Wish You Were Here Runs the Scene Gamut, But Simon Still Leans Warped Tour
Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide to Your Favorite Music Scenes — from Punk to Indie and Everything in Between really does deliver the goods for every scene discussed in the book. At least for the most part. You get a thorough discussion of D.C. hardcore punk in the 80s, the lowdown on Midwestern emo from the late 90s, a look into rich-kid/not-quite-famous-actor rock in Los Angeles and discussions of seven or so other scenes from around the nation.
Author Leslie Simon brings the knowledge, too. She’s down with Crucial Truth (Florida) and Taking Back Sunday (Long Island, or as she says colloquially Lawn Guyland) alike. To prove her mettle, Simon also dishes out plenty of obscure facts and gossip about nobodies and indie rock superstars as if they were equals.
But if there’s one problem with the book, it’s that she leans more in the direction of Taking Back Sunday and the like. The added attention Simon pays to the Warped Tour set definitely exposes her bias at points (she did spend a good chunk of time as a bigwig at Alternative Press, after all).
And while that may leave some wondering why she devotes more space to Tooth and Nail than Sub Pop when talking Seattle, it doesn’t damage the book irreparably. The fact that Simon knows her stuff across genre lines shines through, even if she does talk a little too much about Underoath.
At the end of the day, Wish You Were Here provides a funny and informative look at the people and places that make local scenes what they are — and that’s something I’m all for. Support your local scene!
