Arrogant "Rockstar" Bastards

[tannii]

Last night I went to a Grinspoon concert and had the time of my life. I managed to get backstage, basically expecting to meet some really awesome, laid-back Aussie guys. I was a tad pissed off when I met an arrogant mother-*bleep*-er (Phil Jamieson) who hung around for about 5 minutes and then fucked off to some place where fans weren't allowed. The rest of the band were alright, but they treated me like I was really beneath them or something. They acted like they were international rockstars or something.
When I went back outside I met the members of one of the supporting bands, Forte, and they were amazingly nice and down to Earth. At least they took some time out of their busy drinking-and-getting-high schedule to chat with me.
It's shit like this which really makes you think about who deserves how much respect. Grr!

[Miroku]

I dunno about most folks, but a person has to do more than string a few notes together to earn my respect. I might respect their skill, but not necessarily them as a person. I had a physics professor who knew physics inside and out.. but couldn't teach it, and was an ass. I respected his knowledge, but not his teaching ability or him as a person.

At an apartment I used to live at, I had a problem with kids playing on my doorstep.. front side and back.. knocking each other into my windows, and such. One night, I heard a thud out back and went to check. It was my neighbor and some of the local parents chatting. Now..lemme preface this by saying that after I moved away, I learned that that area was considered the projects.. nicer than average, but still the projects. I commented that I was just checking because I had had a problem with the kids playing at my door.

One of the parents, in a good natured manner, went into a speech about how "we don't have no bad kids in this neighborhood." She frequently commented about how, "It's all about respect." Since this diatribe was meant in a friendly manner, rather than confrontational, I simply smiled and nodded.

Of course, I didn't believe a word of it, as the kids were all destined for juvenile hall at the rate they were going. What I really, really, really wanted to say was "Ma'am.. respect is earned, not given."

[Sir_Auron]

Those words should be immortalised in stone, my friend. Very well spoken.

You get those in life who are pretty damn good at something. I know a guy who can skate pretty well. People think he's great for this, the girls bow down to him, which sucks, because he really is an arrogant arse, who doesn't know how to treat girls. He cheats, he lies, and brags. The same goes for Rock Stars.

There are those that are just complete bastards in the first place...Dryden Mitchell, or example. For those who don't know, he's the frontman/vocalist for Alien Ant Farm. Not a very pretty picture has been painted of him in the pages of Kerrang. Now, this is just a few peoples opinions of him, that he is an arrogant arse, and not a very nice guy. Interviewers have said the same for Chad Kroeger. But, because Dryden Mitchell is popular through Alien Ant Farm, as is Chad Kroeger through Nickelback, lots and lots of people like them. Even if they don't know them as a person, they like them. So sometimes it doesn't come down to being a nice person, it comes down to being good at something. My way around this is to not make expectations of people anymore. Problem is, this can't be helped sometimes.

I'm a huge fan of Alkaline Trio, and I respect Matt Skiba for his great song writing and guitaring (respect due to Dan Andriano for his songs and Bass lines too), but for all I know, he could either be a complete cunt, or the nicest guy in the world. Sometimes you can't help hoping that he is that nice guy, that he's cool, because I'd lose a lot of respect for him if I found out he was a cunt. That's the way I am.

Expectations are also extremely high on anyone in the music industry, particularly Rock, to live the "Rock Lifestyle". A band could be amazing, and then be interviewed, and its found out that in their spare time, they don't do go out on drink and drug fuelled nights where they shag groupies and trash hotels. There is a short piece, but that sums it all up, said near the start of the film Almost Famous, by Lester Bangs to the potential Rock Journalist William:

"These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the
genius of the rock stars and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.

They are trying to buy respectability for a form that is gloriously and righteously - dumb! And you're smart enough to know that. And the day it ceases to be dumb is the day it ceases to be real. Right? And then it will just become an Industry of Cool."