Classic Grand Shoot & A Couple of Fannies

So nearly two weeks have passed since Attica Rage's Road Dog live set at Classic Grand and I already have a rough edit in the can. The night came off more or less perfectly and featured the band at their absolute best and unlike Hammerfest it was all about the music. No frills, no skanky dancers smeared in make up and no pyro. The night is what it should have been, a 100% celebration of the music. Quite frankly if you missed this one you missed out.

From a filming perspective it came off perfectly despite the chaotic circumstances. What I mean by this is mainly technical problems, but also one of the two fannies mentioned in the title of this post. First of all the technical problems were annoying more than anything and at least one was of my doing. First of all three of my SD cards didn't work. I later found out that I was mis-sold them (thanks ebay) when I bought them. Since they were not the correct classification for DSLR use they were useless to me during the shoot. Now I could have saved myself a helluva lot of problems if I bloody well checked them when I got them. It's silly little mistakes like this that I obsess over and quite frankly I should be beyond making them at this point. Lesson learned, it won't happen again. The other technical problem is general overheating associated with DSLR use. Only one camera was badly effected so I can't complain too much. It could have been worse and quite frankly the footage captured was fantastic. So major praise has to go to Robb, Michael, Craig and Keith for their efforts. You done me proud lads.

Now on to the other problem. When I started this blog, I did it to keep track of my "career" and also maybe give a little insight, and hopefully encouragement to people thinking of going down a similar path. I'm not claiming to be a success by any means. I am struggling to make a living but I hope that my experiences can be something that people can learn from in some way. However, lately I've been getting more personal which is not really what this blog was intended to be about. I'm a critic of people who air their personal feelings and dirty laundry on Facebook etc. yet lately I find myself doing the same. My only excuse is that I've had a rough year but I it doesn't change the fact I'm a hypocrite. That being said the individual I am talking about here does really deserve to be named and shamed. I won't refer to him by name but his actions at the Classic Grand gig were inexcusable.

Basically during the Attica Rage set this individual thought it would be a good idea to head in and out of the pit area as he pleased, getting in the way of my camera guys, causing them to stop filming. First of all when a crew is filming you leave them the hell alone to get on with it. You wouldn't ask the beeb to stop filming at T in the Park. Why should a club gig be any different? Also when a band is playing you leave them to get on with it. You don't plonk yourself down in front of the lead singer and kick his monitor. I had 5 cameras around the stage and not one of them got in the bands way. That's what professionals do, become invisible. The straw that broke the camels back for me was the individual throwing a drink on stage at one of the band members. My crew had a few thousand pounds worth of equipment in operation at the time and much like Mogwai they don't like getting wet. After the gig, I pulled the individual in question up and explained to him that he was being a hindrance to my crew. He instantly went on the defensive and called my crew "a bunch of wankers" and went on to say, "don't you know who I am?". Let me tell you something if someone ever asks this question we are instantly in douche territory. The conversation concluded with him making over the top and outrageous threats. I left the scene of the crime, offended and ready to explode. Now in hind sight I regret pulling him up while he was drunk. Simply put an arsehole + alcohol = a complete arsehole. I'm sure it's Einstein who came up with this formulae. Does his drunken state absolve him of responsibility? No! If you can't handle it then don't do it. The real disheartening thing here is that all I needed from him was to understand my issue and apologise for his behaviour. If the roles were reversed I would do the same. I've been an arse numerous times to some of the people I care about the most but I'm at least able to acknowledge when I'm wrong and make things right. An apology and a handshake goes a long long way.

So from one fanny to another. And this one I will name and shame since I don't know him on a personal level. The individual in question is Phil Lewis of LA Guns. Why has he pissed me off? Well, he decided it would be a good idea to bully my wee bro and mum. From the beginning of the gig in Ivory Blacks he started eye balling my brother who was standing at the railing with my mum. I was a bit worried at this point but dismissed it as a one off occurrence. Shortly after some groupie skanks decided to come down front and bump and grind next to me. Anyone who knows me well should know that I hate drunk women trying to rub up against my dick. Yeah, I have personal space issues. Anyway I decided to move up the back because that wasn't my idea of a good time. Unfortunately, I left my mum and brother to fend for themselves while this moose continued her drunken jiggling. My mum gave her a telling off as the girl was constantly battering in to her. Then Phil Lewis chimes in. He referred to my mum as "Mrs", when she is only 4 years older than him. Just because his mind and fashion sense is stuck in the 80's it doesn't make him still 25. He said, "quite clearly you're not having fun so why don't you do us a favour and leave," and pointed at the skank and said, "she's cool, she's with us." Well if you want your fans to be out their faces and unable to remember your performance (which was shit by the way) then you are welcome to them. You won't be getting any more of my family's money.

In general it was just a crappy gig. The only highlight was that I had a good chat about wrestling with the guitarist from Komatoze, which was awesome. Man I could talk shite about wrestling for days. Off the strength of that conversation Komatoze will probably be seeing some of my money and support in the near future. They certainly are more deserving of it than a middle aged rocker who never had a prime. Enjoy playing to 40 people per night Phil, I've got a feeling you've got plenty more of it ahead. Now of the couple of Fannies I have to say I have more hate for him. At least fanny number one is successful and has earned his right to be arrogant. Phil on the other hand is just another sad, washed up rocker who is stuck in the past. He seems to forget what his role is. As an entertainer it is his job to provide entertainment for the people paying to see the band. It is that simple. He is not better than the fans. In actual fact he is nothing without them. When you turn round and bully people who are paying customers whether they are enjoying the performance or not you are essentially costing yourself money. And quite frankly if they are not enjoying the gig then it's not them that is at fault, it is YOU. I think that sums everything up. Rant over with... until next time.