Reviews

[Samuel Gravina <sgravina@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This happens the other way too.  A reviewer will like something and praise
it to high heaven.  Just cause they can write convincingly I go see the
performance and find out the reviewer really exaggerated.

I recently saw Blue Man Group and feel like the reviewers were pretty much
way over enthusiastic.  I liked the show but it's not a "once in a
lifetime", "must see", "this show is your destiny", "What the hell is wrong
with you go see it again" type event.

Reviewers are paid to write.  How they write is more important than what
they write.

Sam



Bob Maglinte wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Bonfiglio" <bon@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "david j. brown" <nonidesign@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 11:48 AM
> Subject: Re: Florida Philharmonic Review
> 
> 
>> 
>> Dear David,
>> 
>> I am in total agreement with you!   I don't get at all bent out of shape
>> about any review; it's the reviewers.  They are killing classical music;
>> they can't seem to say that they had a "good time" at a concert.
>> 
> Hi,
> One thing most people often do not know in regards to music critics is how
> often they are assigned to review things they either don't like a genre
> they're having to review and/or know next to nothing about it and/or don't
> like particular instruments at all, but won't fess up to any of these. Let
> me give you an example. When I did the 1989 Boston area Battle of the Blues
> Bands, there was a very prominent music writer for a very high profile local
> newspaper (in which both shall remain nameless) who often wielded a LOT of
> power, who was one of the judges. At the end of the night, he interviewed
> all the contesting bands, including mine (of course) and he asked me were
> all the tunes I had performed were originals. Now the way thus guy's
> writings were, I had assumed he was extremely knowledgeable, but the further
> into the interview I got, the more I clearly and quickly found out how
> LITTLE he really knew about the music he's supposed to be reviewing, and I
> was very tempted to humiliate him and put him in his place, but knowing how
> much power he wielded in this town, it wouldn't be a very prudent move. So,
> from that moment on, it really brought home a point told to me that there
> are very few critic reviews one should really worry about, as some panning
> you may get are from people far less knowledgable than they make themselves
> out to be (frauds in my book), let it roll over your shoulder. For blues, if
> you get panned by writers who truly ARE knowledgeable about the genre like
> Peter Guralnick or the late Pete Welding, that's a hurting, big time, but
> from someone who has to review many different genres, I won't think about
> them too much, as many times they know MUCH less than they're trying to make
> readers believe.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Barbeque Bob Maglinte
> Boston, MA
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