DB: Classified and Stereotyped (13. August 2008, 10:31 by Daniel Blue) ~
Dear Mr or Mrs Tollefson,
You may remember that I recently sent you a letter claiming that it was impossible to have fun in your park. I am writing you this letter to refute that statement, based on the fact that this weekend I attended a concert during an event that included the Plaza grounds, and standing there bobbing my head to the deft beats and syncopated shrill pitched tweets and whirls created by the Helio Sequence, it dawned on me that I was indeed standing in Tollefson Plaza and I was actually having a good time.
I took this picture to show the amount of people that attended, it must be the most that have ever been in the plaza at one time. Based on the smiles on the faces of the people, it is my opinion that I was not alone in my enjoyment of the event.
For the most part I am usually discouraged by Metro Parks attempts to “activate” this space, but as I have stated, this past Friday night was a success. There was a beer garden top section of the park and the weird step things surrounding the trackside edge made some stadium like seating for those folks that didn’t want to stand in front of the stage. More than once, however, I was distracted by vehicles passing by on Pacific Ave behind the stage, it muddled the sound and stole from the ambiance, but one can’t have everything and for the most part the concert was enjoyable.
I do not retract my previous statements surrounding the typical daily un-usability of the Plaza that bears your name…but it seems that with a little planning and enough money to hire a good band, your Plaza is a decent place to watch some rock and roll.
Somehow the powers that be were able to manipulate the new sound ordinance law in order to structure the event, but I’m not complaining because its nice to know that rules can be broken, the band was nice and loud.
On a side note: Whomever was hired to come onto the stage after the event should be pulled into an office and had a serious talking to. She said something to the effect of, “Thank you for making Showcase Tacoma the Hip and Indie festival in Tacoma.” I could almost hear my peers cringing at being labeled such demoralizing and offensive things. There is nothing “hip” or “indie” about being classified and stereotyped, thanks “Mom”.
Perhaps there should be a permanent stage erected on the street side of the Park, It would need to be powered and covered, but a summer concert series may be the only way this blot of concrete will ever come to contain life.
Your concerned park goer,
db
Daniel Blue is an artist, a poet and an entrepreneur. He writes 2000 words a day (most of which you will never read, sorry), enjoys skateboards, wears women's socks and avoids fleece. His most noble achievement is the total accident of creating the infamous '253 heart' while sketching. He moved to Tacoma five years ago to get his clothing design business out of his dad's basement.
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I think my jazz trio is 1/2 hip and indie.
We have not been signed to a major record label. Therefore we are “independent”
The hip way to say “independent” is “indie”
Hey, maybe we all the way there.
1 | Posted by altered chords | Aug 13, 11:37 AM
There sure is a lot written in Tacoma about obtaining the coveted title of “hipster.”
A google search of “Tacoma and hipster” gives an uncountable number of references in local media, blogs and fashion stores.
Here’s what the undisputed source Wikipedia says about what a hipster is:
In the 1990s and 2000s, the 1940s slang term hipster began being used in North America to describe young, well-educated urban middle class and upper class adults with leftist and/or liberal social and political views and interests in a non-mainstream fashion and cultural aesthetics.
Actually defining what a hipster is can be a difficult task considering the idea that hipsters are thought to exist as a “mutating, trans-Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behavior[s].” As with all stereotypes,when using the term “hipster” it should be understood that one is employing a blanket term that does not necessarily reflect reality. Nonetheless hipsters are often associated with non-mainstream music and film and other products such as second-hand and or vintage clothing.
But there are many different hipster scenes throughout the world and some incorporate influences that others might not. Hipster identity is generally always in flux. In a way hipsters could be viewed as “chameleons in the age of “focus groups” and “demographics”.
Onbroadway – I don’t know. We do some Afro-Cuban, some bop, some bossa, some blues, some funk and some originals that have been written in the past 5 years. We defy categorization. That’s hip right?
I forbid the wearing of zoot suits. The percussionist even has dreadlocks and sometimes wears a jamaican hat. This trio has a hipster intex of 58.7.
The other trio has a hipster index of 27.3.
I think that hipsters are simply “hip” to what is trendy or popular. This applies to drinks, shirts, pants, shoes, clubs, activities etc.
We’ll work on increasing our hipster index. Pay a little more attention to attire.
Then again, if hipster is a 1940 expression, then we’re way to modern for that.
4 | Posted by altered chords | Aug 13, 04:02 PM
Helio Sequence’s performance in Tollefson Plaza was nothing short of magical. Kudos to everyone involved for bringing them here.
The indie/hip comment was unfortunate in that it wasn’t exactly isolated. Did anyone else here the shouts to “look like you are having fun!”? Yikes.
5 | Posted by Sammy | Aug 15, 09:06 AM
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