It's kind of startling when a band you thought was vaguely unheard-of sells out a rather large Nashville venue twice in a row. But that's what happened with Ghostland Observatory, and Friday night's Cannery show was packed from wall to wall with a wide variety of concert-goers, the likes of which don't usually fall under the "usual suspects" category around town.
I initially set out to attend the show because I had never managed to see Ghostland live (aside from catching a few songs at ACL a few years back) despite the fact that I've been aware of them for about five years. And I knew that they've been playing festivals for a few years now, but I didn't realize just how epic their live show had become. And how much their audience had grown - two sold out shows at the Cannery Ballroom just a few months apart is nothing to laugh at in this town. But where were the ticket buyers coming from? Who were they, if none of my indie-rock cohorts seemed to be going to the show? How did these people find out about Ghostland? I kinda wanted to find out.
So before I let a series of whiskey shots and a pallet's worth of lasers carry me off into face-melting electro-rock danceland, I tried to informally poll a few members of the audience to find out where they had heard of the band. Aside from one rather disoriented guy who told me he saw them at "Bootyfest," which doesn't appear to be a real event, most people mentioned a friend's name - so-and-so who goes to such-and-such college, or blah-blah's little brother who saw them at x festival. Yeah, a real scientific analysis, I know, but the point here is that most everyone had heard about them via word of mouth, or had seen them at a festival themselves. But that still doesn't really explain the attendance tipping point - the point where a band that doesn't seem to be getting radio or media coverage goes from having five fans show up at their show to having one thousand. Particularly when those fans don't seem to be the type that regularly attend smaller shows.
One thing I do have to say is that while some will bitch and groan about the influx of newcomers, who may have never set foot in The 5 Spot and who might be wearing khakis instead of skinny jeans, I say bring them on, bring them in, and I hope they start showing up at more shows. While it's awesome and cool to see your favorite bands in a tiny venue with five other people, I think it's better for the fans and better for the band when they're playing to a packed house 1,000 strong, all jumping and waving glow sticks and dancing their asses off and singing along. That doesn't happen up at Mercy Lounge very often. And it says a lot about Ghostland Observatory itself (themselves? I'm so bad at band pronouns) - because Friday night was one of those few and far between performances that was actually a capital-s Show. The lasers were absurd. The music was great. Of course the crowd was going to go wild, and of course they were going to go home and tell their friends about it. Which is probably what sent Ghostland Observatory over the tipping point to begin with.
Still, I can't help but wonder if there's some magic button, some magic bullet that's eluding me. Was Ghostland Observatory on MTV (is there still music on MTV)? Was there some big feature in a magazine that I didn't hear about? Did they headline Bonnaroo last year and I just wasn't paying attention to the lineup? How were they exposed to all of these people, and how did they tap into this base of music lovers who I really wish were getting their asses out to other shows? Because seriously, I'd like to figure out how to tap into this base of music lovers. If these kids don't know that Junior Boys and Hercules and Love Affair are both coming to town, it's a damn, damn shame.
Anywho, the show = awesome. I was showered with glow stick juice at one point and didn't even mind, but I guess the whiskey shots probably had something to do with that. I can't remember the last time I was in a giant room full of dancing people in Nashville though, which is one of the reasons the show made such a great impression on me. That and the LASERS. Like laser-lasers, not just fancy lights. It was absurd. And of course, it was the first time I went out sans camera in three months, go figure. Still snapped a few fuzzy shots with my cell though, so enjoy.
And by all means, go see these guys if they come to your town, just make sure you're wearing your dancing shoes. Or, you know, your braided dancing loafers. To each Ghostland Observatory fan their own.
Make sure you know all the words to this one too, because everyone else in the crowd will:
