2008: What Happened?

Before the Year in Music review kicks off in the next few days or week, something must be addressed: why did the music content of this blog slacken off in the last half of the year, particularly the concert reviews?

It has been due to a few factors and the biggest one is: time management. As of August, Doc Pennypacker received a new daytime assignment, one that is (or was supposed to be) indefinite and full time. An actual, honest-to-goodness career-oriented occupation. So it was inevitable that the reviewage was going to have to be reduced - a man needs sleep after all, even ol' Pennypacker.

The shows I've been interested in going to just sold out too quickly for me to get my foot in. At the same time, there were fewer shows where I was itching to buy a ticket right off the bat. I never wanted this to happen, but it appears for the time being that there isn't enough fresh material per my tastes to mix up the reviews, and at the risk of being redundant, there's just been choice and selective gig skipping.

To a lesser extent, my increasing boredom and dillusionment with the concert scene played a role. As I discussed in the Definitive Essay on Hipsters, I'm sick of 'em. They are a drag. And they are definitely a drag at gigs. They take the fun out of it.

None of this has absolutely any role in determing the future of this blog. Pennypacker's Concert Blues may evaporate pretty quickly...or it could go on. The economic circumstances, both broad and actually quite specific as of last Friday, may also cloud the future content of this blog. There's related (and unrelated) personal stuff happening. Things are not good...and potentially getting worse. The euphoria of the Obama win last month - the biggest euphoria in my life that I can recall - has evaporated due to forces beyond my or its control. In short, there's just a whole lot of shit going on. And I am sure all five of you readers can understand.