So I finally saw the fabled Spazmatics Friday night at Sumter Landing. The Spazmatics' franchise advertises them as the "Ultimate New Wave 80s show" so I had high hopes of hearing Siouxsie and the Banshees, Romeo Void, Altered Images, Talking Heads, the Undertones, Echo and the Bunnymen, maybe a little Depeche Mode for the less serious rock fans.
I arrived about halfway through and my first thought was, this is the hugest crowd I've seen so far in the town squares and it's like a real concert instead of a jitterbug/line dance fest! That was reassuring. And they actually play some half decent songs from the new wave era and are highly competent and tight. I was a bit bewildered by the septuagenarians in the crowd at a supposed new wave show, but I let that go and figured it was actually a positive. It is The Villages after all.
My enthusiasm took a nosedive when I realized the Spazmatics, too, are probably being forced to play lowest common denominator music to please the only casual music fans among the gathered masses. They lost me completely when they broke out the hair metal and songs like "Don't Stop Believing." Simple Minds, on the other hand, was one of the undisputed bright lights of the post-punk era with multiple albums of some of the best music ever. But they, like the Clash and other bands of that time and genre eventually sold out to the mainstream. Simple Minds' most unforgivable example in my opinion was the worldwide smash hit Don't You Forget About Me. Ahem. What Simple Minds song do you think the Spazmatics played? Yup.
Three live music acts to choose from every single day in the Town Centers was one of the reasons I moved to the Villages last month. But as someone for whom music is my life and not just a casual distraction, I gravitate toward the deeper cuts, not the smash hits. In fact those smash hits kinda get on my nerves. (I've seen about ten or so shows so far in the squares, and if I hear Brown Eyed Girl one more time I'm going to gag.)
Is there any hope for people like us? Or should I lower my expectations? I know there are tons of serious rock fans in the Villages. People have cited Uncle Bob's Rock Shop and Penta as potential saviors, but a quick scan of Youtube shows them doing the same-old same-old like Jenny, Slow Ride (really?), Hurt So Good, Two Tickets to Paradise, etc. Should we just write off the Villages and resign ourselves to going to Orlando or Tampa for the good stuff? Maybe if the Villages' music promoters knew there are lots of us who want to hear lesser-known music, they would accommodate us? Hey, we pay our amenities fees too!
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