Aiton

  

Wrongful promotion leaves wrongful impressions

By Jacey Gibb

hen a band goes on
hiatus it usually means:
a) they’re breaking up

forever or b) they’re breaking up for
right now but if ever in the future one
of the members needs money, you'll
still pay large amounts of money to
see them live. Either way you look at
the situation, it sucks. So when one
of my favourite bands, Bloc Party,
announced an indefinite hiatus at the
end of 2009, I could read the subtitles
of what they were really saying. But
last month when I saw that Matt
Tong of Bloc Party was doing a DJ
set in Vancouver, I knew I couldn’t
miss the chance to see him live
again, even if it was only him. All
the advertisements heavily promoted
Matt’s previous involvement with
Bloc Party and one could have easily
inferred this would be an evening
filled with him spinning tracks from
the band’s divine discography.

I was painfully mistaken.

The evening started with a
handful of opening DJs which I could
not have cared less about. I didn’t
go to Shine Nightclub to listen to
overplayed club music; I went for
an evening of Bloc Party. Yet by
the time I realized it was Matt Tong
playing the music, he had already
been doing so for twenty minutes.
Confusion was heavily present.

12

 

Several people who came to the
show early like I had were equally
annoyed at how their expected night
with Bloc Party had been taken over
by Rihanna and Lady Gaga remixes.
I waited for another hour or so before
abandoning hope of hearing any of
Matt’s former glory and left the club.

Unfortunately this wasn’t my
first experience with misleading
DJ sets. About two years prior,
some friends and I did a road trip
to Calgary to see Chromeo perform
a DJ set. I wasn’t a fan but wanted
to party so I tagged along. After the
show I was greeted with waves of
negativity as my friends were all
pissed at how only one Chromeo
song had made an appearance,
despite the show going on for several
hours.

I cannot believe that DJ sets like
these are allowed to be so heavily
promoted by band association when
they have nothing in common except
the band members themselves. If
you have nothing better to do while
your lead singer pursues a more
successful solo career, go read a
book or something. If becoming a
DJ is something you are seriously
considering for your future, don’t
rely on the success of your previous
band in order to make a name for
yourself. You'll end up disappointing
your actual fans.

Matt Tong of Bloc Party

 

 

 

 

BROOKLYN PUB

WATERFRONT LOUNGE
250 Columbia St. 604.517.2966 www.broolelyn.ca

THURSDAY
is «i
STUDENT
NIGHT!

DJ Tommy
se the
TUNE TWISTER/