im writing this because for the past two weeks ive been playing in little italy with this brass festival band that ive been playing with for 4 years now. we play for the restaurants down there to get people in the christmas spirit and for tips (if it wasn’t for the money i wouldnt be out in 15 degree weather) in the past two weekends of doing this, ive noticed something about people. its something i always knew about certain people but this year it just really irked me for some reason and i feel i should talk about it. The fact that certain people in this world dont like music, period. they dont want to hear it and they’re annoyed by a band playing in their vicinity. This idea culminated when a restaurant, who we’re really good friends with, told us not to come in because one table, ONE table, of people didn’t want to be disturbed. The rest of the patrons at this restaurant were denied a little entertainment because the minority won over. Now this idea can be analogized into other situations not pertaining to music, but for the sake of your time and patience, im only sticking with the music aspect.

This is where i put in my tagline: Really? Come on….

i mean seriously. you dont like music? i mean its one thing to not like music. maybe you never had the chance or opportunity to learn a musical instrument or appreciate music when you were a kid or maybe you had a bad experience with music as a child, but to rob everyone else in the restaurant of some entertainment simply because you dont want to hear it is selfish and stupid.

on top of that, your in little italy. the band that i was playing with has been playing in little italy for over 30 years, we do this EVERY YEAR. If your coming to little italy for dinner and you dont expect the band to come around, your a fucking moron. Besides its little italy, people go down there to have a good time and be loud. you want a quiet dinner, go to the upper east or west side. dont come down to little italy. There are a lot of people and groups we see who love the band and totally appreciate what we do and get into it and i respect those people because they know what they’re gonna get in little italy and thats why they come there.

Ive also noticed that most people who are guilty of this non appreciation of music are people in my generation. People these days are so used to listening to cds or digital music that live music has been taken for granted. I have my ipod and i listen to itunes and pandora, etc, but i try to listen to live music as much as possible. There is something about live music that recorded music will never be able to duplicate. With the advent of DJs and turntables, more people are more inclined to hire one person who can play their favorite songs from a cd rather than pay a group of guys to play the same song right there live in their faces. I know people like to save money (especially in these times) but for me live music blows recorded music out of the water. Im getting married next year and im hoping to get more than one live band for the reception, the money is not a matter.

so what does this tell us about ourselves? The worlds getting smaller, our attention spans are getting shorter, our speakers are getting smaller and our appreciation for the finer things is almost completely gone. Will it change? i dont know. i hope it will, but as a realist and a cynic, i find it highly unlikely. i would weep for society on its journey down this hole of unappreciation and this lost of something that made humans worth looking into, but i have no tears for a species that devalues all of the stuff that make it worth living. that is all…

-roach

hello and welcome back to Shot in Blogosphere: a 457 part series. Its been a while since the last blog and Shot has been busy. The biggest news is our first born has arrived. The Shot CD is here and is on sale. If you’d like a piece of Shot to grace your CD rack, shoot an email (pun intended) to Shot@shotnyc.com and demand that you have a copy.

the last couple of weeks have been really good for Shot. A performance at Fontana’s followed by an adventure looking for chinese food. After being denied by the local dumpling place (i mean seriously the place is called dumpling house…how do you run out of dumplings?) Shot, accompanied by some fans, decided to roam chinatown and look for a place to eat. They entered the first restaurant they saw, being attracted by the large bright sign they had. The minute they saw the menu, they knew they were in for it. With dishes like duck tongue, rams balls, and hoof (?), the group settled on egg fried rice, the only dish on the menu they could understand. The waitress didn’t speak any english so getting the order through was a challenge in itself. The food they ordered was very good however and the decor was great, a giant TV showing Obama meeting with the Chinese president. Needless to say, it was an interesting night.

Their second show, which was last night, was phenomenal. After Mama’s Dirty Lil Secret finished their set (http://www.myspace.com/mamasdirtylilsecret) They took the stage and destroyed it. This would be Yusuke’s last performance with the band so they wanted to make it something memorable. Everyone was into it, some people dance, some people cried, some people got naked, and some people tried to jump on stage to kiss Billy. In other words, a typical Shot performance.

After the show, Shot bid farewell to Yusuke “The Mad Bomber” Narita the only way they knew how. After a number of shots (that’s not a pun, they really took shots) Billy jumped on the bar and almost broke his neck again. Maiko, who you may remember as the Shot Dancer from the R Bar, gave everyone a dance and showed her “versatility” when she made out with a Shot fan, Maria. Yusuke, meanwhile, rubbed Roach’s beard for good luck, talked up the ladies in his neverending quest to get laid, hugged Besto, Hector and Billy, screamed “CAMPAI!” at the top of his samurai lungs, and walked into the distance in the direction of Michigan, Japan (or the airport, who knows…) Shot will miss Yusuke and they hope this won’t be the last time they see him…

and now for the best part: the special section. In this edition Shot recommends Audition. A man looking for a female companion holds an audition for a fake movie and meets a nice young girl. Everything seems to be going well until he starts to uncover things about her past. Chaos, as they say, ensues, with an ending that will leave you in stitches…literally.

well that does it for this edition of Shot in Blogosphere. Go out and demand the Shot CD. Make them the rock stars they think they are. And for any ladies in the state of Michigan, if you see a lonely Japanese man with a bass guitar strapped to his back, help him out and save rock by sleeping with a rock star…