The Stills drank all my alcohol in our shit hotel room in Seattle when we drove down to see them open for Interpol. I think 2003? We drove down from Vancouver in an 8-seater van, and two couples split up on that trip, one reformed with opposite partners. Someone asked on the way back 'Can you unfriend someone on friendster?'
I lived in London from 2004, can confirm it was a very similar vibe. We lived over the road from a very hipster pub in Spitalfields and I remember getting a lecture from a Wieden + Kennedy intern with an asymmetrical haircut, who promptly realized someone stole his work laptop from under the table. 2005. Good times.
In 2001, I waited outside a music venue from 10am until 7pm to see Dashboard Confessional. It was general admission so we wanted to make sure to get in the front row, (which we did) but we also got to meet him going into the venue, and Ben Kweller!
My best hipster concert memory was seeing LCD Soundsystem during his "retirement tour" in NYC in 2010. I've seen him in concert like 3 times since then.
This period of music completely passed me by and anything from it that I now love, I came to much later. Even with the earlier music from the 90s that I consider to be ‘my era’ I never had my finger on the pulse. It feels like a missed opportunity. Only now, in middle age do I really get how much enjoyment there is to be immersed in music and I’m approaching it with the enthusiasm of a teenager. Midlife crisis? Possibly, but way too much fun to apologise for.
I love this so much. We are exactly the same age, I had almost all the same experiences with the same soundtrack, and I also dropped off of music for a little while in 2008. But now I'm back and I get to play on stage with Ted Leo in a few weeks!!
On one summer night in 2001, I went to check out some local bands at an underground club that more than likely did not have up-to-date fire codes not realizing I was about to witness a music explosion. Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Rilo Kiley, Now It's Overhead all of the same bill in one night.
And so it began and more magical music discovery moments kept happening.
My kids, born and raised in San Francisco, came of age during the so-called hipster invasion. My oldest son, who turns 40 this year, a young next-gen punk with a blue Mohawk and a skateboard, especially loathed these he called interlopers into this, his city. He grew to dislike them and their (his words) neo-hippie, neo-liberal lifestyle, and really didn’t care for the moaning music they brought along. And he thought they had changed the city for the worse. I don’t think he was wrong, but maybe not for the same reasons.
It made me think of 1967-69, of the “hippie invasion” of the city. I am of Generation Jones age, or the butthole end of the Boomers and grew up with the core punk of the 70s. I didn’t arrive in SF until after school in ‘81, but I remember people a little older than me, San Francisco natives, who loathed the hippies…and they too thought the city had been changed for the worse.
I could relate, but for different reasons - I thought the Boomer hippies had sold us out (which they did), giving the world Reagan and all the accompanying bullshit he brought.
I mention this because I believe my son saw the “hipsters” in a similar light. They came in and sold out those of his age in a similar manner. Fucked with his music, fucked with his lit, and fucked with his future livelihood.
I understand your son, who essentially my same age (though I would have considered him a kid back then lol). People really did hate hipsters. Everyone did. The hipsters did. Nobody wants to identify with this group. I certainly didn't. But I know in retrospect that I probably was one. I am fairly certain that I wasn't listening to any of the "moaning music" though. That came about a decade later ;)
I'm just an extra in a John Hughes movie who was amused and also mildly scandalized by American Apparel ads and thought the kids in the Cobrasnake photos were trying just a little too hard. Jesus & Mary Chain and Sonic Youth changed my life. Early 90s indie bands that struggled in the tidepools left behind in the wake of Nevermind were rad and, for the most part, pretty great live. By the mid 2000s, I'd turned my attention to jazz. But that first Arcade Fire record was good, wasn't it?
Really enjoyed your piece today. I'm always interested in how everything seems to come back around eventually with inevitable twists that amuse and rankle the OGs. I'm here for it.
I loved Wolf Parade. Took a 10 hour road trip to Baton Rouge to see them in a dive bar under a freeway with 200 people. I still consider it one of the best shows I’ve been to. I met Dan Boeckner after the show while waiting for my taxi and he was delightful too.
“Dancing to The Knife's Heartbeats and crying to José González' cover” is basically the entire reason I do what I do—same song, same words, and one version is a dancefloor while the other is a breakup. That gap between how a song sounds and what it's actually carrying is my whole deal, and you tucked the perfect example into a single throwaway line. Also, the fact that you wanted to write the mashup-replaced-the-cover essay and never did is haunting me a little. I'd have read it. Wonderful piece.
I kept a Motorola Razor phone I had in 2009 because when I couldn’t go to the arctic monkeys concert, my friend waited behind the venue until Alex Turner came out and she left a voicemail of him saying hi to me.
In 2010 I went to the Virgin Mobile Freefest at Merriweather Post Pavilion and one of my favorite memories is running the loop around the seated section to return to the pit to see Matt & Kim/Pavement/LCD Soundsystem with my friends.
I loved how you noted that this era helped you understand HOW to listen to music because I’ve never been able to articulate that but it is 100% how I feel. I genuinely think that hipster culture forced me to learn about the art I was consuming for fear of being called a poser.
Oh yes, this was my era. Seeing weird local indie rock bands in Orlando, learning how to review music by studying Pitchfork (I could never reach their level of meanness, ha), discovering new favorites in the used bin at FYE and Amazon mp3 sales, trying to catch up on 90s music I'd missed because my parents would only let me listen to oldies and Christian music, and being called a hipster by my friends even though I knew in my heart I liked Coldplay too much to actually be a hipster. What a time to be alive!
Also every time I see the hipster / stomp clap debate, I remember that my 2014 "hipster" wedding was decorated with mason jars and I walked the aisle to a Mumford and Sons song. 😂
omg i think my level of douchebaggery even as recently as 2014 was so high that i would have thrown hands if anyone played mumford and sons near me sincerely lololol. this whole stomp clap debate would have gone done with way more ire with me back then, that's for sure
In my universe, "hipster" was a four-letter word. These were self-deigned tastemakers who just happened to have the worst taste in everything and opinions to match. Imagine the characters in High Fidelity turned up to 11 (and wearing a fedora, probably). They were insufferable.
The Stills drank all my alcohol in our shit hotel room in Seattle when we drove down to see them open for Interpol. I think 2003? We drove down from Vancouver in an 8-seater van, and two couples split up on that trip, one reformed with opposite partners. Someone asked on the way back 'Can you unfriend someone on friendster?'
I lived in London from 2004, can confirm it was a very similar vibe. We lived over the road from a very hipster pub in Spitalfields and I remember getting a lecture from a Wieden + Kennedy intern with an asymmetrical haircut, who promptly realized someone stole his work laptop from under the table. 2005. Good times.
The fucking Stills!!!!!
In 2001, I waited outside a music venue from 10am until 7pm to see Dashboard Confessional. It was general admission so we wanted to make sure to get in the front row, (which we did) but we also got to meet him going into the venue, and Ben Kweller!
My best hipster concert memory was seeing LCD Soundsystem during his "retirement tour" in NYC in 2010. I've seen him in concert like 3 times since then.
ALL THE BENS. There were so many Bens. What a time to be alive
There’s a Radiohead joke in there somewhere
IT’S BIKINI KILL!!!
Every time
This period of music completely passed me by and anything from it that I now love, I came to much later. Even with the earlier music from the 90s that I consider to be ‘my era’ I never had my finger on the pulse. It feels like a missed opportunity. Only now, in middle age do I really get how much enjoyment there is to be immersed in music and I’m approaching it with the enthusiasm of a teenager. Midlife crisis? Possibly, but way too much fun to apologise for.
I think that we all have our gaps and our personal eras and that's just how life goes! You're loving and living now!!
This is such a great piece.
I was already well established in my record store superiority complex at the time, so hipster superiority felt cute and quaint to me...
It was a fun and engaging time to be an indie fan. Nice trip down memory lane.
I would have been so scared to talk to you
I love this so much. We are exactly the same age, I had almost all the same experiences with the same soundtrack, and I also dropped off of music for a little while in 2008. But now I'm back and I get to play on stage with Ted Leo in a few weeks!!
Holy shit!!!!!
On one summer night in 2001, I went to check out some local bands at an underground club that more than likely did not have up-to-date fire codes not realizing I was about to witness a music explosion. Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Rilo Kiley, Now It's Overhead all of the same bill in one night.
And so it began and more magical music discovery moments kept happening.
Also mad props for referencing an internet cafe!
we genuinely did have to use internet cafes in europe - and i remember smoking in them, too!
When I lived in Chicago in the early 2000s I didn’t have internet and frequented them often. No smoking though, just overly brewed potted coffee.
Perspective is everything.
My kids, born and raised in San Francisco, came of age during the so-called hipster invasion. My oldest son, who turns 40 this year, a young next-gen punk with a blue Mohawk and a skateboard, especially loathed these he called interlopers into this, his city. He grew to dislike them and their (his words) neo-hippie, neo-liberal lifestyle, and really didn’t care for the moaning music they brought along. And he thought they had changed the city for the worse. I don’t think he was wrong, but maybe not for the same reasons.
It made me think of 1967-69, of the “hippie invasion” of the city. I am of Generation Jones age, or the butthole end of the Boomers and grew up with the core punk of the 70s. I didn’t arrive in SF until after school in ‘81, but I remember people a little older than me, San Francisco natives, who loathed the hippies…and they too thought the city had been changed for the worse.
I could relate, but for different reasons - I thought the Boomer hippies had sold us out (which they did), giving the world Reagan and all the accompanying bullshit he brought.
I mention this because I believe my son saw the “hipsters” in a similar light. They came in and sold out those of his age in a similar manner. Fucked with his music, fucked with his lit, and fucked with his future livelihood.
I understand your son, who essentially my same age (though I would have considered him a kid back then lol). People really did hate hipsters. Everyone did. The hipsters did. Nobody wants to identify with this group. I certainly didn't. But I know in retrospect that I probably was one. I am fairly certain that I wasn't listening to any of the "moaning music" though. That came about a decade later ;)
I'm just an extra in a John Hughes movie who was amused and also mildly scandalized by American Apparel ads and thought the kids in the Cobrasnake photos were trying just a little too hard. Jesus & Mary Chain and Sonic Youth changed my life. Early 90s indie bands that struggled in the tidepools left behind in the wake of Nevermind were rad and, for the most part, pretty great live. By the mid 2000s, I'd turned my attention to jazz. But that first Arcade Fire record was good, wasn't it?
God that record was life changing
Really enjoyed your piece today. I'm always interested in how everything seems to come back around eventually with inevitable twists that amuse and rankle the OGs. I'm here for it.
Such is the circle of life
I loved Wolf Parade. Took a 10 hour road trip to Baton Rouge to see them in a dive bar under a freeway with 200 people. I still consider it one of the best shows I’ve been to. I met Dan Boeckner after the show while waiting for my taxi and he was delightful too.
That's amazing. I didn't see them live until they were doing the 20 year reunion of apologies to the queen mary
“Dancing to The Knife's Heartbeats and crying to José González' cover” is basically the entire reason I do what I do—same song, same words, and one version is a dancefloor while the other is a breakup. That gap between how a song sounds and what it's actually carrying is my whole deal, and you tucked the perfect example into a single throwaway line. Also, the fact that you wanted to write the mashup-replaced-the-cover essay and never did is haunting me a little. I'd have read it. Wonderful piece.
Oh, my heart
I kept a Motorola Razor phone I had in 2009 because when I couldn’t go to the arctic monkeys concert, my friend waited behind the venue until Alex Turner came out and she left a voicemail of him saying hi to me.
In 2010 I went to the Virgin Mobile Freefest at Merriweather Post Pavilion and one of my favorite memories is running the loop around the seated section to return to the pit to see Matt & Kim/Pavement/LCD Soundsystem with my friends.
I loved how you noted that this era helped you understand HOW to listen to music because I’ve never been able to articulate that but it is 100% how I feel. I genuinely think that hipster culture forced me to learn about the art I was consuming for fear of being called a poser.
Ha ha WE DID IT OUT OF FEAR
Thanks, great stuff. Almost everything here is new to this old head, but I definitely like your taste. Will be following along forthwith
welcome welcome
Oh yes, this was my era. Seeing weird local indie rock bands in Orlando, learning how to review music by studying Pitchfork (I could never reach their level of meanness, ha), discovering new favorites in the used bin at FYE and Amazon mp3 sales, trying to catch up on 90s music I'd missed because my parents would only let me listen to oldies and Christian music, and being called a hipster by my friends even though I knew in my heart I liked Coldplay too much to actually be a hipster. What a time to be alive!
Also every time I see the hipster / stomp clap debate, I remember that my 2014 "hipster" wedding was decorated with mason jars and I walked the aisle to a Mumford and Sons song. 😂
Side Note: I FORGOT ABOUT GIRL TALK. All Day broke my brain. Gonna need to revisit that one soon.
DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO LISTEN
omg i think my level of douchebaggery even as recently as 2014 was so high that i would have thrown hands if anyone played mumford and sons near me sincerely lololol. this whole stomp clap debate would have gone done with way more ire with me back then, that's for sure
In my universe, "hipster" was a four-letter word. These were self-deigned tastemakers who just happened to have the worst taste in everything and opinions to match. Imagine the characters in High Fidelity turned up to 11 (and wearing a fedora, probably). They were insufferable.
That's what we thought, and that's what everyone thought about us
in case nobody else pointed it out, that's Ed from Grizzly Bear behind Girl Talk in your point-and-shoot pic!
i wanted to mention there'd be a prize for this but then i couldn't think of a prize and then i gave up. but you win.