Familiarize Yourself

Creators of HAIR the Musical

We gave up the sunny 70-degree temps from Thursday for rainy, 50s on Friday. It made it harder to get out of bed, harder to be motivated to get out to shows, and just annoying for those of us who were not smart enough to pack an umbrella. With the later start to our day, the panels were our first stop. The creators and a few actors from HAIR the Musical came out to speak about the musical, how they brought it back to Broadway after a break, and we were even treated with a performance at the end of the panel.

The next panel I decided to hit up was about using Journalism as PR. Some of the speakers had amazing quotes, and the really dove in to why people have and use blogs to spread the word about music. Rob Fields, writer and creator of boldaslove.us mentioned that “blogs are done out of passion.” You will not find a blog that has consistent material up about music that is not done out of passion, it just would not exist.

ARMS at Pianos

Wrapping up the week of panels with the Journalism as A&R, we then planned out our choices of the 100s of showcases we wanted to hit up that evening. It seemed that Brooklyn was the place to be, so before heading across the river, we stopped at local Manhattan bar Pianos to catch one of SPIN’s top 25 artists to see at CMJ, Arms. Carved out of a solo project by singer Todd Goldstein, we were treated with songs from ARMS first full-length album Kids Aflame. The last song of their set, the title track from Kids Aflame featured Goldstein showing off his ukulele skills and caught the attention of the crowd that was beginning to get restless.

The XX

Once ARMS finished their set, it was time to venture into the unknown, or Brooklyn as I like to call it. Our destination was the second CMJ show from British band, the XX. We caught their set two days earlier at the Mercury Lounge, and I was so blown away by this up-and-coming band I knew we had to see them play again. Upon arriving at the Music Hall of Brooklyn, a space comprobable to the Metro in Chicago, we learned the show had reached capacity and only people with tickets (not CMJ badges) were allow into the venue. Luckily enough, our friend Ayisha works at the XX’s booking agency and had two tickets she so graciously gave to my friend Kate and I so we could check out this band in front of a sold-out crowd. Once again the XX did not disappoint, although the light show was not as good as their last set, the sound quality and the performance that singers Romy Craft & Oliver Sim gave toped their last show (if that is even possible!). It is clear to see that this band is going to be the next hot thing, so familiarize yourself today and be ahead of the game!