reviews

(this post is old, diverje is NOT playing Misty’s on saturday, july 5th)

Firstly, a quick movie review;

“American Gangster” by Ridley Scott

I love Scott’s work, and he managed to deliver on this one again, yet without using much of the usual visual camera flair that he is known for (all manner of bright colours, over exposure, high speed shots to catch dust flying through the air). He managed to sit nicely into a period piece about Frank Lucas, one of the most powerful drug kingpins to rise out of Harlem in the late sixties. Denzel Washington delivered as always, and as always, delivers the line “My man…” with great bravado. Russel Crowe was well placed in his role as a too-good slightly overweight cop who finds that honesty gets him in trouble more often than he sees its benefits.

Overall a well done film, a bit long, and maybe because I watched the director’s cut. There are a few points where you assume you’ve reached the end, and it keeps going, which I found a bit testing, but still a great crime drama (for which I am a sucker).

Secondly, a scene review:

Apparently, about a week ago, one of the bars that I play at pretty frequently, Misty’s Hideaway, was the target of undercover cops looking to find out if Misty’s was correctly carding. The story goes that the door man left his post to go to the back door, at which point two undercovers walked in without being carded, stepped to the bar and ordered drinks. Shawna, the resident manager/bartendress, fulfilled said order, and was then snapped into cuffs for doing so to what could have been (or maybe were, I don’t know) underage patrons. She’s apparently now got a huge amount of legal fees and and can’t work in the bar, and Misty’s will now be charging cover for all of their nights - which sadly is sure to be a nail in the coffin for the bar.

What I can’t understand is why the door man wouldn’t get slammed. If he lets them by, it’s his fault - not Shawna’s - she relies on him to keep track of these things. She can question if someone looks underage, but if she is to assume that the door man is doing his job, one would think that he would actually DO his job.

I find this pretty unsettling, because it means that playing there will happen less frequently, won’t be a paying gig anymore, and it will be harder to attract our fans to come out. Yet another shot to the music scene, I suppose. I guess we’re all supposed to host rock band and karaoke nights? Seems that’s the only way to make any money anymore.

So, that said, we play Misty’s tonight, myself (in a solo set with Alchemical burn), Diverje, Vertigo Venus and Unclean. Hopefully, there’s reason for some heads to come out. We’ll see.