Dear Backspace,
I know it’s cliché, but you need to hear it. It’s not you. It’s us. Nobody did anything wrong. We just grew apart. When we played there last July, not that many people knew about us. Saddle Creek had re-released our album that day. Do you remember that? It seems like so long ago.
Don’t get us wrong. Your high ceilings are still really charming. And your low corner stage is perfect for an intimate performance. But when so many people come out, it’s hard to see, and the sound dissipates into a muddy mess past the first few rows. I’m not blaming you. It’s just that we’ve had a lot of time to think out on the road, and that’s not the kind of show we’re really doing now.
Our songs have always had an immediacy to them; you knew that going in. Being on tour for so long just made it clear. And I know it was hard for you to hear them, but the new songs are only more so. We can’t go back to the way things were. We’re going to have to have to play encores now, and you just don’t have a backstage to go to. That was really awkward. We all felt it. There’s no sense pretending we didn’t.
But that’s not the real reason we’re breaking up with you. Ultimately, we need something else. Something you can’t give. No. Don’t try. You’re great the way you are. And some up-and-coming band is going to be really lucky to play on your stage. I mean it.
We’ll always have the memories. It’s . . . just . . . it’s just not going to work out the next time we come to Portland. I’m sorry.
Sincerely,
Nils, Amy and Paul
The Rural Alberta Advantage*
*[Please note that this review expresses only the views of melophobe, and not those of The Rural Alberta Advantage or any of its members]
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Two songs go in, one comes out. Pick a side.
Columbus Short Would be an excellent match for Sam Cooke (especially if this movie was to include Sam’s Soul Stirrer years). Just as long as in the movie Sam does the singing of course lol. But as far as physical resemblance my boy Columbus Short all the way. View this clip of Cadillac Records were he played lil walter… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmxTbcnW6bY
by Akin Z on Wed Feb 1, 2012 at 12.37 am from the entry: Sam Cooke to get a movie
Oops meant Aloe Blacc not Black. Sorry about the typo. If you doubt that he should play Sam check him out here on you tube singing Loving you is Killing me. The likeness is uncanny - but the voice is quite different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJuyaVcL2I&feature=artist
by Tamara L on Tue Jan 31, 2012 at 08.30 am from the entry: Sam Cooke to get a movie
I have read the Peter Guralnick book and it is thoroughly researched down to the minutest detail. Amazing.
I would go for Aloe Black because he looks so much like Sam, but for heaven’s sake why are we talking about the quality of the actor’s singing? Sam’s singing has got to be dubbed in. We want the real thing not an impersonator. There is only one Sam Cooke. The actor can act, let Sam do the songs.
by Tamara L on Tue Jan 31, 2012 at 08.24 am from the entry: Sam Cooke to get a movie
Thanks for the mention, we do appreciate your time and attention. Please check us out@DirtyDurdie.com.
once again thanks for noticing us.
by Dirty Ice on Tue Jan 24, 2012 at 11.04 pm from the entry: Yasiin Bey - Fete (Providence, RI; Dec.10, 2011)
John Boutte should play Sam Cooke. Except the point someone made about him dying young, this is true. Boutte may be a bit too old.
by Brendan on Tue Jan 17, 2012 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Sam Cooke to get a movie
La cara de kurt de: NO ME DIJERON NADA :| ajajjajajaja
by asdsad on Tue Jan 17, 2012 at 04.29 am from the entry: Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic Weigh In On Kurt Avatar
Blacks say the word 50+ times a day. Fuck the double standard, stop trying to create controversy.
by Steve C on Fri Jan 13, 2012 at 02.00 pm from the entry: John Mayer is about to get swallowed up in public outrage
bravo daniel, bravo
not only is this hilarious and well-written review, but it sums up the evening at backspace perfectly.
Fantastic.
Those portraits are adorable. No wonder melophobe has such a band crush on these guys.
While fair criticisms of a bigger band in a smaller venue, writing a review posing as a band saying they had a bad experience is so, so out of line.
Throwing a “jay kay!” at the end doesn’t really count. What if I read only the first three paragraphs on my rss reader or phone?
Pretty bogus. Save it for McSweeney’s.
If you had only read the first three paragraphs, how would you have known it was from the Rural Alberta Advantage?
also would a band ever write a letter like this to a venue? seemed like a joke to me from the get go.
awesome stuff guys. great photos and the sentiment about backspace is on the nose.