This past weekend, Dan Deacon played a show at the Masquerade in Atlanta that ended…poorly. The club cut him off mid-set, and mild chaos ensued. Deacon fans were livid at the club, but the DJs who were scheduled afterward said that Deacon and Co. (and the opening band) went over their allotted time. Now you may think that cutting off Dan Deacon for a DJ is a bad idea, but there are schedule times for a reason, and I tend to think that everybody deserves their shot. (That’s why I don’t run a club.) I’d be willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt over the Masquerade’s management, but his Athens show was also two hours late in getting set up as well. You can read a few sides to the story here and here.
Still, slow set-up times are one thing. Show cancellations are another thing altogether.
I’ve been following the saga of Crystal Castles‘ Dallas show over at Gorilla Vs. Bear (now picked up by Pitchfork). The band allegedly kicked its opener, VEGA, off the bill for “stealing equipment” and then canceled a sold-out show because the Granada’s soundsystem was somehow inadequate. (It has hosted shows by bigger electronic-y bands like Animal Collective.) The band’s publicist has leveled a few snarky protests, but to me this seems like a pretty clear-cut case of assholery.
The above evidence may be anecdotal, but it dovetails with what I’ve seen as a rising tide of jerkiness in the last few years. Plenty of other stories are out there. At SXSW, I heard a horror story or two regarding “superstar behavior” from a certain iPod-endorsed band that just signed to a major label. Actually successful band Peter, Bjorn, and John treated their big showcase with maximum dismissiveness, noodling around on their instruments after starting way late.
As a publicist, I noticed a growing sense of entitlement that was inversely proportional with success. More and more small-timers demanded more things without being willing to pay for them. Expectations started to get way out of whack, seemingly driven by a few blogger success stories (thanks a million, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!). There was a lot of “If that band gets to be successful, then why can’t we?” I also heard an increasing amount of crazy stories from the road. Some friends of mine played Baltimore and actually had a local dance-punk act set up on the floor right before their set and start playing because they didn’t want to wait until their headlining slot! Some guy in a band that rhymes with Fretty And Lice actually called my then-wife the “c-word” onstage! My friends who work at clubs tell me a story a week about prima-donna behavior. (Many involve Kings of Leon.)
What happened to people acting like professionals? What happened to indie rock ethics and punk ethos and karma and all that? What happened to being grateful that you have fans lined up to see you? What happened to the “show must go on?” You are Crystal freaking Castles. You don’t get to call off shows because of a sound system.
Now, I’m not one for false nostalgia. I’ve read Get In The Van. I’ve heard Damon Che and James Brown stories. I know that jerks have always been here and always will. Most of the artists I’ve dealt with have been total sweethearts, but there is always going to be some jerkwad out there. I heard some crazy Ray Charles stories from a former bassist of his. Membership in Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band was like being in a cult. The problem I have is this: those guys or Bob Dylan or Elvis or even Stephin Merritt earned their right to be jerks. (Phil Spector, however, went way beyond those bounds; nobody earns the right to kill somebody.) I don’t think that Dan Deacon or Crystal Castles or whoever has the career to back up their “Do you know who I am?” behavior. A band might be a Pitchfork Best New Music designate, but the answer to that question may still be “Huh?”
My theory is this: the incessant Internet chatter has made mini-celebrities of even the smallest bands, and this has emboldened this kind of behavior and created this sort of entitlement. Most musicians have some measure of egotism or narcissism, now matter how self-effacing or humble they may seem. Getting up on stage and playing your silly love songs requires it; you have to believe that what you are doing is worth somebody else’s time. This kind of breathless fawning, no matter how small, strokes these egos, and artists start to believe their own hype. More breathless press outlets than ever before lead to more entitled jerks than ever before.
And perhaps a lot of this bad behavior is just a function of this increased publicity, and the corresponding faster news cycle. Someone gets a bad vibe at a show and then it’s Twittered and then it’s on blogs and then it’s on Pitchfork. I heard that Dan Deacon apologized to his audience for the lateness, and he’s always been cool about doing all-ages shows. But the word gets out there that he’s consistently late setting up and that’s what sticks.
Am I hypocritical to give people like someone like Dylan a pass over someone like Crystal Castles? Should there be some sort of sales/quality/influence litmus test for being able to act like a jerk? Am I crazy for thinking that people are more and more acting like entitled jerks?
Crystal Castles Vs. Dallas [Gorilla Vs. Bear]
Crystal Castles Dallas Shitstorm [Pitchfork]
What had happened was… Dan Deacon + Preston Craig = adorable chaos [Creative Loafing]
So…About Last Night [Kiss Atlanta]
[Pic via zzzed]
well, no one’s gonna care about crystal castles in two years, so they’ll get theirs…
Some friends of mine played Baltimore and actually had a local dance-punk act set up on the floor right before their set and start playing because they didn’t want to wait until their headlining slot!
haha dying to know who pulled this shit, although i have a few guesses
The story about your friends band in Baltimore gives me the hate shakes. Had it happened to the band I play in, it would’ve been one of those times they were happy to have a big, crazy dude in their band. Equipment and faces would’ve been smashed.
The Dan Deacon show here in Philadelphia was delayed by about 2 hours as well. They must really be having a lot of problems with this 15 piece band malarky. I’m gonna go ahead and blame it on the fact that they’re using biodiesel on the tour. Biodiesel must not be working out logistically, especially since he put out an offer to fans to get free tickets if they brought him fuel.
@eriq78: word.
Just look at their(Crystal Castles) album cover. It screams “delusions of grandeur” to me.
@duffmyers: I have tickets for the Troubadour show. This info is good to know…so the start time of the show itself is delayed, or is the delay between the opening act and Dan Deacon actually starting his set?
passion pit dude seems to have a similar ego. i had some friends that went to see them in oklahoma and dude was a no show. apparently he hadn’t contacted the club or anything, just simply not shown up.
@MayhemintheHood: Keep the “hate shakes” meme going. I want to be known for something in this lifetime! Haha. But, yeah, man, can you believe that? I’ve tried to explain to people why that sucks so bad, and they don’t get it. To me, it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!
Clubs have curfews to abide by, simple as that. Why should they get in trouble for the sake of a few neon teenagers?
If Dan Deacon thinks 12:05 is bad, wait until he gets to Chicago where the curfew is 10.
@Al Shipley: I’m checking on this and will get back to you. I don’t mind that name getting out there.
I can be a jerk, too!
good post lucas
if deacon is always late setting up it’s kind of lazy and immature, but crystal castles have a huge reputation for being dicks and on one hand i feel bad for the ppl who paid for that show but on the other hand it’s crystal castles
@Weezy F Baby: Wow. That’s just not what you do. And the problem is that it bespeaks an attitude that it’s okay to be that way, that you won’t be harmed by acting like that. Most small-time artists would call because they don’t want to hurt their careers and future gigs in that club/town.
@duffmyers:
Biodiesel has a nasty habit of congealing in fuel lines and intake manifolds if the temperature drops outside while the engine is off or not idling. I don’t think it’s been cold enough in the Northeast to get to that level of mechanical issue (it was in the mid-30s in Boston, for example), but who knows. It’s also possible that whoever did the conversion job on the bus made a hash of things, as is always sometimes the possibility.
@MayhemintheHood, @Lucas Jensen:
I missed the comment about “hate shakes” the first time around, but that’s an amazing description that I will be stealing for personal use immediately. And here’s to being the big guy in a room full of skinny dance-punk fans. I may not fit into any of the shirts at the merch table, but bartenders will always see me first.
he was probably stuck in a whole foods harassing employees about whole milk kefir.
such a prick.
Forgive me, I’m a little slow.
1) Who is the band you are referring to that was recently in an ipod ad?
2) Who rhymes with “Fretty and Lice”
Also, I’m always in favor of Dan Deacon being turned off.
@Weezy F Baby: passion pit was supposed to play a show up here and canceled the entire canadian leg of their tour like 2 days before the show. my friend that booked the show said its the second time he’s done that in montreal alone
On the flip side, did any of you see the documentary on pitchfork.tv that Titus Andronicus made about traveling across the nation to open up for Ted Leo? I don’t think I’ve ever felt so bad for a band. I’d love to hear that they’re of a small-to-non-existent ego, as that video made me fall in love with them.
For the record, I didn’t mean for this to turn into Dan Deacon 2 Minutes Hate, but I figure dude is big enough to take it either way. These things are out there in the public realm now, so I’m just reporting. Like I said, he apologized a lot at the Athens show.
@TheRunningboard7: Their interviews are hilarious.
@2ironic4u: I’ll just say it: Chairlift and Pretty + Nice.
Also: I feel a little bit like a hypocrite for calling people out for being jerks and then writing snarky posts for a music blog. I am aware of this dilemma. Sigh.
Screw Crystal Castles. Between them stealing someone else’s art and this shit, I’m completely turned off. I’m totally on Luke’s wave here: independent artists should be thankful for support, especially a flavor of the month like Crystal Crapholes (ho-ah!).
As for the other Dylan, Merrit, Beefheart stuff, I don’t think they don’t get a pass either. Sure, they’ve created some crucial stuff, but if you’re playing a venue to an audience, you’re AN ENTERTAINER. Show up on time — it’s your job.
Scene-wise, by the way, Dan Deacon is the new ’90s emo, just in neon and happier.
I’ll throw one more hypothesis into the mix: Is it possible there’s an element of the old urban-studies “Broken Windows theory” at work here?
Said theory states that small-scale cosmetic damage in a neighborhood in decline quickly descends into murder and mayhem, as local troublemakers get the idea that the place is on the way out, so anything is acceptable.
The entire music business, from major down to micro-indie, is screwed right now. No one’s going to get rich by being either professional or a selfish douche. So why should anyone behave professionally?
To go into music as a career in the 21st Century means you have already consigned yourself to even-more-likely poverty than it did 10 or 20 years ago. So why should you show up on time, be nice to “the little people,” or do anything considerate for anyone at all?
This dovetails with but doesn’t replace any of your theories, particularly the idea that certain people are born with this sort of selfishness and some are not. But my mini-theory would explain why it seems worse lately, even with people at the low end of the fame totem pole.
@goldsounds: An important aspect of the careers of previous notable jerks like Ray Charles and James Brown was their professionalism. They played hundreds of dates a year, even with raging drug habits! When I hear about some indie folks who whine about the sound system at one (sold out!) show of the 50 they’re doing that year…well, it’s Hate Shakes™ time!
@Chris Molanphy: Chris, great points there. It’s because of intelligent comments like this that you get paid the big mind-bucks by me.
Disclaimer: mind-bucks are not real money.
@goldsounds: Don’t say that. A friend got me a ticket for his show here next week. Maybe I should just stick by the bar.
I have nothing to add, except that this was a really great post Lucas.
As always a pleasure to read your posts, Lucas. And, personally, I’d like every word you wrote from “What happened to people acting like professionals?” to “More breathless press outlets than ever before lead to more entitled jerks than ever before” re-posted everywhere. (I’ll start with my own humble little blog.)
Can’t argue with your theories. Kudos to Chris Molanphy as well.
@Al Shipley Al, the band was The Death Set!
@Chris Molanphy
“To go into music as a career in the 21st Century means you have already consigned yourself to even-more-likely poverty than it did 10 or 20 years ago. So why should you show up on time, be nice to “the little people,” or do anything considerate for anyone at all?”
Your premise is fine but the conclusion makes no sense. I think the current situation would result in the exact opposite behavior. New artists getting involved in the music “business” know the money isn’t there like it used to be, and no one’s going to get rich so why would they start their careers by being assholes? That’s not going to endear them to the fans who they need to directly support them. They may never get rich but they need to be able to survive.
The people getting involved with music as a career right now would be more in it for the music and wouldn’t be looking down on their fans as “the little people”. If you start out as an asshole, their aren’t going to be any “little people”.
I do love a bit of gossip. More of this please!
I’ve played in bands for many years, the jerk factor is pretty consistent. I would say, Lucas, that you have just had your attention momentarily drawn to it. I hope so, coz if arseholery is on the rise then I’m in trouble…
I say nice guys don’t get press, Lucas, and you are proving me right.
Please prove me wrong by writing a post titled: ‘Muso’s With Manners’ Guys who ask, then rock.
@civvie That’s actually not a bad idea, really. Bands doing nice things for fans, people, charities, etc. Why give the press to Crystal Castles if they are gonna be jerks?