Still Rising

Two years ago today I interviewed MC Frontalot for Hipster, please! It was my first interview, and I was, admittedly, fairly shitty at it. Still, scoring some talk time with Front was quite a coup, and it sort of set the stage for this blog and where it was to go from there.

In the ensuing years I have talked to many more nerd celebs, and my style has gotten (hopefully) a bit less shitty, but it all comes back to Frontalot, or, more specifically, his Nerdcore Rising tour. It was the sheer happenstance of that tour kicking off in my own rural neck of the woods that gave me my first break as a blogger and, indeed, gave a genuine direction to my writing.

And while Hipster, please! has grown incrementally in scope and popularity over the last couple of years, MC Frontalot and the musical movement he named has grown exponentially. Front’s continued success is due, most certainly, to his charming demeanor, his consummate showmanship, and his unmitigated talent, but the good word of nerd has also been spread by the Negin Farsad-directed documentary focused on the aforementioned tour.

Nerdcore Rising: The Movie has already seen several high profile screenings and garnered positively glowing press along the way, and, while I, sadly, have yet to see the film, I am lucky enough to have connections with someone who has. ADeadHeart, of Radio KOL fame, scored free tickets to the Boston ROFLcon showing, and was kind enough to submit her thoughts on the event for your enjoyment.

Check the geeky missive:

How fantastic WAS this? The movie was brilliant - occasionally poignant and always funny (the theater was in stitches I tell you!) Followed by a Q&A with Farsad and Front n' Crew. She was very personable and lacked the snobbishness one might assume a movie maker might possess.

Witnessed a Free Tibet rally (?) and had the best food EVER in Chinatown, which I probably walked way too far for.

After party was for the entire IFF collaboration at the verrrry swanky Mantra in beautiful downtown Boston. I didn't get lost! Quite the mix of nerdy folks and not so nerdy. ADH felt like a hermaphrodite at her first boy/girl party. More to come about that later, I think. There was free Absolut and free Newcastle, which I could not so much partake of...damn me and my driving all the way back to my little corner of ConnectiCUT but what's a girl to do?!

Another friend of mine from KoL also scored tix (what a small world!) and she and my other half are featured, happily dancing and applauding, on the Nerdcore Rising homepage. This pleases me. I got some networking of my own done and some thoughtfulness will follow.

Got home at the not SO awful hour of 3amish (that's a.m. ISH not Amish) and have some decent photos of the night. Frabjous!

*dinner, bathtub cleaning interlude*

I forgot to say!

MC Frontalot was fantastic live, as he was when I saw him in Arizona last fall. He did 2 short sets, interrupted quite pleasantly with the hip hop goodness of Prince Paul, who played some old skool I'd forgotten about and some I was ashamed to remember. Front played my faves, from Bizarro Genius Baby, which reminds me of my daughter, to Goth Girls, which I pretend reminds me of me. I've got the whole set list scribbled somewhere, if need be. <3>

Eventually I will get around to composing my thoughts on how it felt to be a reformed hip hop DJ (read currently still likes Lil Jon) and a nerd (though some question the validity of that statement (she doesn't like They Might be Good?!?!)...walking both lines was indeed awkward. This really didn't have anything to do with the show though so if I DO go there it won't be completely related. If anyone skimming this has any experience with this, though, I'd like input cuz I can't possibly be alone in my appreciation for both?

Much thanks to ADH for acting as a roving reporter, Negin Farsad for taking the time to document the nerdcore revolution and Front’s place at the head of it, and, of course, the man himself for making the music we want to hear. Peep ADeadHeart’s Photobucket for pictures and be sure to check at her RKOL shows Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8:00 to 11:00 AM.

And, on a personal note, thanks to all involved for making the last two years so goddamn memorable, and for making my silly little hobby (and my delusions of writer-hood) a bit less of a solitary affair.