I thought that was cool, too. I also think all of us who put ourselves out there as musicians should be prepared for negative press; it just comes with the territory. It hurts to see, of course, especially if it's by someone of influence or whatever, but in the end it's one person's opinion. Knowing he's not just going to gush over everything he sees perhaps helps people take his favorable reviews more seriously. It's great to support local music, but that doesn't have to mean refraining from serious criticism just because a band is local.

And I didn't see it as extra vitriol because of the Weekly association; I saw it as someone seeing a whole bunch of bands specifically because they were all playing a festival together, and perhaps going out on a limb in checking stuff out he might not otherwise. Some of it worked, some didn't.