scene but not herd

The Blues Explosion just don't move me anymore and this statement saddens me quite a bit. Hell, this is the band that I travelled to San Francisco, Seattle, and even Hoboken just to see and now I probably wouldn't bother going to see them again even if the venue was only a block away. There are probably quite a few people who would disagree, but for about 2 or 3 years the Blues Explosion were one of the best live bands, if not the best, playing around. I cannot describe how good they were, but basically everything people cream themselves about nowadays, need I invoke the White Stripes, Hives, etc. again, that was the Blues Explosion 10 years ago, but these same people were too busy fawning over Nirvana or accusing the Blues Explosion of being a "minstrel show" to realize what was passing them by. I love people talking about the absence of a bass player in bands and instantly bringing up the White Stripes. Well the Blues Explosion never had a bass player and neither did other bands Jon Spencer was in like Pussy Galore and the Gibson Bros. As for the "minstrel show" show critique... just get over it. There is no racism involved here. Jon Spencer loves Black music and because he injects a certain irreverence to what he does it doesn't mean disrespect. Has he ripped off Black musicians? Of course, hell, listen to a Rufus Thomas record and you'll hear most of the Blues Explosion shtick right there. Just don't attack Jon Spencer for doing the same stuff that Beck and Jack White have done, but they don't catch any heat because they are critical darlings. The Blues Explosion exposed and championed many musicians that the critics didn't care about, but people seem to forget this. They had R.L. Burnside opening for them as early as 1995 while critics didn't seem to pay much notice of R.L. until that crappy hip hop remix/collaboration album, Come On In, that came out three years later. Any mention of the role the Blues Explosion had in exposing R.L. Burnside to the world? No, instead I have to continuosly hear about Jack White truly tapping into the spirit of the blues. Well, despite the name, the Blues Explosion never claimed to be anything more than a rock band and for awhile they were truly great and I'm simply tired of them being criticized without any mention of their true accomplishments. Garage rock seems to be the buzz word nowadays. 15 to 20 years ago Pussy Galore was capturing the true essence of garage rock, but they won't get any credit for it. 12 years ago the Blues Explosion was blending blues and rockabilly to indie rock in a crazy -ass mix, but they don't get any credit either. I guess I still have some passion for this band and that is why it saddens me to say that I am basically done with them. They're going to have to turn out some really amazing music for them to catch my attention again. The shtick got tired quite a few years ago for me and I really think they need to reinvent themselves. Seeing them live on Tuesday showed me they are still a good live band, but it just wasn't the same for me anymore. This I really can't explain. Maybe it is just the songs. In the past they had some great ones and now there really aren't any that catch my attention. I'm well aware that lyrically the songs were never exceptional, but the music and vibe were amazing and really made you want to move. Oh well, the crowd seemed to enjoy them and I wish them luck in the future because they gave me some great times in the past.