BABY BANDS AND BAD VENUE PARENTING
Rock and Roll has taught me a lot but parenting has taught me more…
I remember about 15 yrs ago Motörhead rolled into town and quickly rolled off again when the venue they were booked at tried to pull a fast one on them. They didn’t stand around complaining to get their way. They loaded out, got on the bus, maybe flipped a stiff middle digit then rock-n-rolled onto the next town.
This past weekend Creem Circus rolled up to the Brighton Bar in Asbury Park (on time, I might add), loaded onto the stage (billed 1st out of 4, but that’s cool), set up for sound check and quietly waited for the soundman.
Enter dude in Rob Zombie cowboy hat (really? In 2016?) and that’s when things went bad. He came in and started yelling that his band was moved from 2nd spot to dead last (also know as “the clean-up spot” after everyone as gone home). He got pissed and said his band was leaving in protest. I though “lame hat, but bad-ass move…fight the power brother!” But then he came back in!!! He started crying and belly aching, in an attempt to change the lineup and put the second band on last!
Then, of course the second band started whining!
Meanwhile Creem Circus, including Mr. Jim Cara, our trained attack dog, watched quietly from the sideline (good dog, good boy, no barking boy!). Rob Zombie hat got on the phone to the promoter and after a full hour worked it out and change the order. Here’s how they fixed it:
CREEM CIRCUS GOES ON LAST!!!
We could not believe what had just transpired. We followed all the rules of the venue, we were all set to sound check and they told us to load off and wait around till 1am while these cry-babies played their sets. The venue’s answer to the problem was make this loud-mouth happy by punishing the band that played it cool the whole time.
Needless to say we loaded off the stage and back into our cars and rolled out of that town.
Funny how the guy in the Rob Zombie hat who thought he was the second coming of Lemmy Kilmister cried like a baby to get his way while the dudes in the women’s clothing drove off like real men!
Actually, there is a little more to the story. Before we rolled, I found my self scolding Rob Zombie hat and his 6’4″ bandmate like they were 10yr olds. They had a chance, I told them, to make their statement and leave with their self respect intact, but instead dropped their dirty diaper in the laps of the innocent. They tried to argue it was the venue but I railed into them about dignity and how they need to treat others with the respect they feel they deserve (you know, all that parenting 101 stuff you learn by the time your kid turns five).
It was pretty brutal. They were not expecting the guy with the John Waters mustache to school them!
Rock and Roll has taught me a lot but parenting has taught me more. You WILL get grounded if you cross Creem Circus!!