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...A Week in the Life of a Promoter.
12.30.2007 Well, it's only been a few days since the last post, but a lot has happened! I have been to 5 shows in the past week, and 3 of them were in the past two days. On December 22nd, I attended the "Brennan's Christmas Bash". Tailgunner Joe and the Earls of Slander were there, along with Knowing Stu and Soulfound. Holy crap! I was completely sober [I know it's hard for some of you to picture that, but it's true] and I had an effing blast! Most of the regular supporters were there along with some new faces... and that's ALWAYS a good thing. You can check out pics of that show here! Fast forward a week or so to Saturday, December 28th. I headed over to a bar called Big Shots in Clearwater after work, to check out Tailgunner Joe and Soulfound for one last time before saying goodbye to '07! I had never been there before, so it was cool to see billiards, darts, and beer pong tables. Those places are a dying breed. I think I was the only douchebag there in a tie, though... oh well. I felt out of place, but most of my friends were there [and they all know that I don't have to be dressed up to look like a douche, so it was all good]! Soulfound's final show of 2007 was the next night, but I couldn't go to that one because my good friend Aaron bought us a pair of tickets to go see Sevendust and Ten Years at Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg. What a show that was!
Aaron and I hung out at the Tamiami Bar behind Jannus for the first band. We gave them a shot, but we opted for watching part of the Giants / Patriots game instead. We drank some beers and B.S.'ed with the locals there until Ten Years came on. They were good, but I only know a few tunes from them, so we walked back and forth between the show and the game until Sevendust finally went on. I took more videos than pics, so unfortunately there are only a couple on FEN's MySpace page, but videos should be available soon. Anyway, we walked from the bar back to the main venue to try and get closer to the stage as Sevendust was setting up. This was a big mistake. We ended up picking the exact same spot that everyone decided to use for the mosh pit. Luckily, we made friends with the biggest dude there. We immediately got behind him so as to encounter the least amount of excrutiating pain during the show as possible. I'm not the most attractive guy in the world, but I like my teeth where they are... still in my mouth! I've never seen more females in a pit than I did that night, not only at Jannus Landing, but it seemed to be a theme throughout the night as we visited different shows. I'll explain as you read on...
From Jannus Landing, we walked over to State Theater where the usual group of smokers were listeneing to the music from outside like a bunch of exiled criminals, but you can't smoke inside State Theater for some reason, so there's that. I walked up to the guy at the door and asked if Weaksauce had played yet, but as soon as I said that, I recognized the sounds that were coming from beyond the bar inside. The bouncer said that they were almost done playing, and waived us in for FREE. Score! So being that I knew it was the last time I was ever going to see Weaksauce, I weaved my way through the crowd of moshers (there they are again, complete with even more females in the mix), to get closer to the stage. It was hot as hell, and smelled of spilled beer and sweat... AWESOME! Even though their set was "almost over", I got to hear quite a few songs, including "ISW" [one of my favorites]. (If you don't know what "ISW" means, check out their music here). Aaron had yet another show to go to, so I didn't get to stay and party with Weaksauce like I normally do, but I'm sure I'll see those fellas around. I'm glad I was able to make an appearance and show my support. Those guys deserve all the success they have received, and I wish them even more success as individuals as they go their seperate ways. It was a great show, and I saw some hugs and tears in the crowd. They have extremely loyal fans. We'll miss you.
After getting back to the Tampa side, we headed to Pegasus Lounge where a bartender friend of ours was celebrating her birthday. (I used to have a crush on her back in the day when we did open MIC there. She still looks hot...) We didn't get there in time to see a band called Sins of the Father, but we enjoyed some more cold ones as we watched Elysium perform. I noticed yet another group of moshers, but these guys (and again, some females), were doing it a little differently. They were all on rolling chairs, and people were pushing them around throwing them into each other like bumber cars on crack! It was wild, and no one was hurt. It was a crazy ending to a crazy night full of music and good times, but it comes with a price. I'm exhausted and broke, but I'll never forget the memories. It sounds cheesy, but it's true.
Now I know that there are a lot of people out there thinking that promoting is all fun and games, but it's VERY time-consuming, tiring, and expensive trying to be at 3 places at once. Regardless of the adventures we all have together, at the end of the day it's like having a second job. Planning the past week was not easy, and it's heart-breaking when you can't make it to a certain show due to a snag. Some bands/acts take that personally and it takes a lot to regain your loyalty points afterwards. The thing to remember is that it is impossible to make everyone happy all the time. You can only do your best and hope that the effort is asppreciated. It can be a thankless position sometimes, but I think the few nods I receive at the end of a show is completely worth it!
New Year's Eve is tomorrow, and I plan on making even more memories... hopefully I'll be able to remember them all come New Year's Day. Please be safe. I hope you enjoyed reading about a week in the life of a promoter. Happy New Year!
Reader Comments (5)
That was a fun night. Thanks to FEN for the support.
I remember this time of the year and it was very hectic and busy as usual. Such gravity on some of these events... and then there was NYE.
Carry it into '08!!!!!
wow. so drinking, acting *** and listening to music is what being a promoter is all about? sign me up, *******
Wow, this kid must have forgotten to whack off to his mom's cosmo magazines before he came on this site. Grow up... get a life, and lay off the haterade.
you are g@y as regs... "hater"-ade... as in you're drinking some... like gatorade... you are the dumbest f@*k i've ever encountered on the internet.