Creating such a massive web of information was no easy task, as it took a combination of both extreme boredom from nothing else to do on a Saturday night and 7 hours of nitpickiness in Adobe Illustrator to complete this:
(click image for PDF)
What the heck does this all mean then? Let's see if I can try to explain...
Imagine it as being like a family tree of music, except you don't necessarily need two "parents" to make a "child". (You don't need genetic engineering either.)
Each column is a "derivative" (or generation if you like the family tree angle better), meaning that I first saw a particular band through another particular band (or bands) in the column to the left of it. Whichever column a band shows up in is not determined by the year I first saw them; it's determined by what bands were also on the bill when I first saw them.
Saturday, April 15th, 2006
This World Fair at Fresh Face Showcase at Myth Nightclub
Opener: White Light Riot
Thus a link between two bands means that the first time I ever saw a particular band (let's say for example White Light Riot, a 3rd derivative) was when another band I had already seen was also on the bill (in this case, This World Fair, 2nd derivative).
The far-left column lists bands that I saw "originally", meaning that I first saw them through no other bands I had seen before. It could be because it was my very beginnings in the Twin Cities music scene in 2005, getting hired to shoot a "new-to-me" band with no one else I know on the bill, a huge national act I love coming to town, winning tickets to a show, or even being bored and going to a show somewhere with the hope of seeing some good new music and/or familiar faces in the crowd. Or it could just be completely random I guess...
FYI, I saw some shows before 2005 (The Eagles, for example), it's just that I never wrote any of those down like I have since 2005. Plus my first time seeing Weird Al Yankovic was actually around 2000 or so, though the first "on the record" time I saw him was in 2007. (Weird Al is an amazing performer, you need to see his show.)
Friday, June 29th, 2007
Thrush, Catchpenny, and The Melismatics at The Uptown Bar
With: On A Sun, The Abdomen
If I first saw a band (for example, Thrush, 2nd) through multiple bands on the same bill I had already seen (in this case, Catchpenny [1st], The Melismatics [4th], and The Abdomen [2nd]), I take the highest-derivative band (Catchpenny) and link to the new band (Thrush) from that one. This is the case even if the highest-derivative band wasn't actually the band I was there to see for that show anyway, which for example was the case the very first time I saw ReadyGoes (3rd), as We Became Actors (2nd) was also on the bill.
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Rock The Cause Presents: Rockstar! Your World! at Suburban World Theatre
With: Catchpenny, Sick of Sarah, So It Goes, Maudlin, The Limns, The Invincible Kids
If the previously-seen bands are both the same derivative, I link the new band to both of the previous ones, which is why a band like The Invincible Kids (2nd) has two left-side links to the previous column (Catchpenny and Sick of Sarah, both 1st).
Oh, and if you're really hardcore and want to be able to decipher all the connections, open the PDF in Illustrator so you can click on individual lines to see which bands are connected by them.
Remember, this only factors in the very first time I saw a band, as there have been many occasions where bands I've already seen separately wind up playing a show together later. But it's kinda cool to look back and figure out how exactly I've managed to create a set of "7th derivative" bands.
I suppose it's a testament to longevity and musical diversity (and my dorkiness for statistics) to think that I can directly link from The Zmo Trio (7th) all the way back to The Profits, who were actually the "original" original. After all, they were the first local (or in their case regionally-touring) band that got me started in exploring the Twin Cities music scene. That's the subject of a whole-nother blog though, maybe even a book if I really put my mind to it...
I'm honored that we started you down your path, so to speak. You're great at what you do.
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