day festival that manages to attract thousands by setting up great lineups! And besides, this all helps NOLA, and we for sure need the help!

RIAA Lawsuit

So if you don't know already, the RIAA finally won a lawsuit over illegal downloaders, or piraters, as I like to refer to them. Jammie Thomas was charged and ordered to pay $220,000 to the RIAA. You can read the complete story here.

But have no fear, the people are here to help. Recently I read that there is a website set up for Ms. Thomas called Free Jammie where the public can voice their opinions, and of course, donate money to her cause.

Not to be ranting and getting off on a tangent, but shouldn't she have thought about this when she was illegally downloading music? There is a reason music cost money. It's not for free. The money from the record sales supports the artist(however that is rarely the case, given the fact the artists barely sees their cut from the sales of their records), but besides the fact. The price isn't there just for the fun of it. It's there because it's a purchase.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't like the RIAA. I'm not fond of major labels either. And I'm sorry that Ms. Thomas was the one to be made an example of in this situation. I realize she can't afford to pay all these lawsuits and she seemed to be innocent in this whole situation. She stated that she ONLY downloaded 24 songs. But it's hard for the RIAA to just sue people who could afford to pay the fines. Then it's discrimination. So avoid the whole situation and pay the $9.99 for a digital album.

Hopefully people will learn from Ms. Thomas and not download illegally. Or better yet, maybe digital tracks will be released for free or at a "pay what you will" scheme, like Radiohead initiated a week ago. Good thinking Radiohead. And that's why they(Radiohead) rock!

Something needs to be done about the music industry. I don't have a solution, but I'm sure someone out there does.

A Living Soundtrack/The Octopus Project

I recently went to a show at The Parish in New Orleans and saw two great bands A Living Soundtrack and The Octopus Project. Both bands were phenomenal. ALS was more melodic electronica music, while The Octopus Project was more intense experimental, electronica, with distorted guitars and a touch of pop. Octopus Project had a great set visually too. They had video footage playing in the background the whole time and decorated their amps with ghost like sheets and christmas lights. They even had homemade masks on while they played, but they didn't seem to stay on the whole time (due to heavy head banging and jumping around). And interestingly enough, they kept switching up instruments after each song. The highlight for me was the female in the band, Yvvone, played a Theremin for majority of the songs. It was so interesting and added such depth to the set list.

ALS is the type of band I can see myself relaxing too. They had a soothing effect, even though some of their songs had a hint of edge to them. They also have wonderful artwork on their album and website. They're really experimental and innovative musicians. I recommend checking them out whenever they are in town next.