Stella Blues; New Haven, CT

[krispy]

Seems Kung Fu is borrowing The Breakfast\'s shoes.
Those Clown ones.

It\'s not just the BFast.  take a good look at RAQ\'s management history...

[NickNels]

RE: Webcast

I think the band should feel very fortunate that someone like Chris or Matt is willing to stream shows for them.  I can assure you that it in no way detracts from the amount of people attending the live shows.  In fact, it is a tremendous marketing boon for a band that is on the rise.  

Not only is Kung Fu starting to draw attention, but they are FRESH.  As much as I love the Breakfast, they have a stigma attached to them.  Regardless of how awesome we all know the Breakfast are, people have already formed an opinion.  It is infinitely harder to change people\'s minds on a band that has been around for 15 years, than it is to give a new band a try.

The best thing Kung Fu can do now is make their music as accessable as possible.  That means shows, festivals, tapes, dvds and webcasts.  I posted a link on PT half way through the first set last week and the jump in attendance on the webcast sky-rocketed.  Not only that, but there was some serious chatter going on in the message boards.  A lot of people who are hearing this band for the first time are getting excited.

Remember this scene is all about going to see live music.  There are very few people (if any) who would make the decision to stay home because there is a live stream option.  All the live stream does is allow Kung Fu\'s music to reach more ears than a Monday night in New Haven could ever dream to do.  And this is an excellent stream, the music quality is not compromised whatsoever.

Personally I would rather have 100 people listen for free and maybe come out for a future show than 100 people not have any clue what kung fu sounds like.  Again, this scene craves live music and the next best thing to seeing a live show is a live webcast.  

Ending the stream is a terrible idea.  Please reconsider

[Branch]

I sorta disagree with the stigma thing. Yes some people have made up there minds but, there are a lot of virgin ears yet to hear TB.
 Our sound has evolved with some newer songs in the mix.
Imagine what a big festival play in front of 3 or more thousand folks would do to our fan base. We would be right back in the driver seat.

[NickNels]

I sorta disagree with the stigma thing. Yes some people have made up there minds but, there are a lot of virgin ears yet to hear TB.
 Our sound has evolved with some newer songs in the mix.
Imagine what a big festival play in front of 3 or more thousand folks would do to our fan base. We would be right back in the driver seat.

Jordan, as a huge Breakfast fan it is clear to me the evolution of your music.  Your sound is much different than it was 5 years ago, which is different than it was 10 years ago.  I also think it is clear that your music still has a huge impact on virgin ears.  I think our younger friends in New Hampshire are a clear example of this.  

The problem I\'m referring to is the older crowd that has already developed an opinion of the band and its music and is unwilling to give it another try or at least listen with an unbiased ear.  And it is the word of mouth of those people that has a trickle down effect on others.  Maybe my experience is different than others, but I\'m just sharing what i\'ve seen/heard from a first hand account.

Regardless, the Breakfast rock and everyone here knows it!

[zuke583]

sweet show last night. house was packed. special valentine\'s thanks to the random girl in the black dress for the aggressive nutlift dance

[Branch]

That\'s why we need to counter those old ney say\'rs with some new blood, bigger fest\'s, bigger shows, maybe some openers for bigger bands.
Thanks for the kind words..

[frolfer]

I sorta disagree with the stigma thing. Yes some people have made up there minds but, there are a lot of virgin ears yet to hear TB.
 Our sound has evolved with some newer songs in the mix.
Imagine what a big festival play in front of 3 or more thousand folks would do to our fan base. We would be right back in the driver seat.

Jordan, as a huge Breakfast fan it is clear to me the evolution of your music.  Your sound is much different than it was 5 years ago, which is different than it was 10 years ago.  I also think it is clear that your music still has a huge impact on virgin ears.  I think our younger friends in New Hampshire are a clear example of this.  

The problem I\'m referring to is the older crowd that has already developed an opinion of the band and its music and is unwilling to give it another try or at least listen with an unbiased ear.  And it is the word of mouth of those people that has a trickle down effect on others.  Maybe my experience is different than others, but I\'m just sharing what i\'ve seen/heard from a first hand account.

Regardless, the Breakfast rock and everyone here knows it!

Just for perspective, I come from that older crowd that really didn\'t give the band a chance way back when for whatever reason. I have always been a jam fan so I\'ve been around the scene, but my head was swirling around some other bands. So, I\'m not trying to say I thought they sucked, I\'m just saying my attention was elsewhere. I saw my first show finally in \'04. It just didn\'t grab me. I do think a lot more of the performance now than I did then. But at the time, I didn\'t make an effort to see them again.

Well that all changed when I saw them live in Ithaca in \'08. I was enthralled. Still am. This led me to investigate the previous years of PB and I kick myself for not seeing this light sooner. The shows I could\'ve seen!!!! Now, their music, past and present, is the most relevant to me. When Jordo announced he was coming back for some shows I knew I had to get after it and see this band as much as possible.  

The band still has a tremendous amount to offer. They are a vibrant live act with memorable tunes and great jams and energy. The trickle down effect you speak of Nick works both ways. People want to know what I\'m into and what I\'m traveling so far to see and they recognize that this is something viable. I do my best to spread the word. If i encounter a negative perspective I share mine and I hope that it affects theirs in some positive way.

There are converts out there. If it could happen to someone like me, then there must be more of us out there!! Food for thought.

[heynow592]

Chris, thanks for all you have done

[SkyePrizm]

First off, last night\'s show was awesome.  It was packed for a monday...and for valentine\'s day. though, a bit of a sausage fest.  a lot of single guys  But that\'s all good.  

I was already drunk by the time we got there ( pitcher of sangria at geronimo\'s that i killed) and they didn\'t go on till 10:30ish (for others who want to go next week), so by the time they got on, I was feeling pretty pretty good.  I find myself getting lost a lot in the music.  Don\'t mind that one bit. Only stayed for the first set cause husband had to work early this morning.  But what I heard was phenomenal.  My one complaint: the two freaking girls in front of me who kept taking pictures of themselves. sigh.  Slightly distracting. And they weren\'t even good looking.  Instead of banning webstreams, let\'s ban annoying flashes from camera that aren\'t taking pictures of the band.

Now about the "webstream" debate.  Thank you Chris and Matt for all you do.  I, quite often, watch the webstream when I cannot make it out to shows.   Its awesome for various reasons.  But if the band decides they don\'t want it, well its their choice.  Its their band.  I am sure they have their reasonings.  And It could be the venue.    I am sure this won\'t last forever.  And in another month or so, it will be back to webcasts.   Do I think its wrong?  Yes, webstream is just exposure...basically marketing.    But like I said, their choice.

the random girl in the black dress for the aggressive nutlift dance

I was pretty drunk last night, so i can\'t remember...as long as it wasn\'t me....

[leith]

I sorta disagree with the stigma thing. Yes some people have made up there minds but, there are a lot of virgin ears yet to hear TB.
 Our sound has evolved with some newer songs in the mix.
Imagine what a big festival play in front of 3 or more thousand folks would do to our fan base. We would be right back in the driver seat.

Only to drive off the road because the band doesn\'t tour extensively out of the NE region.

[psychjosh]

i think it was no more soundboard recordings... i dont think it was recordings all together. that would suck. who asked not to do the webcasts? the band or the venue?

band has been asking me not to since main pub but i did first week of stellas anyway. i had been running 1 webcast a week on the kung fu channel between breakfast/kung fu/timmytour and the # of unique viewers was going up by over 100 viewers per webcast each week. i wanted to keep that trend going for as long as possible.

we had 420 unique viewers the first week of the residency and i didnt see any local .infoers in the chat room.  now there is nothing else to webcast, and we lose the audience that we built up.

PLEASE LET ME BE CRYSTAL CLEAR!

KUNG FU LOVES THE STREAM! NO ONE HAS ASKED ANYONE NOT TO STREAM! IT\'S THE BEST EXPOSURE AND THE CATALYST TO THIS BANDS QUICK RISE.

PLEASE KEEP STREAMING.

LAST WEEK WE DIDNT BECAUSE TIM WAS OUT.

WE WERE ALL HOPING LAST NIGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN CAPTURED!

[NickNels]

Just for perspective, I come from that older crowd that really didn\'t give the band a chance way back when for whatever reason. I have always been a jam fan so I\'ve been around the scene, but my head was swirling around some other bands. So, I\'m not trying to say I thought they sucked, I\'m just saying my attention was elsewhere. I saw my first show finally in \'04. It just didn\'t grab me. I do think a lot more of the performance now than I did then. But at the time, I didn\'t make an effort to see them again.

Well that all changed when I saw them live in Ithaca in \'08. I was enthralled. Still am. This led me to investigate the previous years of PB and I kick myself for not seeing this light sooner. The shows I could\'ve seen!!!! Now, their music, past and present, is the most relevant to me. When Jordo announced he was coming back for some shows I knew I had to get after it and see this band as much as possible.  

The band still has a tremendous amount to offer. They are a vibrant live act with memorable tunes and great jams and energy. The trickle down effect you speak of Nick works both ways. People want to know what I\'m into and what I\'m traveling so far to see and they recognize that this is something viable. I do my best to spread the word. If i encounter a negative perspective I share mine and I hope that it affects theirs in some positive way.

There are converts out there. If it could happen to someone like me, then there must be more of us out there!! Food for thought.

That is great to hear Frolfer!  Your experience is a great example of what is possible, but is far from typical; and judging from your story, it seems like you were very close to the Breakfast being lost on you.  I genuinely do hope that there are more people like you out there who are willing to relisten to a band that continues to tear it up everytime out.

That being said, making it to the top and maintaining that spot is a lot more than playing great music.  There are plenty of things that must happen when the show is over to increase the bands presence and popularity, but that is a whole other discussion...

i think it was no more soundboard recordings... i dont think it was recordings all together. that would suck. who asked not to do the webcasts? the band or the venue?

band has been asking me not to since main pub but i did first week of stellas anyway. i had been running 1 webcast a week on the kung fu channel between breakfast/kung fu/timmytour and the # of unique viewers was going up by over 100 viewers per webcast each week. i wanted to keep that trend going for as long as possible.

we had 420 unique viewers the first week of the residency and i didnt see any local .infoers in the chat room.  now there is nothing else to webcast, and we lose the audience that we built up.

PLEASE LET ME BE CRYSTAL CLEAR!

KUNG FU LOVES THE STREAM! NO ONE HAS ASKED ANYONE NOT TO STREAM! IT\'S THE BEST EXPOSURE AND THE CATALYST TO THIS BANDS QUICK RISE.

PLEASE KEEP STREAMING.

LAST WEEK WE DIDNT BECAUSE TIM WAS OUT.

WE WERE ALL HOPING LAST NIGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN CAPTURED!

That is great to hear Josh!  I don\'t think anyone here was placing any blame on the band, mangement or venue...just curious about what was going on.  In fact, I think it\'s great that there is a group of people out there that is so passionate about wanting to see Kung Fu succeed.  I guess we\'re all a little guilty of falling victim to an internet rumor however :biggrin:

We all look forward to the continued success of Kung Fu!

[bdfreetuna]

good to hear indeed. hehe. game on?

[Igziabeher]

no need for the caps lock bro.

[psychjosh]

Lol.. Sorry bout the caps.. Didn\'t mean to shout.

So hopefully this has been addressed. Fitz, Ken and Vallo have been an integral part of this launch and hopefully will continue. The streams rock! We keep em quiet until the last minute to make sure if and when we do it.. It doesn\'t cut into attendance.

Everyone in and around Kung Fu are so grateful for the response and good wishes! This project could not have done so much so quickly without bfam support. I think we all hope that the continued success brings posi attention to all our projects.

This summer is going to kick ass!!!  Please keep coming and spreading the gospel!