you never forget your first...

so i have have had an internal conflict coming up to this weekend as this is my first article ever concerning event coverage. you see, i wasn't sure what tone to take... do i try to write as a jaded, cynical know-it-all music journalist (like most major publications do) which i'm not or do i tell the truth that having a media badge and some VIP access was really cool and, whether or not people thought i was much more important than i really am, almost everyone i met was really friendly and nice.... i ended up deciding to go with what i know at the risk of geeking out and sounding like a dork. so last night was a night of firsts for me.... my first "industry" party which included my first experience of waiting behind a velvet rope followed by my first experience of "knowing" somebody to get me on the other side before the unwashed masses. thinking about it, if the party was a first for me then i guess that everything that happened once i crossed the threshold would be a "first" (first step, words, drink, food, person i met, etc...at an "industry" party). the party was held at club eleven50 in midtown which is actually a pretty cool little space for an event. i met a lot of really nice folks and the people watching was incredible (i saw this one girl with fingernails that, if i had to guess and they were straightened out, had to be a least 2 feet long...as they were they were all curly and mangled, as a master of the obvious i would say that they are an attention getter... but seriously how do you get anything done? apparently she has 2 assistants). the event was well attended but musically speaking not much to cover, there were a lot of local personalities and "celebrities" but as i mentioned before putting faces with names is not necessarily my forte. the dj for the evening was DJ T’Challa of local ATL hip-hop act Minamina Goodsong and, with my limited knowledge of dj'ing skills, it was good....well, people seemed to be having fun. now for the good stuff... following the official kick-off party was my first "industry event after-party", the devil stole the beat (again, instead of listing all new things, suffice it to say that once i walked through the door all was new to me, words, steps, people, etc...). this is an event thrown by Caren West and Wicked West PR (the folks who are handling the media for Atlantis) across the street from eleven50 at fuego, and exactly the kind of party that i was looking for and thought i would find earlier in the night but didn't. the folks at WWPR are some of the nicest people i have ever met (no, i'm not sucking up) and they throw a great party. the dj for this event was jay harren host of the radio show sunday school (great show on sunday nights from 8-10pm) on local alternative station 99x, he spun a great mix of indie, classic, and new rock (including the remix of "banquet" by Bloc Party, which is a great remix). i met a lot of local atlanta band members and some other, i'll say it again, really great people. fuego will actually host the rest of the devil stole the beat event over the weekend. they have lined up an impressive collection of bands who will play 45 minute sets from the hours of 3-6pm daily. tonight will be spent between several clubs and i haven't nailed down exactly where i will be and when i will be there, but i will see second shift play at midnight at 10high in VA Highlands....hopefully i will see you there. here are some tracks from a couple of bands whose member(s) i met last night....enjoy: passerby (raw recordings, but good potential. jangly, noise pop) - symptoms - majority - fast one - t-shirt morning state (i really like this.... mellow in places then hooky and poppy in others... a great sound) - stream the music here and here oh, another first for me .... finding out how widespread the use of myspace.com is. apparently, every band from the largest down to the smallest have a myspace site with which to disseminate music and news. i am woefully behind the curve on this and one might actually be able to download mp3s from the band's sites but i can't figure out how, maybe you have to sign up to get access? i don't know, but i need to get caught up with this...