Honk / Somerville article in NYT

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

OK, I'm not fishing for flames. I love the energy of Honk but the music not so much. However, pretty neat to see this festival getting mention in the NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/arts/music/honk-festival-of-street-bands-in-somerville-mass.html

Comments

[masslibrulgirl.livejournal.com]

Haha, I'm the opposite--I love the music but the crowds and the loudness are too much for me. In any case, it's awesome that it made the NYT.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I love that I no longer live anywhere near the Honk route!

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

I consider the loudness as one of the things that I don't like about the music. Even brass bands need dynamics. There is just a "sameness" to it all that wears thin.

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

I like that I'm not the only one who can't deal with the overwhelming sensory input from Honk :)

[elements.livejournal.com]

I talked to this reporter some during my volunteer shift (but off the record) and she was really great. She'd come to HONK! before, and was super excited that she was finally going to get to write about it for her paper. I'm really pleased with the article she ended up with.

[ratheripped.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you hate fun.

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

Lol ratheripped -- your comment made me laugh.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with Honk, just don't like it.

*I'm* sorry you're so small minded Honk is your only concept of fun :P

[ron_newman]

Fortunately for you, the Honk parade takes up only one of 8760 hours each year.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

I love Honk. Some of the bands are great, and even the ones who emphasize volume over quality are okay for dancing to. Honk seems to attract players who love to talk about their music with random strangers; if I hear a group play a song I really like, I can go up and ask them about it afterwards--a privilege which, in most other live music settings, is reserved for people younger and prettier than me.

Also, the multi-generational feel of Honk really appeals to me. I worked the merch table in Statue Park this year and met a number of semi-retired activists of my parents' generation who were attending Honk with their grandkids. How often do you find an event where teenagers and their grandparents are having an equally fabulous time interacting with each other?

All that being said: I suspect I'd appreciate Honk a lot less if I lived either in the Square or along the parade route and therefore couldn't get away from it when I'd had enough. Living in the middle of a street festival is probably considerably less fun than attending it.