Obnoxious musicians you've met?

[Bucka001]

p.s. re: Peter Hammill. He posed with a good friend and my friend's 5 year old at NFest for photos and was a totally gracious, friendly guy to both of them.

Attachment 2861

Awesome photo! Yeah, it's weird to think about "Dr Doom" (as Melody Maker once dubbed him in the early 70s), the guy who wrote/performed "Gog/Magog", etc, being a sweetheart of a man, but I've certainly seen it. There is one poster here on PE (can't remember who) who said his little kid sent PH a drawing of the VdGG guys, and that this fan was shocked to see in the mail a reply letter to the fan's kid with PH's own drawings!

Amen!

I tour with actor/musician Gary Sinise's "Lt. Dan Band," and having had close eye witness experience with watching fan behavior for the past 10 years, I thank my lucky stars that I never became famous! He handles the whole thing in a very gracious way, but I've seen him reach his breaking point a couple of times. One time, a guy (who was definitely old enough to know better) marches up on the stage in the middle of a tune and he did it with so much authority that Gary thought maybe he was one of the people in charge of the event. The guy reaches him and yells in his ear, "you've got to meet my wife; she's your biggest fan!" Gary ordered him to immediately get off the stage and I was thinking, "fucking A!"

And you just know that "fan" went around telling people what a jerk Gary S is (and, sadly, some folks now probably think of Gary S as a jerk based on what this tool told them).

[GuitarGeek]

Neil Peart is upfront about not ever wanting to meet fans.

Hell, he even wrote a song about it.

[JKL2000]

Yeah, I always take those reports of rude "celebs" the way I take restaurant reviews online. If someone complains vehemently about the service, and says the waiter forgot about them, etc. chances are either the place was so overcrowded and understaffed the waiter had little choice, or there was something about the customer that made the waiter less than anxious to wait on them.

BTW, I forgot to add Tommy Shaw on my list. I was an innocent bystander (more or less) when the guy I was with basically tailed Tommy's limo all the way through Central Park back to his hotel and shanghaied him outside the entrance. It was kind of obnoxious, though done completely out of admiration for Tommy. Tommy was really gracious, stood there talking for about 10 minutes, posed for photos, accepted copies of a couple of the guy's CDs, etc. I've told this story here before, so what the heck - I'll mention that the guy was Dave Clifford, drummer for the band Red Jasper, and now in those shows that Clive Nolan does. He's a very nice guy, and he'd travelled to NYC from the UK just to see Styx and meet Tommy Shaw, his musical inspiration (for some reason). Tommy could have been freaked out that he'd been followed back to his hotel and roped into hanging out for a while when he probably really wanted to take a piss and have a drink or whatever. Also, there was a large crowd outside the Beacon Theater, and they had basically snuck Tommy out a side door but Dave noticed, and that's when the great chase began.

[Vic2012]

Great post No Pride. I think Gary Senise is a he'll of an actor. Tell him I thought Albino Alligator was a weird film.....

[trurl]

Musicians are often by nature sort of flawed people I've had people tell me I was a real jerk to them at gigs and it's usually because I totally blew them off- I was just completely into what was coming up, thinking about what I had to do and I get tunnel vision. It's something I've really learned to work on. When you interact with a musician at a gig you're basically bugging them at their job. OK, it's part of the job, but sometimes they're just not going to be able to turn on the charm for you. I get that. OTOH, I have a lot of respect for guys like Lemmy that go the extra mile to be cool to all fans at all times.

[klothos]

Sometimes, it's the fan who is obnoxious and when the experienced musician sees it coming, he may get out of dodge, which will infuriate the fan. .

Thanks for the forum personailty check in this thread's earlier misunderstanding. Much appreciated.

On to your quote for continual thread topic conversation purposes:

Im not sure if I entirely agree with this.

Oh, for sure, fans can be obnoxious - I totally agree - but hear me out: When a person makes a conscience decision to choose a career that involves being in the public spotlight, dealing with fans (obnoxious or otherwise), its just a facet of that career. Being a star (in any degree) means dealing with admirers - its just part of the job description. As a Regular Joe person, I can symapthize when Movie Stars or High Profile Rock Stars cant even go to a Subway Sandwich shop without the paparazzi or persons following them around but, on the other hand, they CHOSE what they do as a career...If they dont want the responsibility of dealing with the public, obnoxious, crazed, angry, or otherwise, then perhaps they should consider a different career: I never see Obnoxious Fans or the Paparazzi following a plumber around.

[Bucka001]

Thanks for the forum personailty check in this thread's earlier misunderstanding. Much appreciated.

On to your quote for continual thread topic conversation purposes:

Im not sure if I entirely agree with this.

Oh, for sure, fans can be obnoxious - I totally agree - but hear me out: When a person makes a conscience decision to choose a career that involves being in the public spotlight, dealing with fans (obnoxious or otherwise), its just a facet of that career. Being a star (in any degree) means dealing with admirers - its just part of the job description. As a Regular Joe person, I can symapthize when Movie Stars or High Profile Rock Stars cant even go to a Subway Sandwich shop without the paparazzi or persons following them around but, on the other hand, they CHOSE what they do as a career...If they dont want the responsibility of dealing with the public, obnoxious, crazed, angry, or otherwise, then perhaps they should consider a different career: I never see Obnoxious Fans or the Paparazzi following a plumber around.

The operative word in what I wrote is 'sometimes,' as in sometimes it's the obnoxious fan who is at fault if all doesn't go well between fan and performer. I would think it'd be easy to agree with that!

[klothos]

The operative word in what I wrote is 'sometimes,' as in sometimes it's the obnoxious fan who is at fault if all doesn't go well between fan and performer. I would think it'd be easy to agree with that!

<forehead smack> yup, my bad

[SteveSly]

Regarding Neil Peart, anyone who has read his books can get a real insight on how he perceives fan worship and his difficulty in dealing with that. A lot of musicians that I have met over the years are quite introverted, and it can be difficult for them to deal with a public persona where they are expected to be “on” all the time.

I have a friend who was a professional touring musician for many years (he has since retired from the music biz), and we have had some interesting talks about the nature of being in the spotlight. He said one of the most difficult things that he had to deal with when he was on the road, was that everyone in the audience and backstage were there to have a good time and party while he was there to work. Prior to shows he would seek a place to warm up his fingers and spend some time alone, but was often interrupted by various people (fans, promoters, local crew people etc). It could sometimes make it very difficult for him to prepare himself to actually go out and play, even though these people meant no harm. People always expected him to be ready to party hardy both before, and especially after, his shows. Night after night this became very difficult for him to deal with as he tried to find a balance between living his life on the road, but not running himself into the ground. Sometimes when he did not want to drink or hang out with people, they would conceive it as being “rude” and not being “friendly” and he would sometimes piss people off without even knowing it. At the time he had a facebook site where people would sometimes post extremely nasty things by folks who did not know him at all, but maybe had a 30 second encounter with him somewhere. Some of my conversations with him have been rather eye opening. He has a lot of good stories……..

Steve Sly

[strawberrybrick]

Another story regarding Genesis, and a well-known Chicago music writer of some "stature" who was interviewing him... Banks made a comment about his weight... Not Cool.

Anyway, my very limited experiences with Peter Hammill have all been positive. However, it was a record company executive that made the statement to me, many moons ago when I was much more "green" about meeting musicians.

I should also mention that not many of you fellow PE'ers have met me, yet of the few I've been fortunate enough to become good friends with, dare I say that none of them think me an asshole?

I don't know why anyone gets in a ruffle about posts on PE. It's all conversation, and not very important at that.

[Rune Blackwings]

Jerry Cantrell was not so much rude as he was seemingly hurried.

Most, including Eric Bloom who was rude to me once but was cool the next time I saw him, are pretty cool. Even Dave Brock has his moments.

Some of the best ones: Blasphemer and Apollyon of Aura Noir are friendly and polite. Samoth and Ihsahn are both fan friendly-Samoth even went to get me Trym's autograph. Alan Davey is a cool person.

[Dana5140]

Oh, of course, I know Don Was quite well, since we went to high school together and his dad worked with my mom. Back then he was Don Fagenson, though (Dave Was was David Weiss). I knew Doug Fieger (RIP- the Knack) quite well since we lived 5 houses apart. His brother Geoffrey, who was attorney for Jack Kevorkian, used to bully me. :-) I also forgot I met the members of Oregon. Glen Moore was a prince; the late Colin Walcott was sort of cerebral. Towner was pretty down to earth.

[gryphs also]

The only really jerky musician I've met personally was Canadian Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo. He acted like he was the most important musician of our time and that everyone around him should drop anything they were doing at his request and serve him because of his greatness. My gosh, I'd bet almost all of the people here have never heard of him, but talk about delusions of grandeur.

[jkelman]

OK. Thank you for your input and I'm sorry if I over re-acted. I 'm a little bit tired of anonymous (and not necessarily anonymous) people thinking I'm a urinal on this board because I dare to work with artists for a living.

You should try being media, Steve; we're at the absolute bottom of the music fan totem pole when it comes to respect (not always; I appreciate the folks who read my shit and say kind things, but I see the same kind of generalizations you speak of about media, that somehow we're a different class of person, usually if we don't agree with the person who has decided to post that we're all "the same.").

I feel your pain

[Cats On Glue]

Musicians are often by nature sort of flawed people I've had people tell me I was a real jerk to them at gigs and it's usually because I totally blew them off- I was just completely into what was coming up, thinking about what I had to do and I get tunnel vision. It's something I've really learned to work on. When you interact with a musician at a gig you're basically bugging them at their job. OK, it's part of the job, but sometimes they're just not going to be able to turn on the charm for you. I get that. OTOH, I have a lot of respect for guys like Lemmy that go the extra mile to be cool to all fans at all times.

lemmy is the best ever. theres a guy who truly dedicated his life to rocknroll and lives the life like the way a legend ought to.

[klothos]

lemmy is the best ever. theres a guy who truly dedicated his life to rocknroll and lives the life like the way a legend ought to.

So, Glamour Shots is 'legendary rocknroll' ?

[ThomasKDye]

Being an introvert can often be mistaken for being "rude." And yet, when it comes to making music, you might have SO much to say...

[Trane]

I don't go out of my way to meet-n-greet musicians. They're human, subject to all the human flaws we're subject to. If it happens spontaneously and the musicians don't seem paranoid and uncomfortable I'll gab with them.

Well, if as a teen, I might have been trying to do so, it wasn't a fixation of mine.... and meeting Blackmore in 85 was a permanent cure for that ailment.

Nowadays, when I go to a concert (very rarely above 500 or 600 attendanceà, and I happen to hang around still by the time they come out of backstage (there is no other wayout in Verviers' So66) , rthen maybe...

Ortherwise, most of the musicians I encounter are at festivals when they're selling the merchendises (like in Carmaux or Soignies or Verviers)

[Trane]

So, Glamour Shots is 'legendary rocknroll' ?

Yikessss!!!

This isto be filled in the white trash part of the G'nR thread...

[jake]

Never having met Peter Hammill I must admit to being very wary of doing so - I once saw him in one of the lounges at JFK Airport and immediately my mind went to the lyrics of his song Energy Vampires. Despite the fact I have just about every album he ever released, I didn't approach him.

Hunched in the corner of the dressing-room,
trying to get back to the real...
Uh-oh, here they come, ready for their meal:

Energy Vampires, crawling out of the wall,
they want to steal my vitality,
they want to drink it all.

This guy says that he wrote all my songs,
this girl says she's had my baby –
me, I don't know them from Adam and Eve,
sometimes I really believe I'm going crazy.

"Excuse me while I suck your blood,
excuse me when I phone you,
I've got every one of your records, man,
doesn't that mean I own you?"
Oh, sure, I long ago decided to make myself an exponent
of public possession in the private obsession zone.

But now I'm serious, let's be serious,
I'm not selling you my soul,
try to put it in the records
but I've got to keep my life my own.
One thing I've not got a lot of is time
and it's slipping away...

I've got a life to live too.

Ah, here they come...
Vampires!

[Jerjo]

So, Glamour Shots is 'legendary rocknroll' ?

What has been seen cannot be unseen!

When did Lemmy become Ron Jeremy?

[jake]

Love how they airbrushed his wart out and added it to create a bigger nipple.

[Brian Griffin]

Been lucky enough to meet and spend some time with many of my heroes from my favorite bands, (Yes, Nektar, Strawbs, Gentle Giant)

I can't say that any have been obnoxious in any way

Sure, Steve Howe was pretty short with me but I don't blame him at all - he was on a vacation and I'm sure the last thing he wanted to deal with was an over entusiastic fan who happened to be staying at the same hotel and recognized him

BG

[B D]

That's Howlin' Wolf, sir!

Oh cool, is he prog?

This is certainly an "interesting" thread. Fans can make a performer very uncomfortable sometimes, when they don't treat you like a regular person and/or the artist in question isn't comfortable with exaggerated adulation, especially in front of other people. I once had a guy come up to me after a show and say "Do you realise that this is the first time you've performed in my presence?" and he wasn't trying to be funny either.

BD
www.bdrak.com

[JKL2000]

Oh cool, is he prog?

This is certainly an "interesting" thread. Fans can make a performer very uncomfortable sometimes, when they don't treat you like a regular person and/or the artist in question isn't comfortable with exaggerated adulation, especially in front of other people. I once had a guy come up to me after a show and say "Do you realise that this is the first time you've performed in my presence?" and he wasn't trying to be funny either.

BD
www.bdrak.com

Remember when you were in 5UU's? That was AWESOME!