The Mother of Invention

Since we've added a new blog this semester (Inside the Music World), my colleague Dustin Pangonis and I will switch off as we see fit. Posting an entry here kind of feels like sitting in a seat that's long been occupied by someone else--at first it's uncomfortably warm, but hopefully I can become acclimated to the new environment.

Last week, Dustin wrote about the parity of the bands that play Roustabout! every week. While I can say there is a slight overload of britpop/indie-rock/post-punk/etc., there are a few good reasons for this. It all comes down to the bottom line. I would love to see a hip-hop act at a Roust, but I doubt that kind of show would sell many tickets. I'm sure there's enough of a hip-hop market in State College for that kind of show, but the crowd Roustabout! draws often has a lot of the same people coming back. I don't want to generalize, but I assume those people keep coming back because they know what they're getting from a Roust show. Booking a hip-hop act would involve weeks of promotion to get the word out to different groups of people. I might be pessimistic, but I don't think it'd be feasible.

It was funny Dustin should write that blog entry last week of all weeks. Just a day after he posted the blog, Roustabout! took a voyage into eclecticism. The original line-up for the show was a pair of Scranton-bred bands, Dr. Horsemachine and The Minor White. But when a couple members of Dr. Horsemachine had to back out of the show, a re-shuffling was in order. The Bullet Parade stepped in as a last-minute replacement, which--no offense to the band--wouldn't have solved Dustin's issues with Roust's lack of diversity.

But there was also another surprise--a member of fellow Roust band Okay Paddy (also from Scranton) joined an amalgamation of The Minor White and Dr. Horsemachine to make a new band. The spur-of-the-moment adjustment alone had me excited, but then I noticed a few quirks about the band: they played no electric instruments. And on top of that, one of the guys had a fiddle. They featured lots of improvisation in an alt-country style, and frankly, it was awesome. And I hope Roust organizer Jeff Van Fossan was paying attention, because the change-of-pace absolutely rocked the Darkhorse Tavern.

So much for a lack of variety.