Hello, Friends. You may be pleased to know that I’m not dead. At least I hope you’re pleased. I’m still kicking…and reading and writing more than I have in five years, thanks to the stimulating Department of English at Hunter College. But I won’t bore you with my musings on postcolonial theory, modernist literary motifs, or the politics of vernacular. I’ll save that shiznit for another day. However, I will say that four months is too long without posting, and I blame higher education. Blogging and school should go together like PB & bananas, but sometimes, as my friend Mohan would say, it’s just bananas. Okay, enough of this jargon! On to the good stuff!
Last night, I finally took the opportunity to try out Almost Famous Tuesdays, aka Rock Band Night at The Village Pourhouse on 11th & 3rd. (I feel I must mention that I love this neighborhood, and everything I do has brought me to the same five-block radius lately. More on that later.) From 7pm on, geeks and fun folks drink, mingle, and strut their stuff in front of flat screen monitors streaming Rock Band Live, rocking out with friends and strangers alike. The format is almost the same as American-style karaoke, minus the stupid song numbers, and with the addition of specifying which instrument each person in your party will be playing. And if your group doesn’t make a whole band, the host will find someone in the crowd to play with you, be it one of the die-hards, or even a newbie like me. It was really a ton of fun. Plus, what I really loved was the lack of snobbery around the game. There are people up there barely making it through a bass part on Easy mode, playing alongside people shredding the plastic guitar on Super-Crazy-Hard (or whatever the most difficult mode is). Sometimes NYC karaoke can feel like a competition, but not so at Rock Band Night. It’s just plain fun.
My only critique is that the other half of the bar room is filled with different flat screens streaming sports, and a folding table for rowdy Beer Pong, which makes the crowd a little strange – half gamers and half jocks. But it doesn’t feel segregated, just odd. And then of course there’s the fact that the really hardcore Rock Banders like to play the heavy metal cuz it’s more of a challenge, but then you have to sit there and listen to heavy metal while you attempt to continue the mild conversation you started when someone was playing Alanis Morisette. Still, they mix it up pretty well. And after the two free drinks they give you from 6 to 7, the first couple you pay for settle you into a nice little Rock Band fog.
So big thanks to Steph and Joey, for introducing me to what is sure to become a new Tuesday tradition, and maybe I'll drag some more people out to become almost famous, too.
Last night, I finally took the opportunity to try out Almost Famous Tuesdays, aka Rock Band Night at The Village Pourhouse on 11th & 3rd. (I feel I must mention that I love this neighborhood, and everything I do has brought me to the same five-block radius lately. More on that later.) From 7pm on, geeks and fun folks drink, mingle, and strut their stuff in front of flat screen monitors streaming Rock Band Live, rocking out with friends and strangers alike. The format is almost the same as American-style karaoke, minus the stupid song numbers, and with the addition of specifying which instrument each person in your party will be playing. And if your group doesn’t make a whole band, the host will find someone in the crowd to play with you, be it one of the die-hards, or even a newbie like me. It was really a ton of fun. Plus, what I really loved was the lack of snobbery around the game. There are people up there barely making it through a bass part on Easy mode, playing alongside people shredding the plastic guitar on Super-Crazy-Hard (or whatever the most difficult mode is). Sometimes NYC karaoke can feel like a competition, but not so at Rock Band Night. It’s just plain fun.
My only critique is that the other half of the bar room is filled with different flat screens streaming sports, and a folding table for rowdy Beer Pong, which makes the crowd a little strange – half gamers and half jocks. But it doesn’t feel segregated, just odd. And then of course there’s the fact that the really hardcore Rock Banders like to play the heavy metal cuz it’s more of a challenge, but then you have to sit there and listen to heavy metal while you attempt to continue the mild conversation you started when someone was playing Alanis Morisette. Still, they mix it up pretty well. And after the two free drinks they give you from 6 to 7, the first couple you pay for settle you into a nice little Rock Band fog.
So big thanks to Steph and Joey, for introducing me to what is sure to become a new Tuesday tradition, and maybe I'll drag some more people out to become almost famous, too.
