Saying hello to the main band?

[LITTLEWING]

Is it a done thing to search out the band you're supporting at a venue to introduce yourselves? Here's what happened Friday.....

Turned up on time at venue before soundcheck. I saw the singer mooching around and said hi to him and had a quick chat to the drummer who appeared next. Had a laugh with both guys about pronouncing Scottish place names where they were due on their 'tour'. Great, friendly and warm. Both disappeared somewhere behind stage/venue while we sound checked.

Time soon came, went on and did our 35 minutes. Nice, good reception.

Main band eventually went on. Punky Clash/Ramones middle aged bunch, sounded amazing.

Towards the end, singer thanked us by name and then amazingly SLATED US ROYALLY in front of everybody for being rude and not going to say hello to them!!!!

So what should we have done? Only second time we'd played there, had no idea there was a green room. Suppose we'd burst in to their cosy little snug and be told to F off/who do think you are etc? 

Apparently the rest of the band were quite embarrassed for him for being a small penis with an inferiority complex. Shame, I thought they were otherwise bloody brilliant, powerful and sounded great.

[stingrayPete1977]

The sister of our guitarist is a world class violinist/mandolin player, she did the Adele tour and was told not to talk to her or look at her if she saw her outside of the dressing rooms. Singers and egos.

[Doctor J]

6 minutes ago, LITTLEWING said:

Towards the end, singer thanked us by name and then amazingly SLATED US ROYALLY in front of everybody for being rude and not going to say hello to them!!!!

Sir Richard Head III move. If he was upset he could have had it out with you in person. Calling it out from the stage is utterly pathetic. What a tit.

[T-Bay]

Grade A plonker, don’t stress over it.

[Cato]

Guy sounds like a total Rooster.

I knew a guy who worked backstage at the old Academy in Birmingham  (the one that used to be the Hummingbird).

He told me that certain bands specifically requested that the staff didn't talk them. He once said something along the lines of 'sorry mate' to the singer from quite a famous American band when they happened to be passing in a narrow backstage corridor before a show and the guy just completely blanked him, despite the fact they both had to turn sideways to get past each other.

[rogerstodge]

It is the bitchiest business to be in.. believe me..

[skidder652003]

Hilarious, life is way too short!

[Frank Blank]

28 minutes ago, LITTLEWING said:

Towards the end, singer thanked us by name and then amazingly SLATED US ROYALLY in front of everybody for being rude and not going to say hello to them!!!!

I would have found the MF afterwards and spoilt his day royally in whatever manner came to mind.

[Lozz196]

Sounds like the type of chap who needs an audience for everything he does, probably hires people to applaud when he does the washing up. Idiots like that, they`re looking for effect for a reason - you guys were probably a lot better than he thought you were going to be, and in his mind he was jonny bigbollox that night, so you needed bringing down a peg or two.

[skankdelvar]

Apropos of nothing though still in the field of entitled 'Artistes' one of the funniest out-takes I've seen was actor Ed Harris throwing a complete hissy fit during the filming of The Rock because a tech walked into his eye-line and took him 'out of character'.

Considering Ed was playing the part of a deranged General trying to lob cruise missiles at San Francisco you'd have thought he could have skipped the method-acting bit and just pretended to be a deranged General trying to lob cruise missiles at San Francisco.

Edited February 4, 2018 by skankdelvar

[JimBobTTD]

How odd. They find it rude that you did not say hello to them. Did they say hello to you? Nope. 

[lojo]

If the guys in the main band are friendly , just focus on enjoying those developing friendships and let the singer say the same thing every gig , he'll soon start to look like more of a tit in their eyes each time 

[FinnDave]

When I was working in television (1980-96) there was an unwritten rule (actually, it might have been a written rule) that staff did not approach talent they weren't working with. On the other hand, almost all of the talent I did work with were delightful company. There were one or two newsreaders who thought themselves above talking to the staff, but others, such as Moira Stuart, more than made up for that by being absolutely delightful company at any time.

[Yank]

That'll teach you for trying to shag his girlfriend.

[Beedster]

10 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Apropos of nothing though still in the field of entitled 'Artistes' one of the funniest out-takes I've seen was actor Ed Harris throwing a complete hissy fit during the filming of The Rock because a tech walked into his eye-line and took him 'out of character'.

Considering Ed was playing the part of a deranged General trying to lob cruise missiles at San Francisco you'd have thought he could have skipped the method-acting bit and just pretended to be a deranged General trying to lob cruise missiles at San Francisco.

Reminds me of the famous Hoffman/Olivier conversation, in which Sir Larry, after apparently listening to Dustin drone on for hours about Method, offered "You should try acting my dear, it's so much easier"

[Monkey Steve]

In my experience there isn't any particular rule about this - some bands like to hang out, some don't (and apropos of bands not wanting anybody to speak to them, a mate of mine was working doing fencing at a festival and had to put one up so that nobody could see Rammstein walking between their dressing room and the stage...then had to take it down after their performance for the next day's headliners, Iron Maiden, who far from hiding from everybody wanted to hang out and put on a BBQ and handed out beers), but it tends to be up to the headliners to set the tone

Without knowing exactly what went on, it does sound a bit like the headliners wanting to a put a better than anticipated support act in their place - I've seen/had it a couple of times, nice to your face, then snidey comments to the crowd to reestablish their position.

[Frank Blank]

Having worked in the music world for fifteen odd years (as a tech rather than a musician) I found that bands on their way up tended to be the ones full of themselves, the vast majority of the big names (in my limited experience) were cool.  Behaviour like this is also facilitated by the obsequious sycophants that surround them. My career as a driver/tech/roadie was an interesting period, I have been thrown off tours (once in the middle of the US) for speaking my mind yet also my services were requested sometimes precisely because I was straight about things. Generally I suppose a-holes remain that way, cool folk remain that way regardless of the level of success or the business they are in.

[borntohang]

26 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

In my experience there isn't any particular rule about this - some bands like to hang out, some don't (and apropos of bands not wanting anybody to speak to them, a mate of mine was working doing fencing at a festival and had to put one up so that nobody could see Rammstein walking between their dressing room and the stage...then had to take it down after their performance for the next day's headliners, Iron Maiden, who far from hiding from everybody wanted to hang out and put on a BBQ and handed out beers), but it tends to be up to the headliners to set the tone

Without knowing exactly what went on, it does sound a bit like the headliners wanting to a put a better than anticipated support act in their place - I've seen/had it a couple of times, nice to your face, then snidey comments to the crowd to reestablish their position.

As a member of a band who also wear ridiculous costumes I'm with Rammstein on this one. I always think of it as a bit like wearing a tuxedo - it feels great when you put it on in your room, and it'll feel great again when you're at the event, but you tend to feel a bit of tit wearing it on the bus there.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Big_Stu]

51 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

................ I found that bands on their way up tended to be the ones full of themselves, the vast majority of the big names (in my limited experience) were cool.  ........ Generally I suppose a-holes remain that way, cool folk remain that way regardless of the level of success or the business they are in.

Yeah, pretty much this.

I'm surprised about Adele; up until now the only "big" name I've had a negative reaction from was ironically enough Micky Moody. Though I've been assured by several who know him that something must have just happened prior as he's normally a great guy.

[stingrayPete1977]

The Adele one surprised me tbh, the violinist was only doing it to fill a gap while her regular guy was having a break, She's back on world tour now front of stage!

[borntohang]

I can see how megastars like Adele have to put a 'no contact' clause up. First couple of times people want to chat to you it's fine - but after the fifteenth person wanting you to ring their mum and do a verse of Chasing Pavements down the phone you're probably pretty tired of it so you say no, and then they get upset because you were OK with the previous fourteen people asking you for it and go tell everyone you're a beach.

Eventually you figure you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and institute the "no speaky unless spoken to" ban so they'll leave you alone. Then you go slowly mad through isolation, build a theme park in your back garden, invite a bunch of pre-teens for sleepovers, and your nose falls off.

It's a weird business.

Edited February 5, 2018 by borntohang

[Monkey Steve]

4 minutes ago, borntohang said:

I can see how megastars like Adele have to put a 'no contact' clause up. First couple of times people want to chat to you it's fine - but after the fifteenth person wanting you to ring their mum and do a verse of Chasing Pavements down the phone you're probably pretty tired of it so you say no, and then they get upset because you were OK with the previous fourteen people asking you for it and go tell everyone you're a beach.

Eventually you figure you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and institute the "no speaky unless spoken to" ban so they'll leave you alone. Then you go slowly mad through isolation, build a theme park in your back garden, invite a bunch of pre-teens for sleepovers, and your nose falls off.

It's a weird business.

I can see it from that perspective (though I've no idea if Adele is one that sells the "backstage experience" to her fans for a bag of cash, don't want to devalue the product by letting just anybody talk to them) and from another perspective I recall that, I think it's Miles Kennedy from Alter Bridge/Slash, who does his best not to speak very much on gig days - won't do interviews for instance - because he sings better if he rests his voice all day.  All that seems fair enough

But back to the OP, it would be like Adele going on stage and complaining to the crowd that all her musicians are miserable because none of them will talk to her

[Grangur]

My guess is the OP's band would have got a slagging off for something, anything, whatever they'd done.

By contrast. Mrs G and I went to see Imelda May at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge. Mrs G went off to the usual place, as one does and Imelda May was next in the queue for a cubicle. I'm sure there MUST be facilities backstage, but I guess some folks like to mingle with normal humans.

Mind you, I guess they can also have one way of dealing with the public and another for support artists/bands.

[Bolo]

18 hours ago, LITTLEWING said:

Is it a done thing to search out the band you're supporting at a venue to introduce yourselves?

In my experience, yes it is. You are all in it making a night out for the audience. Have a chat, make sure you're not all covering the same song etc.

 

Needless to say that singer's a buttmunch for the public dressing down. Have an issue? Resolve it with those involved.