Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Ode to an Aging Rock Critic


Not so long ago, I wrote a number of freelance concert reviews for a local music blog. It was a pretty sweet gig: see a show for free, take a few blurry photos, and scribble notes during the set like a true music expert. After returning home from the bar/club/hipster lair, I would transcribe my scribblings into an overly-detailed account of the performance. 

The review was due at 8 AM the morning after the concert. Sometimes I wouldn't finish writing until after 4 AM. Then I'd lay awake in bed, physically exhausted, my mind still lit up with journalistic prose. This was the closest I came in school to pulling an all-nighter. Weeks later, a small paycheck would arrive in the mail. I have no idea if anyone besides my editor ever read the reviews. I did get to see some great bands for free, though. And some terrible bands. 

3 comments:

  1. This is a new experience - being the first to comment on your post! Usually there are hundreds before I've even seen it, and then my voice seems horribly impersonal and redundant. This is great!

    I like your little poem more than anything. I love hearing little ditties like that, that really aren't about anything much but just rhyme so sweetly. Very lovely. That sounds like a truly hilarious job, writing band reviews. Things like that are on my list of job that I wish I could do - things like book-reviewer, lolly-pop tester, the chic inside the Tweetie-pie costume as Movie World or the girl who walks around dressed as Cinderella in Disneyland. Yes? Yes? I really think so! Take care.

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  2. Book Florist: First commenters hold a special place in my heart. Thanks for the kind words. As far as your list of jobs - I'm still searching eBay for a giant tooth costume.

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  3. I've never written a review for music (since I'm clueless), but I did write some reviews for Otaku magazine in South Africa (before that ran into the recession and crashed). So I can relate to the worries about deadlines.

    I love the way that the rhyming couplets makes the comic seem like a song in itself!

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