I've said this before, but I'll go ahead and say it again. Big name acts who blow through town and collect the check without making nice with the people who can't cough up 70 bucks for a shitty seat or 200 bucks for a nicer, scalped seat are assholes. They are carpetbaggers. The folks who can't cough up the 70 bucks (and let's be honest, even at 70 it's really 140. Who goes to a concert by themselves?) are the same people who keep turning on country radio, who keep buying the CDs, the t-shirts and whatever other crap these guys are shilling.
As a guy who covers music for the local paper, let me mention this. I seldom have any problem with the indie bands who come through on Mountain Stage. Most of them are glad to talk. Hell, coming to town isn't even the main reason they're here. It's entirely for the radio exposure, but they still take the time to speak with the locals a little, let them get to know them. It doesn't hurt to give a little when they're getting a lot more back by simply being here.
I don't get guys like Kenny Chesney or Keith Urban (and now, apparently, Brad Paisley) who comes to town, collects many thousand of bucks directly and a bit more indirectly, but can't talk to a writer from the local paper. They say otherwise, but they're really not that busy. Really, their jobs are a whole lot of waiting around and trying not to get fat.
But that's okay. I've got nothing but time. They don't.
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4 comments:
Maybe they don't want to talk to writers who write things like "I don't get guys...who comes to town, collects many thousand of bucks...".
Maybe it's all a front they secretly like proper grammar.
Sorry...just a joke. You were looking a little lonely over here, Emo.
Damn you, Jay... Damn you to hell...
Maybe it is all a front. Maybe they secretly like proper grammar. They'll find that in short supply, along with good punctuation or lucidity, but maybe they are just money grubbing, self-serving assholes.
Here's something I've noticed over the last 40 years: As a former disk jockey, we used to introduce the big name bands and have them to ourselves (and some lucky contest winners).
Now days, the radio station personnel who promote these bands cant even get close enough to talk to them before the concerts. Occasionally the big star will appear at the station for a self promotion, but no time's wasted and no photos are allowed. These bigger stars have more security and handlers than the President. If there's a contest of some type concerning the concert, it's usually the warm-up band lead singer who participates with the fans, and not the BIG STAR.
This entire affair has turned into the most businesslike, choreographed production imaginable. It's as though you're going to visit your doctor... except that your doctor will eventually see you.
It's really a shame so many of them get that way. You can start to feel they regard the people who buy their music as cattle they deliver to the record label.
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