Today's topic: The announcement of a Jay Reatard show cancellation in Dallas.

Jay [Reatard] Lindsey did not want to play the show. Why?

He is rich now and likes to remind people of that fact. My favorite quote by him: "You know how much money I have in the bank!" Actually, Yes; $250,000 courtesy of Matador Records.
He got paid almost Four times the Dallas guarantee in Austin the night prior.
He had been doing coke for 12 hours straight.
He had not slept in two days.
He left to go buy $55 worth of LSD

What was your reaction to this information? Mine was an indifferent shrug of the shoulders. Brooklyn Vegan's anonymous masses, however, wanted to dispense advice on two important topics.

1. Drugs, man. Drugs.

55 dollars worth of lsd??? jesus christ he'll be tripping for a week

can't you buy a drop of liquid for, like, 5 bucks?

coke and acid is a bad mix.

2. Jay Reatard needs a financial planner stat.

Dude needs a break, a vacation, REHAB and a money man. Keeping $250k in 1 bank account is fucking stupid. FDIC will only cover $50k.

FDIC will cover up to $100K per account. So he needs to split it up into at least 3 accounts.

He needs some Municipal bonds in his portfolio, if only for the obvious benefits of tax diversification.

Oh, Brooklyn, so much to answer for. Still, Reatard should really look into diversifying his bonds. I hear that's important.

Jay Reatard ditches Dallas show last night [Brooklyn Vegan]

First you have, of course, your person in the know who makes you want to erase any knowledge of anything you might have ever possessed, ever:

hahaha get on the list next time fools.... free booze and no lines. just you know, hang out and get to know the right people or lose some weight and be cuter and then you can be where everyone else wants to

The street team member behind the cloak of anonymity:

this was as close to beatlemania (or menudomania) as Ive ever seen the scene at the pool. the crowd was super loud even for ting tings (we listened from outside, never got in). but if you were inside it was only half the story. You had people scaling fences, 20ish girls in high heals climbing that big 10 foot chainlink fence and heroically making it inside, you had people in the playground climbing on the rock, on the monkey bars, there were people up on the fire escapes two blocks away. there was blood sweat and tears out there. even though we never made it in, seeing all this and listening from the outside still made for a memorable day. esp when they played "time to pretend". it was so moving to hear the people sing it under their breath. just an amazing amazing day. MGMT will be huge after this, mark my words.

(Beatlemania? You do mean as in the cover band, right? I'm going to say yes, if only because of this person's preferred spelling of "heels.")

And your obligatory missed connections, "funny people" edition:

I saw a hipster awkwardly and unathletically jump the fence, splitting his pants. No joke. Hilarious.

anyone see the old man who got nabbed by the cops trying to get under the fence by the port-a-potties?

the naked black dude on the slip and slide was really throwing himself out there.

Why do people crowdwatch so much at fucking shows? Who cares?

Duh, to post comments that are more insightful than yours, dude!

Moving on, here we have people who are going to be laid off soon, if karma is real:

i was with blah and we are stunning young men, each bestowed with well paying jobs



we tipped 6 bucks on top of the 6 dollar price of beer because we are filthy fucking rich

And finally, what all 160-plus comments all pretty much told me in toto, summed up quite succinctly by anonymous @ 8:39 a.m.:

blah blah blah, the line was long, blah blah blah, I hate people who cut, blah blah blah, i cut in line, blah blah blah, mgmt doesn't have that many fans, blah blah bah, i deserved to be in there more than you did.

Oh, Internet. I love the way you bring the people together.

MGMT @ McCarren Pool was packed [Brooklyn Vegan]
[Photo via Suburban Cowboy]

Of course, the posting of these "atmosphere" shots isn't wrong on its face; crowd shots at shows do help provide a sense of place, and God knows they at least provide something of a respite from the beardos-with-strats parade that plagues many an indie-leaning blog. But the trend Vulture points out makes one wonder if the site's trying to goose its traffic the old-fashioned way—a suspicion that's only furthered by the ever-churning comment section, which is made up of your basic anonymous mouth-breathers who, when taking a break from arguing over the finer points of Andrew WK's new bar, type things like "i like the preggers chick....god thats hot."

Apparently taking a lesson from Vulture's upbraiding, the folks at BV have since started posting pictures of "hot" men as well, which I guess has opened the door for equal-opportunity leering, at least. (Sample comment: "Mmmm.. Good Beefcake in the dodgeballs section..") And in "things could always be worse" news, BV has a ways to go if it wants to hit the groin-tugging ways of ThatsHipHop.com, which hit up its fanbase with the following come-on over the weekend:

DJ SELF VIP SATURDAYS 10pm EST>> LIVE IN THE CHATROOM> ARTISTS WILL BE IN THE CHATROOM>


TONIGHT KIMMI CUPCAKES WILL HAVE LIVE PHONE SEX WITH THE 40th CALLER/VIBRATOR INCLUDED!!!!>>>>>>> MAKE SURE YOU CALL AROUND 10pm EST 877 337 4748 press 1 then 40

What, not 69? Dude.

ThatsHipHop [Official site]
Brooklyn Vegan Now Just Posting Photos Of Random Cute Indie Girls [Vulture]
[Screengrab via Motley Crue]

1. Call Pitchfork a music blog. Never mind that it's been around, as you point out in your article, since 1995—two years before the term "weblog" was invented, and four before Peter Merholz coined the shorter version; never mind that the only aspects of the site that vaguely resembles a music blog are the Forkcast and the News section, neither of which have the coronation power of a "Best New Music" from its reviewers. Who aren't bloggers (well, at least not for Pitchfork, anyway).

2. Use as your new media "expert" a futurist whose recent forays into the digital-music world ended in failure. Remember the guy who coined the term BlogJ? Yeah, his "blogs will be the next record labels" spiel is quoted here, although left out of the piece is the fact that his recent experiment in Web 2.0 widgetry went tits-up last week.

3. Fill your story with data-free anecdotes, because they make lovely window dressing. Music blogs apparently have "young readers." How is Sandoval aware of this? We don't know, because there aren't any actual numbers in the story at all aside from the number of unique readers Pitchfork gets a month (1.5 million) and the number of words Rolling Stone's Nathan Brackett thinks that the average Man Man blurb has (50).

4. On that note, never, ever press for details. Would you be interested to know that eMusic's Yancey Strickler (who, it should be known, is a friend), who's given space to pontificate on music blogging, writes a music blog for his employer, which could make for some interesting discussion of blogging-for-dollars in a story that mentions corporate influence? Want to know how BrooklynVegan "developed a reputation for being the must-read blog for concert information"? Like to know what, exactly, was inaccurate in the reporting about Stereogum's sale, as Scott Lapatine claims? Too bad, because Sandoval isn't interested in making those details known. (At least not yet! Maybe there's a sequel to this piece coming—Music Blogs II: Return To WordPress!)

5. Get an old-media type to comment on how the blog kids should get off his fact-checked lawn—and then fail to fact-check his comments. "The blogs do the really quick 50-word update on what a band's doing," Brackett tells Sandoval. "They'll write about (singer) Lilly [sic!!!] Allen releasing a new EP or (the band) Man Man is preparing an album. The way Rolling Stone competes is we pick up the phone and bring original reporting. We take advantage of our access. Most blogs don't have the staffs to pick up the phone." Well, most blogs also aren't subsidiaries of huge magazines that can be sources for repurposed content. And really, does recapping a reality TV show count as "original reporting" these days? I guess it's a good thing that I got cable in my office after all.

Music blogs: The new wall of sound [CNet]

The singer always wears non-leather shoes and maintains a vegetarian lifestyle.
But now Lewis is rumoured to be launching her own clothing range full of ethically sourced products to give fellow vegans more of a choice when stocking their wardrobes.
A source tells British magazine Hello, "She's always adored animals since she was a little girl and has been a vegetarian since the age of 12.
"The reason she doesn't wear diamonds is because she doesn't know how they have been sourced.
"It was for this reason that she is determined to set up her own ethical fashion range and sell the goods at high street prices."

In case you're saying "wait, she's determined to make sure they cost more?!" Maura says "high street prices" means "Main Street prices" in Brit-speak. I wouldn't have known, I'm just an American fool.

LEWIS TO LAUNCH VEGAN FASHION LINE [Contact Music via A Socialite's Life]

I'M NOT SHALLOW, BUT I HAVE TO SAY...
• "Another clear example of how women are so much more shallow than men. No way does a guy who looks like Marty get this hottie unless he is famous. Just disgusting."

OBLIGATORY ZACH BRAFF JOKES (THAT ARE FUNNIER THAN ANYTHING ON SCRUBS) (WHICH ADMITTEDLY ISN'T SAYING MUCH)
• "So The Shins WILL change your life. THROUGH A BLITZKRIEG OF VIOLENCE."
• "Wasn't your mom in "Garden State"? No, wait, I remember now: I *did* your mom in the Garden State."

LOOK, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ARTISTIC GROWTH
• "He shouldn't be fired just because he's in a band that plays fluffy, non-threatening music. If anything it should give the band a much needed rougher edge. Just think of him as the bad boy of the group. Every boy band needs one."

PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BREAK UP THE BAND
• "Sounds like a wild party! Unfortunately this makes the whole band look band. Hope they can ditch him and keep on making good music. I say good, because good < awesome. /end"
• "It's too bad that the only band member who actually talks to the audience will have to be replaced. What an idiot."

THE LONE VOICE OF REASON (OR MAYBE JUST HAVING A MOMENT OF INEBRIATED CLARITY)
"I'm going to judge the shit out of both of them (which correlates in no way to be me being home, alone, and on the internet at 3:00 AM on a Saturday night). I can publicly make insane assumptions about people based on scant information whenever I want—I use the internet!"

Shins member Martin Crandall arrested for domestic violence against America's Next Top Model Elyse Sewell [BrooklynVegan]
Top Model Elyse Sewell And Dorky Indie Rock Boyfriend Arrested For Domestic Violence [Jezebel]