Primadonna Stories

[Brute666]

After hearing the story about Jello Biafra complaining about his wilted lettuce I thought how funny that some bands/people are so caught up in the whole entertainment industry that they forget that they are just like the rest of us... except maybe they make more money. This weekend I was reminded again at the Opeth show.

Opeth are a Swedish death metal act. Knowing how much the European death metal scene rocks, I figured these guys would be all about the metal but instead they were all about themselves. The club Fitzgerald's has an upstairs and a downstairs that both have stages. The downstairs is usually local acts and smaller national acts. The upstairs is reserved for the bigger acts. Opeth was playing upstairs. A Dallas act called Mudflap were playing downstairs. Mudflap started their set about 30 minutes after Opeth, so Mudflap were playing to about a dozen people since everyone was upstairs. The Mudflap guys never even blinked and started rocking the house for those dozen people. They gave it all the energy they had.

After 3-4 songs the club's management came downstairs to pull the plug. It seems the guys in Opeth were threatening to stop the show because the show downstairs was too loud! I've never heard of a metal band complaining about loud music. Graciously the Mudflap guys turned off their equipment and settled down at the bar for shots and beer until Opeth was ready for them to finish the set. I was astonished to say the least. The club management were very embarassed by the whole thing and set up the guys with a few free drinks. 30-40 minutes later Opeth finished their set and Mudflap went back onstage to finish up the night. Of course by that time they were playing to about 6-8 people since it was so late, but Mudflap still gave it their all for those couple of last songs. They stayed very professional throughout the whole incident... unlike Opeth which acted like they were above the whole thing.

On a side note, Opeth were selling their one color, copy only (no graphics) t-shirts for $25-$35. They were forcing the opening acts to charge the same prices for their t-shirts so they wouldn't undercut Opeth's prices. I don't know if that's standard practice for touring acts but it's the first time I've ever heard of it. All in all I was very disappointed by the whole affair. I had earmarked extra posters for the guys in Opeth... I gave them away to the other bands instead.


Anybody else have primadonna stories? Post them on this thread so we can all have a laugh at the expense of bands who think their shit don't stink.

[philaarts.com]

heh... you leave jello alone :P
he likes his salads dammit.

good story!

i dont have the balls to post my goodies here but when i meet you ask about a glow in the dark poster... great story. oh and a snake poster. ill remember those cues.. heh.

[Brute666]

I'm not worried about pissing off the Opeth guys. If they start shit I'll just turn up my stereo until they leave.

[maynard]

Great story... The music downstairs is too loud? wtf?

I've got a great story about fame gone ary, but Scrojo has that damn restraining order telling me I can't tell it...

[Jeph]

I can't wait until I'm "too cool for the room". I'm looking forward to forgeting about all of you and living the high life.

[standard]

When I met Jeph at Reusch's gallery show, he insisted that I retrieve finger sandwiches and cola for him from the snack table. Needless to say I was chagrined.

[philaarts.com]

you are just bitter you couldnt join the circus cause you messed up that whole 30 midgets getting into one car due to yer j-lo ass

[rockologist]

i actually remember times when i'd be upstairs and i could hear the band downstairs.but what the fuck? that's when you have to 'up' the rock. they're mad because they got outrocked.

[Jeph]

When I met Jeph at Reusch's gallery show, he insisted that I retrieve finger sandwiches and cola for him from the snack table. Needless to say I was chagrined.

Tom was quickly replaced because he brought me "diet" soda.

[philaarts.com]

jeff requires "ham cake" in his rider.