Video Clam Jamming

A few months ago we were concerned about The Half Shell's future as a local music venue. Now, it looks like all is well. I saw the following posted on MySpace yesterday:

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CLAMJAM TV, A Live Local Music Webcast.

Norfolk Entertainment (Norfuckers) & The Half Shell are in the mix of setting up and running an advertising sponsored website dedicated to live performances of local musicians and bands. The half Shell will host a weekly show where a band will be video interviewed, and then 2 songs from their performance will be video recorded and hosted on the website. The performance will also be live audio recorded to be synchronized with the video for quality purposes. We will be hosting 2-3 acts weekly having one of the bands featured on the web cast ( don't worry, if you are a supporting band you will get your featured night as well.) Start letting us know if you or your band is interested. You can contact "Big B" of Norfuckers or myself, Ben, here at the half shell page. Also if you are interested in advertising on the website let us know. This is our effort to spread and support local music, so spread the love and help us out!!

thanks
Ben @ The Half Shell

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Dean's Silent Scream

"Black Postcards," the new memoir by ex-Galaxie 500 and Luna man Dean Wareham is a terrific read that gives great insights into the sub-pop rock world of the 1980s and 1990s. Wareham seems to be reliable narrator if only because he doesn't mind telling stories that make him less than heroic. The breakup of his marriage is detailed with almost cool detachment. You can tell he feels deeply about it, but the emotion doesn't seem to cloud his description of events.

Here's some of what I learned about Wareham by reading "Black Postcards"

1) He dislikes The Pixies
2) He really likes the drug Ecstasy
3) He really likes The Feelies
4) He really dislikes fans who come up to him after shows and want to talk about what distortion pedals he uses.

Anyone curious about what it would have been like to be on the rock club circuit in both America and Europe back in the '90s should give the book a read. "Black Postcards" makes a fine companion to Jen Trynin's "Everything I'm Cracked Up To Be" which also demystifies the underground rock experience.

OK, so what does "Black Postcards" have to do with music in and around Norfolk? Well, the book does mention Norfolk ... exactly once.

Recalling a gig he played at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia as an opener for Lou Reed, Wareham writes "The Electric Factory was pretty glamorous compared with some of the places Luna had played, like the Jewish Mother in Norfolk, Virginia, or Sudsy's in Cincinnati."

Ah, our fair city besmirched again. But I'm not sure if he really meant the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach. While there was a Jew Mom in Norfolk for a time, I remember it as a reasonably classy joint.