Review Reporter was too Harsh

To the Editors:

I was very upset and disappointed with Denise Grollmus’ assessment of campus band night which appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of the Review. Her overly negative and excessively critical assessment offended me as a student, a musician and as a music fan.
Her review of the night’s first band, Blix, is unjustifiably scathing. I found their set to be interesting and entertaining, yet Grollmus appreciated only the band’s Rolling Stones cover. She later insulted their original songs, unfairly claiming that they were not as “memorable” as the aforementioned cover. Yet, how many bands write songs that compare to those of the Rolling Stones? How many of those bands are comprised of college students? Clearly, the Rolling Stones are one of the best bands in the history of rock and roll. To expect that level of songwriting from college students (and then harshly criticize them when they do measure up) is ridiculous. While Blix’s original songs were not “Satisfaction” caliber, they were still well written, rockin’ pieces of music.
Grollmus’ narrow appreciation for musical variety is evident in her review of the Bleeding Hearts. I’ll admit that they put on an impressive performance, but they were definitely not “the only enjoyable band of the night” as Grollmus argues. They were no better or worse than any of the other bands, and to make such a claim overlooks the talent of the night’s other bands.
I do not want to comment too much on the review of my band, Freeform Technotic, at the risk of sounding biased, though Grollmus’ review was largely unfair and petty. Grollmus interspersed brief appraisals of the music between negative comments about Freeform’s fans. Was it necessary to point out that the fans danced bad “moves like Ned Nederlander” in The Three Amigos? Was it appropriate to frown upon those who choose to carry a glowstick or two to a concert or wear baggy pants? The answer to both of these is no. Fans (people) can dress however they want, and moreover they are not related to the band’s performance, which Grollmus was supposed to be reviewing.
The next band, The Lymph Nodes, was not quite my style, but they were undeniably the most energetic of all the bands (that I saw) that night. Grollmus fails to mention this aspect of their performance, and instead relates only that they were “disappointing” Fred Durst followers. Yes, as Grollmus correctly points out, the rap/rock hybrid has been done already, but not all rap/rock is as bad as Limp Bizkit’s. It has also been done by Rage Against The Machine, one of the ’90s’ best bands. Furthermore, every style of music has already been “done” (even, say, indie rock), though that does not mean it is not worth doing again if it is done well.
I cannot comment on the night’s last two performances because I did not see enough to give a fair appraisal, although they were probably not as bad as Grollmus’ article made them out to be. It was very disheartening to see this kind of unwarranted criticism in the Review because, sadly, it undermines student music on campus. Our fellow students are very talented and create music that is largely under-appreciated, It is unfortunate that there was not a more open-minded, balanced reporter to cover this event, a reporter who could be understandably critical and yet appreciative of our peers’ music. Hopefully there will be a more positive and professional review of the next campus band night... I have my fingers crossed.

–Greg Teves
College sophomore