Actually, that’s kind of depressing.

Colin Newman of Wire on their visit to Calgary for Sled Island. I think it’s awesome that they had a great time. I for one would have loved to have seen them but the thing that gets me about this article is this line:

It’s a phenomenon quite unknown to me. I mean, in general, Wire gets positive critical responses. I’d say 80 percent of critical responses to Wire are positive, so it’s not an unusual thing that people like it and think it’s good. But it’s not common for us to reach the kind of level where you go to a city and feel like you actually “did it.”

That’s pretty depressing. Maybe it’s just me but in my head, there are 4 pivotal bands that I would point to and say “These four bands, these are the ones that informed everything I like. These are the bands that helped influence every band I like and in turn influenced me.” I may have come across them at different times and not recognized it initially but going back, I see the influence. Those bands? Wire, Gang Of Four, Mission Of Burma and Killing Joke. To me those bands kind of set the bar. It’s disheartening to think that they aren’t adored everywhere.