Snobby Indie Rock Bands Represent Genre Poorly

A History of Infamous Indie Performances at OC

A brief stroll down the corridor connecting the mailroom to the DeCafe in Wilder Hall confirms that Oberlin has hosted quite a few high-profile indie rock shows. Luna and Yo La Tengo played the 'Sco in 1995. Tortoise did so in 1996, the same year that Stereolab brought a Finney Chapel audience to its collective knees. Moreover, Palace, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, the Promise Ring, Six Finger Satellite and Seam have all played in the past five years.

Oberlin has a burgeoning tradition of nurturing and developing notable indie rock acts. Liz Phair, Codeine, Trans Am and Songs: Ohia all got their starts in Wilder practice rooms and off-campus basements.

Due to this esteemed tradition and the tendency of Oberlin students to seek music apart from the radio-friendly mainstream, Oberlin seems a likely site for indie rockers to strut their stuff in front of an attentive and knowledgable audience.

Thus, it seems uncalled for that last weekend's performance by Sleater-Kinney left some audience members with bitter tastes in their mouths after what they perceived as unnecessarily snobby treatment by the Olympia punk band.

The show was an important one for Oberlin. The opportunity to bring top-notch indie bands doesn't roll around a whole lot (there aren't many left) and Concert Board's pockets are frequently thin after paying hefty prices for ill-fated performances by bands like Fishbone. In a year when we probably won't see another indie rock show on campus by as noteworthy a band as Sleater-Kinney, one wishes they could have treated the crowd as nicely as it treated them.

Their egotistical rock-star antics started even before the show. A reporter from the Review, who had arranged an interview with the band through the show's coordinators, was informed on arriving for the chat that neither the band nor their manager cared to have Sleater-Kinney talk for even a mere 15 minutes. Then, as if to further snub the clearly adoring crowd, they poked fun at our housing shortage, consistently called us "you students," and dissed the article previewing their show in the Review. Pretty vain for a band whose openers showed them up.

Compared to a few infamous shows from prior years, Sleater-Kinney's condescension seems like nothing.

Dayton-based Guided by Voices played the 'Sco last spring, also to a healthy-sized crowd. First they embarrassed themselves, playing bad auditorium rock while precariously staggering about on the stage like a bunch of guys injected with a cerebellum-attacking virus. Vocalist Robert Pollard chain-smoked and pounded Buds between songs.

After their set finished, GBV proceeded to further embarrass themselves and everyone else who witnessed their drunken absurdity. Evidently, they felt that opening acts Ted Leo and the Holy Childhood played beyond the acceptable range of time for an opener and reacted by insulting them in front of the entire audience. Anyone who witnessed the shiner Pollard left on Holy Childhood vocalist Danny Leo's eye will tell you that GBV's Ohio traveling docket won't include the 'Sco anytime soon.

Finally, who could forget the infamous Palace show of 1996 when vocalist Will Oldham lost his cool due to a somewhat marginal sound guy? After Oldham stalked through the crowd, kicking over Corey D'Augustine's (OC '99) beer in the process, his band proceeded to play a brief set of lackluster versions of songs from their then most recent album, Viva Last Blues. When the sound guy continued to struggle with occasional feedback on Oldham's microphone, the faux-cowboy vocalist stormed off the stage, leaving his band to finish the song.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Oberlin needs to stop inviting top-flight indie rockers to play the 'Sco, thus diminishing a tradition of hosting outstanding and original pop shows at least a few times a year. However, it's disconcerting to see the makers of the music so many of us adore act way too big for their tiny-label britches.

The fact is many of these bands can't afford to go into a show acting like idiots, and thereby instantly lose a chunk of their following. GBV lost a fan in me when I witnessed last spring's circus. I also assume Palace lost a few for their crybaby antics of 1996. I hope that if Sleater-Kinney ever makes their third appearance in the 'Sco, they'll treat the students with a little respect.