It seems like without thinking about it, I’ve got a theme going with this column. It has served me well so far, but it is time to finish this arc. In my previous entries, I’ve outlined how musicians aren’t getting compensated for the music that they are making and how record labels aren’t ...
The Mercer Players outdid themselves with their most recent performance, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. The musical's two-week run kept audiences packing out the theater and rolling in the aisles as the Players revealed everything you ever wanted to know about love and marriage but were afraid ...
Boulder, Colorado-based band 3OH!3 is known for their intense electronic sound and catchy, fun lyrics. Before the duo of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte took the stage at Bearstock this year, I sat down to ask them a few questions about Mercer, their music and their upcoming work. Read on below. Eric ...
The night before Bearstock, Macon was threatened by a tornado warning that could have ruined the day. But we were lucky, and the storm passed over Macon with little commotion, leaving the day free for Mercer’s annual musical festival. This year featured a lineup similar to previous years, with rappers ...
4/5 Bear Claws Augusta natives Robert Payne and Chase Kleist are part of the indie/alternative/hip-hop group Ace and Zaz. Chase is Ace and Robert is Zaz. After being part of several musical groups in high school, including Smells Like New and Non-Shalant (Acoustic), Kleist and Payne created this project ...
So, we all know Bearstock is coming up this Saturday, and we all know that it’s going to be completely awesome, as it is every year. But some people don’t know that this year will be a little different than the past few festials, so your pals at The Cluster have prepared this guide to the festivities. ...
Julia Wertz is one of the most interesting cartoonists working in the industry today. Her latest book, Drinking at the Movies, is an alternatingly hillarious and poignant retelling of Wertz’s move from San Fransisco to Brookyln. Please, go read it. Eric Brown: What projects have you been working ...
What comes to mind when you hear “$1.5 million in statutory damages for distribution?" Drugs? Weapons? People? How about music? Okay, what if I said file sharing? You would think that terabytes of music must be involved, a huge game-changing event. Maybe some hacker-on-steroids stole everything Capitol ...
3/5 Bear Claws I know what you’re thinking: “A movie about lizard cowboys? Are you serious?” Yes, actually, I am. And believe me, I was a little dubious too, but I found Rango a fun and clever romp that explodes one Wild West cliché after another in a way that makes the movie unique and memorable. In ...
4.5/5 Bear Claws If Tina Fey is your hero — and if you’re between the ages of 18 and 28, she probably is—you need to read her new book, Bossypants. You know how on an episode of 30 Rock, Liz Lemon tells Rosemary Howard (Carrie Fisher) that she is her lady hero? That’s how you’ll feel ...
Is it entirely necessary for almost every film to be filmed in 3-D? Sure, I understand how 3-D is cool and sometimes it can add to the film. But it’s just ridiculous how films are filmed in both 3-D and 2-D now, or hastily reformatted to be 3-D right before the release date. Filming in ...
[caption id="attachment_2997" align="aligncenter" width="187" caption="Kathdashians"] [/caption] Why would anyone want to keep up with the Kardashians? Seriously. I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve only seen clips from the horrendous E! production (can it even be called that?) on “The Soup” ...
Imagine that it is 1976. You just listened to Ziggy Stardust on vinyl. You are in a punk band and the only way for your music to get exposure is to put up hand-made posters for your shows. The World Wide Web is years away; therefore, there is no easy way to communicate en masse with your ...
4.5/5 Bear Claws As far as I can tell, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats has two talents: writing beautifully emotive records, and releasing them at an insane speed. The group’s last record, The Life of the World to Come, came out in October 2009—barely a year and a half ago. The ...
Over the years, the Cox Capitol Theatre has hosted a number of unique bands, artists, and movies, and now it plans to offer an even more intriguing performer to that list. Hypnotist and comedian Gary Conrad is inviting Macon residents to share the stage with him and partake in some entertaining, ...
Even at 55, frontman Keith Morris is a legend in the punk rock scene. At 25, he and guitarist Greg Ginn founded Black Flag, possibly the most important American punk band after The Ramones. He later went on to work with Circle Jerks, whose 1981 debut Group Sex rocked the hardcore punk scene. Last ...
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chad Sliger, Madelyn Fuchs, Tory Johnson, Kyle Shook, Marcella Murray, Ethan Thompson in Six Characters in Search of an Author"][/caption] The Mercer Players performed Luigi Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of An Author” forthe spring ...
I don’t understand this whole vampire fad. Why won’t it go away? Can someone stake it? Sure, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was awesome. But it was awesome because she was killing vampires. Nowadays, vampires are supposed to be sexy or something. No, people who want to rip your throat out are ...
Andrew W.K. isn’t your average rock star. Sure, he tours around the world playing high-energy music and singing about partying, just like many others. But the real twist to Andrew W.K. is that he’s just so damn positive about it all. None of his songs are brooding, overtly dark, or depressing. He ...
Clause 23 of Section 6 of Article 84 of the Hip-Hop Doctrine duly states, “If a rapper releases a 7 song EP in which only 3 of the songs feature rap lyrics, it is completely acceptable for fans to respond with outrage and/or denunciation of said rapper’s career.” Being the ascetic Confucian ...
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