Lambgoat Blog

I've never heard of vinyl record trick shots, but I guess I'm out of touch. Some guy emailed me a link to the video below, stating "Tons of broken records + 1 record player + too many attempts to count + 18 hours later = 1 sweet trick shot video!"

Completely pointless, but I enjoyed it. However, if this is limited American Nightmare vinyl they're throwing around, somebody is going to be pissed.

Prior to March of 2012, many bands and musicians used third-party applications like BandPage, ReverbNation, and FanRx (formerly BandRx) as the landing page for their Facebook profiles. These apps enabled said bands to position their product (i.e. music) front and center on Facebook, which most bands now use as their Internet "headquarters."

Then in late-March, Facebook forced all of its Pages into the new Timeline format. As such, Facebook users cannot change their profile landing page. Instantly, BandPage et al were relegated to secondary page status. Not suprisingly, the change had a dramatic and unpleasant effect on BandPage and its peers, as traffic for the apps took a nosedive.

The affected companies have since struggled to adjust, providing their users with instructions for directing music fans to their respective apps. Because after all, it was still the only way to actually listen to songs on Facebook (one of the few things Myspace still had over Facebook).

But now, mercilessly, Facebook has pounded another nail into the proverbial coffin of apps for musicians by introducing the "Listen" button. This new button resides directly next to the Like button, and when clicked, music will start playing via Spotify, or whatever program is set up to play nicely with Facebook on your computer (examples also include Mog, Rdio, and Slacker Radio).

So now, with one click, you can check out a band's music on Facebook, the very thing apps like BandPage and ReverbNation were designed to do in the first place.

It's a smart move on Facebook's part, but it may be death knell for a handful of companies that happily rode the wave of Facebook's rapid growth.

Periphery drummer Matt Halpern put a drumset in the street during SXSW last month and started playing. Eventually, there was some sort of party that police shut down. Whatever, it's pretty cool, except for the guy in the flannel shirt dancing in front of the kit near the beginning. They should have cut off his head and put it in the kick drum.

This is one of the stranger submissions we've received via our contact form in recent years, but it seems somewhat practical, right? Perhaps in addition to being mutually beneficial, a love connection will be made.

Here's the original submission:



If you're game, let us know, and we'll pass your information along to this pragmatic young lady.

The Red Chord frontman Guy Kozowyk posted a Facebook link to an article this morning that caught my eye. It was a piece on the Boston Herald website detailing the city of Boston's current efforts to do away with mosh pits.

The first paragraph of the article reads as follows:

Boston cops are cracking down on slam-dancing concertgoers, blindsiding a top Hub venue for a rowdy mosh pit at a recent gig and pledging to halt all "dangerous behavior" on the floor — prompting outrage from bands who say the aggressive dance style is an integral part of the show.

Apparently, the drama started when Boston police cited the House of Blues following a recent Flogging Molly show. Again, here's the Herald:

Boston cops cited the House of Blues for a license violation because of a mosh pit that broke out during a Feb. 21 show by Los Angeles band Flogging Molly. According to police, 60 concertgoers engaged in an "aggressive mosh pit dance," during which people were running and "colliding into each other," including some who were "knocked to the ground." No injuries were reported.

Personally, this seems like a waste of city time and resources. I've been to many shows in my day, and can count on one hand the number of times I've seen somebody seriously injured. Go fucking crack down on speeders, or people texting while driving. Then you'll actually do something to benefit society.

Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Fair sums up my sentiments fairly well in the article, stating, "I can understand trying to cut down on injuries or fights, but you see more fights outside a dance night on Lansdowne Street than you see inside a hardcore show."

People who don't want to get roughed up don't go in mosh pits. It's as simple as that. Don't play rugby if you don't want to get bruised. If you're really scared, don't go to Flogging Molly shows (lol).

Imagine if the Boston police had seen the Boston Beatdown DVD...