The Boys of Eve 6 Rejected Admission To Harvard

Via an article from Harvard's student newspaper The Crimson, comes word that Eve 6's previously scheduled show on their campus has been canceled. According to reports within the article, many students voiced their displeasure with the choice of Eve 6 for their Spring concert:

Speculation arose earlier this semester that 90s pop-rock band Eve 6 would be performing at Yardfest after the group posted a Harvard tour date on their Web site.

After the Eve 6 rumor broke, CEB fielded numerous comments from students who expressed a desire to see Ratatat and Bareilles instead, Mee said.

Mee said that the group had contacted Eve 6 to see if they would be available to perform, but they “were never officially considering Eve 6.”

It is likely that whoever posts the dates on Eve 6's Myspace jumped the gun a bit, but it is also possible that Harvard reneged on a previously agreed upon deal once they received the negative student feedback. The Harvard students will now be treated to the wonderful sounds of Sara Bareilles and Ratatat. No comment there - this blog is not in the business of insulting other people's taste in music. For jilted Eve 6 fans at Harvard, please check out Eve 6's Myspace page, as they have added a tourdate in Foxboro, MA. Not sure how far that is from Cambridge, but it is in Massachusetts, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

This does raise the interesting issue of at what point Eve 6 playing college shows will stop being an option. There is a fine line that you are walking when it comes to fickle college students. Last year's tour was EXTREMELY well received because many of the kids in college now were in high school or slightly younger at the time of Eve 6's last mainstream exposure. Kids who might never have had the opportunity to see Eve 6 live, were suddenly able to enjoy mostly FREE shows on their college campus. There was also a certain "nostalgia effect" fueling the positive feedback.

The point here is that Eve 6 is going to have to put out some new music soon if they want to continue their college tour success. In these days of the struggling music industry, the excitement Eve 6 has been able to build on college campuses nationwide is nothing to sneeze at. However, without forward momentum in the form of a new album, seeing Eve 6 live is going to become stale, fast.

Tony and Max Go All Mickey Mouse On Us; Write/Produce for Emily Osment

An interesting Eve 6 google alert popped up today, introducing us to a slightly disturbing/interesting video of Max and Tony working with Hannah Montana star Emily Osment:

Emily in the Studio with Eve 6


Holy crap there, Emily - more sing-ey, less talk-ey.

Glad to see that Max and Tony are collaborating and likely making money. From the perspective on an Eve 6 fan, this kind of sucks since they are spending time creating bubble gum pop for Disney stars. From the perspective of someone who cares greatly for the success of these two people, it is exciting times. I'm definitely interested to hear the songs since it is likely the result of Max's penmanship. Good times.

2009 Brings many more tourdates for Eve 6

Here is a current list of rumored and confirmed shows as per pollstar.com and myspace.com:

• 3/14/09 - Newry, ME
• 3/17/09 - Columbia, SC
• 4/3/09 - Rindge, NH
• 4/16/09 - Allentown, PA
• 4/18/09 - Annville, PA
• 4/19/09 - Cambridge, MA
• 4/23/09 - Poughkeepsie, NY
• 4/25/09 - Rochester, NY (According to Myspace)
• 4/25/09 - Oneonta, NY (According to Pollstar)
• 4/26/09 - Wantagh, NY
• 5/1/09 - Manchester, NH
• 5/2/09 - Binghamton, NY
• 5/7/09 - Palatine, IL
• 5/8/09 - Dubuque, IA
• 5/30/09 - Agoura Hills, CA
• 6/16/09 - Del Mar, CA
• 6/27/09 - Uncasville, CT
• 7/4/09 - Clear Lake, IL
• 7/10/09 - Kansas City, MO
• 7/11/09 - Aurora, IL
• 8/1/09 - Sheboygan, WI
• 8/15/09 - Gueda Springs, KS
• 8/20/09 - Algona, IA

This is a pretty wide-ranging tour, so a lot of folks should be able to get out and see their favorite late 90's nostalgia act band.

A Fantastic Interview WIth Tony Fagenson About the Music Industry

Thought I'd pop in quickly and link to a really good interview that Tony recently did with HypeBot:

Part 1

Part 2

I find this part particularly interesting:

Q: Looking back on it now, what was your experience like being signed to a Major Label?

Fagenson: I'd be lying if I said the experience was anything but great overall. Like anything it has it's ups and downs, strikes and gutters. Sure they f$&ked a few things up, and communicating ideas could be a very laborious process with a large company...

But we were very fortunate to have a team of people that was behind the band for a long time, and fought hard to break down walls for us and get our music heard. We wouldn't have had that success without the powerful reach and $$ of a major record company. We had a good relationship with many of the employees of RCA at the time and enjoyed seeing the various folks when we'd pass through their particular town or what have you. Lots of bands end up despising their labels, but that never really happened with us.

It looks like Tony has undying love for the label, even though they dropped them on their heads back in '04. I really don't understand this viewpoint from Tony, but I reckon it has something to do with his father being a relatively successful producer and a product of the old music industry (Don Was). Tony is very savvy, but still has ties to the old guard - it makes for an interesting interview.

Also interesting is the post in the comments section of that article by Brendan from the early 2000's one-hit wonder "Wheatus" (I will never forget "I'm Just a Teenage Dirtbag" blaring over speakers all over my freshman dorms - ahhh, simpler times):

Eve6 is one of the best live bands I've ever seen. Toured with them back in the 2000 and then some.... they bring it. And in the spirit of kissing even more websternet ass....Tony is one of my fav. modern drummers.

But I lovingly disagree with you Tony....grey haired baby boomer execs who don't know what the f' TCP/IP stands for are 90% the problem....they didn't even know what Napster was when our 1st USA sales week came in under expectations and I asked if they could get those sharing numbers.

They could have made deals and monetized in 1998 but they were arrogant and entrenched old men...very, very conservative. They really thought the internet would blow over...then they thought they could overpower it by being draconian and protectionist....and when that didn't work they began to abuse the only people who did care about their products. Couple that with THE CRAP they put out year after year = 2009.

many thanks for the article....and go see Eve6...they are the real thing.

brendan b brown
wheatus.com

ps...Tony, and all other recording and performing musicians...make sure Soundexchange hasn't forfeited your royalties!

Looks like I wasn't the only one who questioned Tony's loyalty to the ones who botched a huge opportunity for the music industry.