Exceptional douche-baggery

So I stopped into Smith's Olde Bar tonight because it was "Americana" night of the Atlantis music festival. If you know me, you know I love Americana and am a devotee of local music so it seemed perfect. I wasn't there long, but I did get to hear one great band, Missy Gossip and the Secret Keepers. I think they're probably keepers..hehehe..yeah, I'm punny. Sorry I missed the Beggar's Guild, love those guys, but they were on at 10.30 and I was still at the theater factory.

While I think the Atlantis Music Conference is a great thing, giving local and regional band priority in the "good" rooms, there was a bizarre phenomenon I witnessed tonight. EVERYONE was wearing a douch-ey lanyard with an AMC lammie. DUDE! Seriously. It should have been called the Middle Georgia Douchebag Conference. If you are wearing a lanyard at a club gig, you MIGHT be douchebag. Keep the lammie in your pocket and use it for entrance to the events. I think it's great that we has this music festival that goes out of its way to make local musicians feel like rock stars, but just damn. It would be a good thing to know the guys who actually do the work find that the lanyards get in the way of DOING THEIR WORK. Where I work (a MAJOR venue) I am required to have my laminated, RF chip embedded badge on me at all times. But you won't find me wearing it on a lanyard. I did that for tooooo long (yep, I'm guilty of douchebaggery in my past, but never in an f'in BAR) and that shit just gets in my way. You know, what with the falling over my shoulder, etc, getting caught up in the electrical tie in...If you simply must wear it all the time, get thyself one of those little clippy do-dads (I have one!) and clip to your belt loop or the hem of your shirt. If I wasn't required to display it at all times, I'd put the damn thing in my pocket, except that I really need the little RF chip to work so that I can actually enter the building.

Don't get me wrong, kids. I have an entire collections of lanyards and lammies and I keep them hanging in my kitchen as an "interesting item". I've got 'em from v-Dosc, D&B Acoustics, Meyer Sound, Midas, Blue Collar TV, Big Night Out, Turner Studios (actually, that's the ONLY place I wear it because I can't get into craft services without it), Gospel Music Network, and numerous swag festivals that never amounted to a tumbleweed of cat hair. But I just keep those because my mom thinks they're cool.

And just so you know, you indie kids out there, a lanyard REALLY interferes with the visual impact of your ironic t-shit, I mean t-shirt.

I'll leave you guys with this one...How many indie rock kids from Athens, GA does it take to change a lightbulb? What! You don't know!

Love, peace and lotsa hair grease.

A retraction.

Back in the summer, I wrote a post asking people to log onto Radio Free Texas and vote for this band. I've changed my mind. Don't do it. In fact, if you can go there and retract your vote, do it. Three of these four men are absolutely despicable creatures. The frontman is a drama queen who likes to involve himself in everyone else's business like a 14 year old high school girl and tends to talk in lyrics. He thinks this makes him "deep". The bass player is a sociopath who will burst out screaming at people for no apparent reason and has familiar relationships that would bring Jerry Springer to his knees. He thinks this makes him "quirky".The drummer has been cheating on his wife for god knows how long and even took his paramour home to his parents house over the holidays. He thinks this makes him "independent".

So kids, consider this a retraction. There are too many good, hardworking bands out there that actually deserve your support. These guys are not one of them.