RNDM - mia

mfc2006 said:

P34RL J4MM3R said:

Yeah, those RNDM shows were some of the best small venue shows you'll ever see.  I saw them both times they came to Chicago.  I'd see them again in a second.  I love that band and especially their live performances.  So fresh and intimate.  I wish they would play more shows, even just a small tour each year.  I'd be there every time.

Completely agree. We saw them at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland and the show was awesome. Got to meet them after the show, which was cool as well.

Man, I LOVE the Doug Fir Lounge as a venue and would have loved to see RNDM there!

Now I'm totally confused though.  I assume the last time I saw them was 2016, and for my DC show I thought the band was excellent but the crowd sucked where I was standing (like one guy, totally visible to everyone onstage, never looked up from his bright light phone the.entire.CONCERT!).  Only Joseph came out after, but he seemed totally with it, looked healthy... now I'm confused if he was just having a good night or I didn't see them when I thought I did?  I can't keep track of anything that happened more than 3 months ago LOL!

JH6056 said:

And so is Joseph generally a little overly dramtic at times, re: the comment "Oh, Cherries in the Snow, that was a song from a band I used to be in..."?  Or just a dramatic time in his life given all that's been discussed above?  I guess I'm trying to gauge the likelihood that his comment has some truth to it and RNDM may have called it a day after that? 

Or at least a day until they get together again and it's a new day?

Given what he's been going through, I would not take his comment to mean that there will definitely not be another RNDM album. What I think it all depends on is the band's willingness to do another album given the fact that there seems to be little to no financial benefit to doing so. The album sales are low and the show attendance is very small too. Their first tour was an absolute slog according to both Joseph and especially Jeff at the time (since Jeff hates touring, especially on the cheap), and the attendance during that tour was at times depressingly low, which is why the second album's tour was only 6 shows, for which the ticket sales probably barely even covered the cost of the travel (of course I'm no expert here - I'm just going off of all the information I have gathered over the years via Joseph's comments/blog, things said during interviews, and paying attention to reports of show attendance).

The low ticket sales and, at my last RNDM show the low crowd energy on my side of small venue, probably definitely are deflating and disheartening for them.  Which is too bad, because I've seen most PJ side projects live, and RNDM is my favorite, even more than Ed solo which is saying a LOT.  The 2012 or 2013 show was fantastic, much better attended too than the 2016 one.

Bummed that they're not feeling it now (even if maybe they *will* feel it again later), but for all the reasons you've all listed, I understand how they feel that way.

JH6056 said:

The low ticket sales and, at my last RNDM show the low crowd energy on my side of small venue, probably definitely are deflating and disheartening for them.  Which is too bad, because I've seen most PJ side projects live, and RNDM is my favorite, even more than Ed solo which is saying a LOT.  The 2012 or 2013 show was fantastic, much better attended too than the 2016 one.

Bummed that they're not feeling it now (even if maybe they *will* feel it again later), but for all the reasons you've all listed, I understand how they feel that way.

I totally agree. I really, really love RNDM. It is by far my favorite "side project" done by any PJ member ever, plus I am a huge Joseph Arthur fan, and this is just a great part of his own work. I also felt really disheartened by the fact that they were received with so little enthusiasm. They certainly deserved it. They were creative, different, the music is fantastic, they really made it "their own" band and they came up with their own cool aesthetic. Why they weren't able to drum up more interest is totally beyond me. I'm thinking it must be more about industry support (or lack thereof). I mean, there were at least a few of what could have been true radio hits on those albums, but clearly they didn't get that kind of support from the radio stations. It sucks. But yeah, they can't just keep doing it when there is no financial pay off. I'm sure Jeff can afford to do that once in a while, but Joseph and Richard certainly can't. Plus, I doubt any of them were in love with the fact that so many people at the shows and those who bought the album were simply there because of Jeff/PJ. I actually found that aspect very uncomfortable at their show, and Joseph even mentioned it in his blog during the first tour. Awkward. Anyway... what a shame that RNDM doesn't get the appreciation and attention it deserves. I really badly wish that they could find a way to make it stand on its own feet. I felt like they really gave it a shot with their first album. They really tried to get the word out, played one of the big late night shows, did a ton of radio appearances ... it just didn't take. I hate to think how many amazing bands this happens to actually. But anyway, you never know... The three could just decide they have time to get together again and do another album despite all this! They just need to feel the mood!

I feel the same way about Brad. I don’t feel like they get nearly enough recognition. Love both bands and hope to see them again.

RNDM is by far my favourite of any pj members side. But as a band alone they have chemistry thats rare. A unique street level vibe. Organic i would say. I love them . Jeff hates touring with pj so i can't see them doing much more which is sad i never got to see them here in london. But joe come often. I saw brad here that was almost mystical bec i was 17 listening to shame and then as a 40 year old seeing them live surreal. But again it was the stone attention that detracts from the band as  a whole. Well said pj soul

lastexitlondon said:

RNDM is by far my favourite of any pj members side. But as a band alone they have chemistry thats rare. A unique street level vibe. Organic i would say. I love them . Jeff hates touring with pj so i can't see them doing much more which is sad i never got to see them here in london. But joe come often. I saw brad here that was almost mystical bec i was 17 listening to shame and then as a 40 year old seeing them live surreal. But again it was the stone attention that detracts from the band as  a whole. Well said pj soul

Jeff hates touring with PJ? 

Didn't it turn out that Tim Bierman was the mystery bass player?  Or am I imagining that?

I didn’t see where the mystery bass player came from, too enthralled watching Jeff guess, but my husband said that he had seen him earlier working sound/lights further back in the club.  As for the tour, I read a review of the show in The Washington Post, and they quoted Jeff as saying it was fun to do a tour of small clubs, traveling by bus and carrying in boxes of T-shirts. Got the feeling he was enjoying himself. It was just a few weeks before PJ started their Spring 2016 tour. 

JH6056 said:

Didn't it turn out that Tim Bierman was the mystery bass player?  Or am I imagining that?

I thought the mystery bass player was Santos L. Halper