Category: REFLECTIONS
YouTube is your friend, not your enemy
“We are against YouTube. We don’t like it.”
Those words were uttered by a musician a while ago, and if there had been more time, I would have loved to discuss that further.
Every successful business spends a lot of time and money on understanding their customers. A band or an artist is most definitely a business – and a tough one to be in too. You need to understand the mentality of your customers, i.e the fans.
Unfortunately, many artists seem to be stuck in the 80’s and the 80’s way of thinking. It’s 2013 – the minute you choose to get your ass up on a stage, you will end up on YouTube – if you’re lucky. Even back in the hayday of the glorious movie stars in the 50’s and 60’s they knew that ALL publicity was GOOD publicity.
You’ve got a crowd of a few hundred or a few thousand people with cellphones and built-in cams or little compact cameras with HD-video, in front of you. What’s the smartest thing to do? Thinking of it as a threat or using it to your own benefit? There is an old saying that goes – If you can’t beat them – Join them.
Every smart artist nowadays will do the latter. Even those who were initially against YouTube have now realized that it’s a powerful marketing-tool. If you’re not on YouTube – you simply don’t exist.
The more videos a band has on that thing, the more popular they will seem, because nobody’s gonna waste time and effort filming and sharing a boring, uninteresting band. It’s a compliment that someone has taken time from their concert-experience, to share it with others.
Cause unlike records, a live-experience can’t be copied. You can’t distribute and share the feeling and the buzz of being in a crowd, that true live-experience that people pay tons of money for. The ONE thing that artists today actually CAN make money from, if they know how to do it properly.
So, a fan-filmed YouTube-video should be looked at as a PR-video for the NEXT show a band is gonna do. I’ve had people commenting or e-mailing on my videos, saying that the show I filmed looked so awesome that they’ve decided to go see the band when they’re playing in their town.
Being the one uploading live-vids, I’m not making ANY benefit from it whatsoever. I’ve not made as much as a penny doing that. But the bands – as much as they may be bitching about it (some of them) HAVE.
Most of them are probably even totally unaware of the two or three extra people that bought a ticket to their next show, based on a live clip they saw on YouTube. But those three people may be the ones telling THEIR friends about the kickass band they saw last night! That’s the way it works.
Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P) has always been against cameras at his shows. But a few years ago, at a press-conference at Sweden Rock Festival, he had to admit that there’s no point trying to fight it. Instead, he had chosen to subscribe to the Grateful Dead-way of thinking.
Now THERE’s an interesting band to take a look at from a marketing point of view.
There is too much to say about how they’ve profited BIG TIME on allowing fans to participate in the live-experience of the band. I suggest you Google it, it’s pretty interesting actually.
Grateful Dead were early pioneers of “how to let fans have your music for free and still make a profit”. They even let fans plug right into their soundboards.
To learn more – go check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Lessons-Grateful-Dead-Business/dp/0470900520
What are some of the marketing lessons that businesses can learn from The Grateful Dead?
Brian: The fundamental assumption in almost every band’s business model was that they were going to make their money on album sales. The Grateful Dead rejected that assumption. Their fundamental business model was based on making money from the concerts.Because of that change, there was a cascade of decisions that fell from that. For instance, each concert was completely unique night-after-night, so there was a strong incentive to see them for several nights in a row – this ultimately led to fans following them around the country.
In addition, they allowed their fans to make tapes of the concerts and freely spread them to their fans – the more concerts they played, the more tapes there were, the more people were exposed to the music, the more people paid for concert tickets.
David: The Grateful Dead let their audience define the Grateful Dead experience. Concerts were a happening, a destination where all 20,000 or more audience members were actually part of the experience.
Making fans an equal partner in a mutual journey, the Grateful Dead teaches us that our community defines who we are. In an era of instant communications on Twitter, blogs and the like, we learn that companies cannot force a mindset on their customers.
Not that I’m a big fan of the Grateful Dead, but they definitely knew what they were doing.
Going back to the musician who was saying that he didn’t like YouTube because he had no control over what was being distributed and he couldn’t edit it and such… That’s all just an ego-thing. I understand it, I don’t like people taking pics of me where I look goddamn awful, uploading it to their Facebooks and Instagrams. I have no control over that either. It’s a pain in the ass. But I’m not an artist who has chosen to be looked at/listened to.
If the bands think of YouTube as a threat because they have no control, I don’t see why they don’t simply TAKE control?!
Unless they give people an ALTERNATIVE, people will go to the “unofficial” material, cause there’s nothing else to choose from.
Why not bring someone on tour who’s good at filming and editing – who they can “control” – open a YouTube-channel called XXX On Tour 2013 – watch it here! And put good quality videos up there regularly?
Maybe even take a small fee for letting people download these good quality clips each day? I for one would prefer that anytime, to the crappy iPhone-videos with horrible audio that people upload on YouTube.
I’m far from a pro, but I feel that the least I can do for a band and their fans, is to provide videos with decent audio. At least as decent as you can get with the size and type of cameras you’re allowed to use without getting into trouble with security.
GRASPOP festival did a great thing last year – filming every day, then uploading it within 24 hours – great quality, multi-cam footage! Who’s gonna want to watch something that’s not as good, when there’s the real deal?!
My point is – instead of being uncomfortable with the evolution in social media, USE it wisely and let it work for you. I don’t see the point bitching about something when you’re not providing an alternative.
Being in a band today means you’re up against tough competition. The more you’re seen and heard, the more likely that you’re going to survive – it’s ALL about keeping your name and reputation alive.
YouTube is a big part of that.
Message to bands: Be creative and proactive – YouTube is your friend, not your enemy! :)
Black Sabbath – to VIP or not to VIP?!
Two words: BLACK SABBATH!! The European tour dates were announced today – let’s hope that it happens this time and that Tony Iommi is feeling better and stronger than ever! :))
Tickets go on sale later this week, beginning of next, depending on which show you’re going to, but I went to check out the ticket-options for the shows in Copenhagen and Stockholm…
And there it was again. That thing that has been so common in the States for years, but that we here in Europe luckily have been spared from: Who gets closest to the stage and why.
Here in Europe, it’s simply on a first come-first served basis. Some fans will sleep outside the arena for days, and believe me, if they are such huge fans of a band that they are willing to do that, I don’t have a problem with them being in the front row. It’s only fair.
I’m also pretty much okay with all the various ideas that managements come up with to cash in extra bucks – the VIP packages where you have to pay two months worth of RENT to meet your idol for three minutes and then be thrown out. Very precious minutes, to say the least…
If people are willing to cough up that dough and if they feel it’s worth it, it’s none of my business. It’s their money and it doesn’t affect me in any way.
Some want to buy packages with food or with limited edition merch of all sorts, parking spaces, yadayada…. All good. Doesn’t affect me negatively, whatever people wanna do.
But there is ONE thing that PISSES ME OFF.
When people are being forced to PAY to get in the front row! THAT is NOT okay in my book.
And I discovered that that’s what they’re gonna do for the Sabbath-shows.
“Package 2: You get to come in before the regular ticket holders, and choose your spot (standing).
And for THAT – you pay TWICE as much as the regular price! Instead of 695 SEK, which is very expensive already – you have to cough up over 1500 SEK to get in “first”. What the fuck…???
What it means is that basically, you will have rich people waltzing right in because they CAN, while the real fans who might not have that kind of money, end up behind the wealthy ones. It’s sickening – I can’t find any other expression for it. It’s like John Lennon’s classic comment:
For those of you in the cheap seats I’d like ya to clap your hands to this one. The rest of you can just rattle your jewelry!
Sell expensive seats for all I care – and all that other shit – but leave the STANDING crowd out of it.
I got just as upset in Manchester last year when I went to see Steel Panther. There were two lines opposite eachother, one to the left and one to the right. I didn’t know why, until I saw them open the door on the OTHER side letting in a shitload of people, while the rest of us were stuck where we were.
The shitty part of it? The people in “my” line – the “poor man’s line”, had been standing there for hours freezing their asses off, while that OTHER line had people showing up in the last minute like they just didn’t really give a crap.
I learned that those other people were “VIP members“. You bought some sort of yearly membership and they let you in before everybody else at specific events.
It’s not okay – it just isn’t.
Of all the things bands come up with to make a buck or two nowadays, THAT one thing should be SACRED. Leave the standing front row people out of the greed, please. Give them a fair chance.
Even the “Golden Circle”-thing is okay. You still get to come in at the same time, you’ve just bought the right to be closer to the stage and it wasn’t twice as expensive, it was just a few extra bucks. I can live with that. It’s when it gets extreme and greedy that I feel like I’m gonna throw up.
Bon Jovi charged people 20 000 SEK for the “honor” to sit on the side of the stage for a few minutes – of course being totally ignored by the band, and then get thrown out. Sure, it’s a choice these people made to pay that kind of money, but 20 000?! That is about 8 months worth of RENT for me. It’s pocket change for mr Bongiovi, no doubt, but it sure as fuck isn’t for his FANS.
I’m just grumpy I guess. I can’t stand injustice.
I was super excited about the news that Black Sabbath are going to give it another try, and that I’ll get to see the legendary, ultimate heavy metal band this year.
But it just kills the joy to realize that I will only have two choices: To pay 700 SEK and not see shit (cause I’m too short – if I’m not in the front, I can’t see a thing), or pay up twice as much to get in “before everybody else” (which honestly wouldn’t feel right anyway).
Just ruins the whole experience right there already. It’s not even a sport.
And don’t even get me started on how bad things CAN be with all the “pre-sales” and shit… (see previous Van Halen ticket hell-blog below….).
Guess I’ll just have to smile and cough up the bucks to get the experience. But at least getting angry about it is still FREE….!
Gus G to the Swedish Metal Convention in October
It was announced yesterday:
Gus G will be visiting Malmo, Sweden in October to attend the Swedish Metal Conventon.
Needless to say, considering that I’ve seen this guy all over the freaking GLOBE with either Ozzy or Firewind the past two years, I’m definitely happy about his participation at the convention.
It’s a great event, cause usually top-notch musicians do clinics – but people who aren’t musicians themselves (just fans of their work) may feel misplaced at a clinic.
Then there’s the VIP-meet-and-greet packages, that…. well, never been a fan of those. I absolutely understand the reason behind them, as people are downloading music for free nowadays and it’s more difficult for artists to get paid for their work. Money has to come from somewhere, it’s not free to tour or to make albums. Hence the VIP-packages. But, not something that I would do personally.
The convention however, is open for all metalheads and for the curious. Fans and artists get to meet in a very relaxed atmosphere – eventhough there are enthusiastic and stoked fans standing in long lines to get their CD’s signed, say a few words to the visiting artists or take a photo. :-)
There are still the more niched segments to enjoy at the convention as well – the Q & A, clinics or like last year when Mike Tramp did a very down-to-earth acoustic set in a small conference room. When would you ever get the chance to see something like that elsewhere? :)
Gus is an amazing guitarist and performer, and on top of that also a really nice guy. And as icing on the cake, there will be at least one album-release this year: The Firewind live CD from the 10-year anniversary shows in Athens and Thessaloniki (those were amazing by the way), and maybe – just maybe, also Gus G’s first real solo album. And I KNOW that I’m not the only one looking very much forward to that.
[Gus with OZZY – Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany last year]
But, first thing’s first. Going to Dortmund, Germany to see Firewind at the Rock in den Ruinen festival now in April – and then there’s of course Sweden Rock Festival where you’ll find Firewind on the 4Sound stage (also more known as the classic Zeppelin-stage) stage June 7th (Friday) 13.45 to 14.45.
See you all there!
[From the anniversary show in Thessaloniki back in December where Gus decided to take a dive into the crowd ;P]
Fan or professional
I have a little photo-gallery at this Swedish mini-community, where I uploaded a few pics of some old meetings with random “rock stars”. I tend to get the same question over and over. “How did you get to meet all those legends?”
There’s never just one simple answer to that. If I was to sum it up in just two words, it would be luck and determination.
Some figure that it was through the job that I met all those. Maybe some of them, but I got my job through luck and determination as well.
Some thought I was just some blonde groupie-wannabe (you always get that shit when you’re a girl and you’re hanging with musicians) and I was accused of getting “special treatment” because of it.
I don’t know if I should laugh or get pissed off. Cause if those who said that had ANY idea what I went through to get to say hello to Dio or Steven Tyler or whoever back in the early days….! I remember standing for hours out in the pouring rain outside a stage door cause I wanted to meet Lemmy.
I was freezing my ass off outside Aerosmith’s hotel cause I wanted to meet Joe Perry (and ended up getting royal treatment by Steven Tyler instead. Me and a friend had initially been waiting in the hotel lobby, but back in those days when rock’n’roll was huge, hotel staff used to throw out everybody who weren’t guests at the hotel. Steven felt bad for us and invited us in, telling the staff it was okay and took time to talk to us and sign whatever….).
I’ve been hanging for hours in hotel lobbies, freezing outside of hotels in the middle of the night after shows, and travelled for miles to see some of my favorite bands. No royal or special treatment there, trust me.
Blackie Lawless from W.A.S.P decided that he wanted to invite me on the bus the last Swedish date of the Helldorado tour. The reason? I had been hanging with the guys from the opening act Get Animal and with Chris Holmes during their tour through Scandinavia, and also been front row at every show rocking out.
When Blackie was heading for the bus after the show in Malmo, there were lots of fans standing there waiting for him (including me) and he spotted me – pointed at me and went: “YOU! Come with me!”
I was scared chickenshit, thought he was pissed because I had been taking pictures or something. When a tall guy like Blackie, who isn’t exactly known for being Mr Sunshine, points at you and wants you to come with him, you don’t know WHAT to expect!
I followed him up on the bus and the manager closed the door in all the other fans’ faces. Bam! And there I was, thinking “oh crap… now what?”.
He totally changed his usual angry attitude, smiled and said: “I’ve seen you at every show. You seem to really enjoy the shows. So I thought I would do this. What have you got for me?”
He figured that I wanted something signed, and he was right. He signed everything, smiled, answered a few questions and was just very sweet. I’ve never seen Blackie like that.
So, it’s like every situation has had it’s own story and explanation. But I never got any “special treatment” just because I was a girl.
I used to take time off from school and hang all day outside a venue and watch the activity (I actually still enjoy doing that…) and there was always some bored bus driver or crew-guy who got curious and wanted to know what I was there for. We would end up talking, and a lot of times I would get invited to meet the band before or after the show. I never asked for it. They would offer.
And contrary to popular belief, very few (almost none) treated me like a groupie. I think I only got that shit maybe twice. One of them was David Lee Roth‘s bodyguard and the second one was some tour manager working for Megadeth back in the early 90’s. I got the “what’s in it for me?” crap, but I’d rather walk away than ever stoop to the groupie-level. Not my thing.
[David Lee Roth, not an easy man to get to stand still for two seconds…!]
I think I even had an advantage sometimes for not being just another groupie, which was otherwise extremely common back in the “good old days”.
I remember backstage after a Skid Row show in stockholm, I overheard Sebastian saying to his body guard “Get them out of here...” and nodded at the horde of stoked groupies. I quickly got up and started walking towards the exit. Didn’t want to get humiliated by being thrown out, I could walk myself thankyouverymuch…
Then I heard Sebastian yelling: “DANIELA!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING??”
“But you said…..”
“Not YOU! Get back in here!”
He totally cleared the backstage area but wanted me to stay, and we just spent the evening talking music. That was the only time groupies were not welcome backstage, by the way. Usually there was a whole smorgasbord of them after every show.
[With Sebastian after their opening gig with Guns n Roses in the Globe, Stockholm, 1991]
My point is that I think I distinguished myself a little back then, because I didn’t sleep with bands. Groupies were the big thing in the 80’s or 90’s – kind of part of the whole rock’n’roll dream package.
I was there because I loved their music with all my heart and they knew it. At the same time, I wasn’t a pain in the ass bringing my whole record collection to get it signed, it was totally up to them if they wanted me around or not.
So, the answer to “how did you meet all those?” is – I was determined and lucky. Invested many hours waiting for the artists I wanted to meet.
After I got my job writing about hard rock for Kvällsposten (major Swedish newspaper) in 1988, I could have met all of those by just doing interviews. And a lot of times I did. It just wasn’t the same. And I was torn between my two roles – professional or fan, and I couldn’t get those two roles to co-exist for a very long time.
When I was doing interviews, I felt a responsibility to be a pro, cause I wasn’t representing myself, I was representing a newspaper, a magazine, a radio station or a TV-station. It didn’t feel right to start asking for autographs or telling them how much I admired their music. I would have lost all credibility if I had done that.
So I separated those two roles. But that also felt weird. Once again remembering Skid Row – I had done an interview with them at the hotel in London 1991 (they played Docklands, the time when Sebastian wiped his ass with a newspaper article he didn’t like, in front of a few thousand people…).
After the show, I was among the fans outside the hotel cause I just wanted to be a FAN. Vanessa Warwick, who was working for MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball back in those days) arrived in a taxi, and saw me among the fans. She gave me a puzzled look and I’m sure she didn’t understand why I would be freezing there in the middle of the night, when I had already met the band earlier that day under more professional circumstances.
That was precisely the point. I didn’t want to be “professional” with bands I really liked. I was more comfortable not “being worthy”.
But that was then. We’re talking 20+ years ago. I was young, my attitude was different, well – I was a different person. NOW I don’t think it’s much of a problem being a fan and a professional at the same time. Maybe cause I’m not nearly as starstruck as I used to be.
Things are just way more…”cool” nowadays. :-) In some cases I’ve even been a part of the business longer than some of the bands I meet, so I feel differently about it.
Thank god. It only took me a lifetime to learn how to deal with that stuff.
So – I guess that maybe answers the question I keep getting “How did you meet all those legends?”
I just wanted to. The rest kind of happened by itself. :)
ASSHOLE FANS
Heavy metal is often said to be an outlet for aggression and frustration. That’s spot on, especially if you’re talking about going to live shows. Cause the main thing you need to know about live gigs is that it’s the law of the jungle – survival of the fittest.
And metalheads have definitely embraced the idea of gender equality too – because they don’t give a fuck if you’re a girl, they will gladly punch you, kick you, try to climb on you – whatever it takes to get you to move. Don’t expect being treated like a lady at a rock concert, you’re gonna get the same shit as any guy, if not worse. Take it or leave it.
But having been a rocker all my life, it’s not like I haven’t learned how to deal with these things. Bring it on.
A friend of mine told me about her experience at a Pretty Maids concert in Copenhagen the other night.
[Axl Rose gets pissed at random crowd-assholes: “You’re fucking up other people’s show!”]
“Their fans seem to consist of giant six-foot guys who haven’t been taught by their mothers to behave nicely. I tried to stay upright but the stage was just two inches high and the dude was hanging with his entire weight on me. I know he was aiming for the “little blonde slender lady” at the front cause he thought it would be a piece of cake to get her to move. Well – wrong bitch!
He tried every trick in the book to get me to move and when I fought back he gave me the kind of look that said “if you can’t take the pressure, get the fuck out”. So at some point while he was hung over me, I took the opportunity to lean on the monitor for support, then I reached back, streched and grabbed his family jewels – and TWISTED for all I was worth!
When I turned around his cocky face had vanished and he was staring at me with astonishment and probably pain – and what do you know. He left to find somebody else to bother!
I can accept those who are there to jump, scream and have a good time, but these assholes who are consciously trying to hurt others to give up their spot – THAT I will NOT accept!”
I know the feeling. Things that you would never do in any other situation, you will find yourself doing at a rock concert. And it feels good, because you don’t have to feel bad about it – those assholes are asking for it. I’m sure we’ve all been there. There’s always one or a few of those airheads at every show. To quote Dave Mustaine at a Megadeth concert at the Hard Rock Caf’e in Las Vegas, who pointed at a fan and said: “There is an asshole in every crowd. Guess you just volonteered!”
[Another yell-at-fashole fan incident: Megadeth-Mustaine vs The Laser Kid]
Brings me back to a W.A.S.P concert a few years ago when me and my friend Henny were standing in the front and some drunken tool decided that we had taken “his” spot. He was doing everything to get us to move and he just wouldn’t stop. Henny got pissed off and stomped on his toes with her high heel boots for all she was worth (man, it hurt just to SEE it, I can only imagine how it felt when that this pierced the dude’s toes!).
But he was too high on something to let that stop him, so I found myself doing something I’d never done before (and probably won’t try again) – I thrusted back my head, full force and hit him right in the face. Nice headbutt, it even ached in MY head, I honestly didn’t dare to turn around to see what that did to the dude. Must have broken his nose or kicked out a few teeth, I don’t know. All I know is that after that – the torture stopped!
[Dave Grohl: Hey, you motherfucker in the striped shirt! Get the fuck out of my show right now!]
It’s not like you would EVER do anything like that in ANY other situation. But sometimes it just feels like you have the right to do it.
Some bands have asshole crowds, more than others. Motley Crue is one of those bands. Their audience isn’t exactly the civilized kind – and by that I mean that eventhough there is always pressure in every front-row situation, some people are easier to deal with than others.
Even the Slayer-fans were nicer. It was HELL standing in the Slayer-crowd at Graspop, but two guys actually let me come between them so I could lean on the barricade. Would NEVER happen with any Nikki Sixx-fanatic, that’s for sure.
[Henry Rollins beats up a fan who’s being a pain in the ass]
Whitesnake-fans are great, mostly people who are there to have a good time, sing along, jump or headbang to their favorite songs, whatever, but basically, it’s a cool crowd. You don’t have to worry about being beaten up. The worst assholes don’t listen to Whitesnake. Thank god.
It can be annoying, cause fans who are in the front row have been standing somewhere for hours just to be first in line to secure that front row spot. So when some smelly idiot, who just got in (cause he was busy getting drunk somewhere), starts making trouble, it’s simply not something you are willing to put up with.
I don’t have a problem with fans going wild and crazy at a concert because they love the music. That goes with the territory, go ahead, go nuts, it’s what we’re all here for! But THOSE types whose mission in life is to create trouble, deserve whatever they get!
And just cause I’m a girl doesn’t mean that I don’t have a few tricks up my sleeve. Just TRY to move me..:! In the 27 years I’ve been going to gigs, that has never happened. And believe me – it never will. I don’t care if you’re 6 foot tall and weigh a ton. I ain’t moving.
When I got back from the W.A.S.P shows on the Helldorado tour, I had bruises all over my body. I was green, yellow, purple, black, blue….. At every show there was “one of those” types trying to get me to move. Over my dead body! And well, it wasn’t far from it! :)
[Carries on playing, like a boss…]
Another annoying thing, while I’m at it, is people who are trying to tell you what rock’n’roll is. I’m sorry, but I feel that at this point in my life, I certainly don’t need some little dweeb telling ME what rock’n’roll is!
Like pretty recently, when H.E.A.T played in Malmo, I was in the front taking pics, filming a bit, minding my own business. Suddenly somebody behind me started pulling my hair (wtf?!?!).
When I turned around, there was some chick with a bad “trendy” haircut, glasses and a ruffled blouse (!) yelling: “Come on! Dance! It’s rock’n’roll”.
Oh please. That wasn’t even worth a response. Some chick who is at her first concert this year, is trying to educate me in what to do at a concert?! I overheard her yelling to her friend with her screechy annoying voice “why are they in the front?”. BECAUSE WE GOT HERE BEFORE YOU, bitch!
Nobody was stopping miss Ruffle to get in the front row, stop whining.
[“You just fuckin’ pushed my grump-button!”]
Besides, what people do at a show is nobody’s business, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone else. I was a bit surprised at Bruce Dickinson’s reaction to some fan in the crowd who was texting throughout the whole gig. I mean, yeah okay, might not be overly “rock’n’roll” but the dude paid for his ticket!
Even if he wants to go in there and take a fucking NAP it’s still his business. Paying for a concert ticket doesn’t mean that you are obliged to act a certain way. Again – do whatever you want as long as you’re not bothering somebody else. Pretty much the same rules that apply outside a concert arena.
[“Oh, for fuck’s sake, the man the white shirt, you’ve been texting for the last fucking three songs! You’re a wanker!”]
I’ve been asked a few times how I can experience a show “properly” if I’m standing with a camera in my hands. Well, first of all, I see the show even BETTER through the camera because I can zoom up close with it – kind of like using binoculars at the opera.
Secondly, if I like a band, I want good footage of them as it’s a PR-thing for the band as well to have good quality videos on YouTube as opposed to the awful, crappy cellphone versions with bad audio. Thirdly, I can always go back and re-live my memories anytime I want by watching those videos.
Also, it depends what kind of band it is. If it’s AC/DC it’s just a party and I might want to jump and go wild for a few songs and THEN do the photo-thing. Other bands are more the kind where I’m STUDYING and listening carefully. It’s nedy but after thousands of shows, you just get a little less nuts at gigs, as you’ve seen so much already.
It’s harder to get the same kind of kicks that you did back when you were a teen. I experience live gigs differently. Firewind for instance, that I’ve seen a million times now – I still find little bits and pieces in their music that I haven’t noticed before and it’s just a cool feeling to “suddenly” discover that eventhough you’ve heard the songs so many times before.
Live and let live. Go to shows, get wild, have a good time, sing along, do your headbanging or your jumping, whatever makes you feel good – or be a nerd and be just a spectator (even if you want to text people or update your Twitter or Facebook-status during the show) go the fuck ahead! It’s 2013 and the rules for how to behave at a rock concert have changed. And if you’re one of those “complimentary assholes”, you’re only going to get what you deserve….!
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 