Too bad Michael Roberts didn't enjoy the show as much as the rest of us did. Oh well, his loss. Thanks, Bauhaus!
Lisa Diedrich
via the Internet
Well-written article on Bauhaus, although it all but says that Roberts's prejudices against bands reuniting predetermined his perceptions. Unlike the sorry sods of the Pistols, these guys still had careers prior to this "resurrection," which it sounds like Roberts purposefully neglected to mention for the sake of inadvertently bolstering his point of argument. By the way, Bauhaus's members haven't gone fat---a noteworthy exception to all previous reunions!
Perhaps you owe it to readers to pass an assignment for a gig on to someone else if Roberts already has the idea he's going to write an article about "selling out" before he even gets in the door. Thank you for your attention in these none-too-delicate matters.
Scott Brown
via the Internet
We were absolutely appalled at Michael Roberts's article regarding the recent Bauhaus concert. Every single sentence he had to say was condescending to Bauhaus and its fans. So maybe Roberts isn't a fan--he has every right to not be a fan--but does it really make him feel good to put down the band and its fans to such an extreme? If he did happen to like the music, or even if he had an open mind about it, he would realize that for many people,Bauhaus played an absolutely wonderful show.
I do respect Roberts's right to free speech, and maybe he just dislikes them or this kind of music that intensely. But I would think that if you are a respected enough writer to write for Westword, that you would give a more open-minded review. This may sound trite, but different people like different music. Just because Roberts doesn't happen to be into this scene (anymore?) does not make it outdated or totally commercial and sold-out. I do happen to be an older fan (thirty), but I also do know that there are many younger fans of Bauhaus. The Bauhaus sound today for many people seems actually more fresh (different) than a lot of the overdone onslaught of the "alternative" bands on the scene today. And although I'm sure everyone wishes that ticket prices would drop a bit, Bauhaus tickets are no more expensive than those for many other very well-liked bands.
Furthermore, I definitely was not cheering for my "lost youth," because my youth is not lost. I don't know where Roberts's bitterness comes from, but it is possible to be mature and still love music that you loved a decade or more ago without denouncing or rationalizing it. (Obviously, Roberts must agree with that if he still likes Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson--and I definitely agree on that.) Growing older does not have to mean growing cynical, close-minded and/or washed up. Bauhaus obviously believes this, and as long as there are people out there who enjoy the band's music, what's the problem?
Lisa Persian-Wolf
Springfield, Illinois
Correction
Jack Boulware's story "The Kerouac Obsession," published in the August 13 Westword, incorrectly claimed that Gerald Nicosia spoke so long at an award ceremony that a reception had to be canceled; actually, the reception was held. The story also contended that Mr. Nicosia once wore a T-shirt with the words "Kerouac vs. Sampas" on it; Mr. Nicosia says no such shirt existed, and we believe him. In addition, the story incompletely described Mr. Nicosia's relationship to the estate of Jan Kerouac. In his role as literary executor, Mr. Nicosia is to receive 10 percent of any income generated from Jan Kerouac's literary estate as a result of publications, sales or licensing arrangements negotiated by Mr. Nicosia. Westword regrets the errors.
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