HRC's Musings: Coming Soon

Quite a few people have asked me what I’m going to do now that the NIN shows are over.

The immediate answer is ‘I don’t have a clue’. A lot of HRC’s real estate went to NIN news and shows. It feels sad all on its own, and it makes me sadder when people feel sad for me for ‘my loss’. Which in the scheme of life, isn’t a big deal; but when you’re trying to make it as a writer and your muse checks out, it kinda is.

So, what can you expect to fill the gaping hole that NIN has left in HRC?

There are other bands to follow. From my experiences following NIN, Manson, The Faint, and the Mayhem Fest, I’ve determined a plan of action for tours that I love. In research geek speak, it’s a ‘longitudinal study’, where the reviews will check in at the beginning, middle, and end of the tour. There’s something about those first couple shows, where everything is new and the kinks are being worked out; to the middle, where their rhythm has been hit and they are in the thick of it; to the end, where they are exhausted, sentimental, and laying it all on the line.

I will be doing this with the Mastoklok (Mastodon / Dethklok) tour starting next week in Portland, picking back up in Texas in November, and then the end back in California. I’m doing a couple Rob Zombie dates. Other bands that I will be following in the near future are Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tool (well, hopefully), and Behemoth. I’m also hoping to do some international travel around a tour, to check out how things work in other parts of the world.

It’s interesting to follow a band other than NIN- there are little to no communities for most bands. It makes it tricky to travel around as a single girl , attending shows by myself in foreign venues. That’s one of the things I’ll miss most about my NIN shows. Even if I didn’t like some of the NIN fans, at least I knew them….

I’m also going to be working on writing pieces regarding several topics that keep bouncing around in my head. These may or may not include:

-Tour do’s and don’ts from a fan’s perspective
-Twitter and musicians
-The groupie vs. the band-aide vs. the fan debate
-Band merch…what’s missing.
-Music blogging….so what
-Live music photography- the pros vs. the amateurs
-The venue can make it or break it
-MySpace isn’t dead
-The virtual groupie
-Side projects
-Music memorabilia
-The X Factor: what exactly is it?
-YouTube and concert footage: the good and the bad

I’m also trying to figure out how I want to approach interviews in the future, as well as a few ways to grow HRC by partnering with some other sites.

To be continued….