HaikuLou, the fun-loving local music blog that efficiently recaps shows in just three concise lines of Japanese poetry, has written hundreds of snarky show reviews since the spring of 2011. To celebrate hitting 500 reviews on the mile-marker -- that's 8,500 syllables worth of haiku gold, people -- HaikuLou and crew hold an informal meet-up at the Silver Ballroom (4701 Morganford Road; 314-832-9223) tonight. We spoke with the brains of the operation, Jaime Lees (also an RFT Music contributor) and Matt Harnish to get some insight into their interesting meter.
Warning: the following post includes twenty-plus haikus.
See also: HaikuLou Wants You to Commit Your Concert-Going Experiences to Poetry
RFT Music: Five hundred haikus Is a lot of show reviews. How did you do it?
Matt Harnish: I go out a lot And counting syllables beats Talking to people
Jaime Lees: We don't really know We just love going to shows And, like, kickin' it
How many people Contributed since the start? How many were yours?
Harnish: Ms Lees runs the blarg So she has the whos & whats I did a million
Lees: Haven't kept records But guest writers have written maybe twelve percent?
Why choose a haiku? How about a limmerick? That could be fun, too.
Harnish: They're easy to do Conciseness is the key, and They're kinda cliche
Lees: We like it dirty, But limmericks are harder. And... that's what she said.
Any advice for Haiku writers that want to Sell their souls to you?
Harnish: Quit before you start You should see all our hate mail This ruined my life
Lees: Keep your nails pretty Cuz errbody gon see you Counting on fingers
Click through to read Lees and Harnish's top five favorite picks from their website's archive so far.
