Before The Music Ends: 9.23.09

When is it too much?

What takes a local joe blow from being another guy in a local band to an international rock star is not the amount of bling hanging from his neck, or the number of tattoos on each arm. It's the fans. Without the fans, they are nothing, a bunch of nobodys. But where do they cross that line from being a devoted fan to become more?

Having been in this industry for a while, I've seen all kinds of fans. And depending on who it is, I fit different kinds of fans. However, I had an encounter with some mega uber fans this past weekend that made me rethink the way we define what a "fan" really is. Having scored two second row tickets to the sold out The Killers' show in Las Vegas, we were surrounded by "victims", the most exclusive and most hardcore of fans of this group. Now, I consider myself to be a HUGE fan of The Killers, but I would never pay to join a club that takes your money in return for some sort of validation that you could maybe be of some importance to a group that already makes millions. But hey, thats just me. One girl had the audacity to try to push my sister out of the way because it was her last The Killers' show on her mini tour-- meaning this girl had been going to every single show for the last two weeks, and sadly it was coming to an end. Sorry, little victim, but you're not going to get any sympathy from me; this was my sisters' first Killers concert, and this was my one and only show of their tour. I just simply had more important things, like a life, to do than to blow $1000 bucks to see the same show 10 times.

So, does it make me less of a fan if I'm not out chasing a tour bus or checking my twitter every 2.3 seconds to see if the guys have tweeted their exact location? No. But it makes me think about why I am a fan. Let's face it, the Killers are not known for their existentialist lyrics, but rather far from it (i.e., somebody told me you had a girlfriend that looks like a boyfriend that i had in february of last year... what?? huh??) They are a fun and entertaining group. They put on a hell of a killer show (no pun intended), and I pride myself in knowing that I've seen them develop as artists. Yes, and Brandon Flowers is one sexy mo-fo.

But then I look at myself as a fan of someone like, say, Springsteen. What he stands for, and what he sings about, combined with his talent as a musician and as an artist makes him the ultimate artist to me. Yet, i still wouldn't travel the world to watch him perform the same 1.5 hour long set 17 times. What differentiates me from the "victims" of the music world is that I live for listening to the messages that these people put across, and for the once in a lifetime experience that I get from every tour. Had I seen the Killers the same amount of times as any of those people at the show would have, for me, taken away from the magic that is to see your favorite performer on stage. So, I will apologize to the girl in front of me who was upset I called her ridiculous for twittering every song they performed and for having seen them 8 times in the last week, but, call me a bitch, or call me a snob, music and the performance of it, tends to have somewhat of a bigger significance to me. (I know, I'm going to get a lecture from our wonderful editor in chief, and uber Britney stalker for this one... but we still love him!)

Music for the week:

Two things I am BEYOND obsessed with. One track of the week, and one album of the week.

1) Track of the week is The Bravery's new single, Slow Poison, which makes me just want to wear my tightest skinny jeans, bright red lipstick, and head to the trendiest hipster spot and break out in an 80s dance. Enjoy!

2) Album of the week: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's self titled Debut. Think late 1980s-early 1990s new wave pop-punk-grunge. Think The Smiths, Sleepyhead, and everything in between. New Wave is coming back, or as I call the the second wave. I hope you are all as obsessed with this record as I am!