Hey Bloomington, What'd You Let Them Do To You?

Mixed emotions about last night… check. Soapbox… check. There’s a lyric in a Hold Steady song ‘Southtown Girls’ that I’m pretty sure is about prostitutes (of the less classy variety). This song came to mind numerous times last night. And no, the previously mentioned emotions were not mixed because of some crazy encounter with a lady of the night. No, it was really just one lyric from the song that kept running through my mind… ‘Hey Bloomington, what’d you let them do to you?’ Last night I was in Bloomington, IN, home of a huge freakin’ campus-full of young people. I was there to see Ezra Furman & the Harpoons for $5 and there were about 20+ people in attendance! OK, granted it was a Tuesday and he’s not the biggest name in the world and people are pretty strapped for cash, but what the hell? When I think of Bloomington I think of kids and hippies (and frat guys). Two groups of people who are open-minded and into the arts. This was not the case last night and this was not my first experience of this sort in ‘B-town.’ I realize that just because I happen to mention it a couple of times on my fairly insignificant show doesn’t mean everyone else is into it, but I was a little surprised and disappointed. Though don’t go running away in shame just yet, I do owe you some thanks. Thanks to you, Bloomington, my request for his closing song was granted and after the pretty rockin’ set we got to chat. I ‘know’ two bands! Official Site : Myspace : Buy on Amazon : Stream on HypeMachine : DayTrotter Sessions