I had a great talk with a friend of mine last night about the tattoo I have on my left shoulder. It's a court jester that a great tattoo artist named Damien helped design for me. Damien has since moved to Amsterdam, last I heard.

Anyway, the question was "why a court jester"? There are two reasons for my court jester and it's all about the attitude I hope to have taken in life.

When I first encountered seeing a court jester in an old black and white movie, I was enthralled at how talented this guy was and how he made his living. I grew up a preacher's kid and I came to a realization that as God is the King, I have to have a role in the Kingdom. As a guy who loves to sing and listen to and write music, the best role I could think of was the court jester. Court jesters, according to history, were entertainers for kings. They may have played music, danced, told jokes, juggled, or done all sorts of things to please and entertain their king. Granted, I can't juggle and I probably jiggle more than actually dance these days.

As I grew older and really started performing music and getting into bands as a young adult, I realized that I was still in the role of a court jester, just in a more direct way with people. Taking the stage and singing my songs and other people's songs was a blast for me, but I realized that it was really an escape for those listening just as music has always been an escape for me.

While it takes a certain ego or confidence to perform on a stage, I never thought of it as something that was more important than what people do in the every day jobs that make the world turn. I've never taken myself so seriously that I thought that being on stage entitled me to anything at all. I never thought that being on stage gave me position to change the world. I'm just a guy who loves music and loves to sing and entertain. Maybe that's why I don't listen to a lot of bands with "messages" as I never felt that self-importance in being a singer on a stage. Also, playing in bars and clubs isn't exactly the best place to preach any sort of message anyway. Nobody comes to a party to get depressed or be reminded of their doldrums that they deal with all week long. There is no reason I should be doing that to people who expect me to entertain them. I wasn't the evening news anchor. I was just a singer in a band.

The audience is the king. I'm just the court jester. As a former singer, I was just the guy paid to entertain the king. As a current promoter/booking agent/event coordinator, I'm just putting together shows for the king to be entertained.

I still look at things that way. I put together S&S Entertainment as a vehicle to entertain. While I'm much too old and out of shape to be out performing with any regularity, I still am turned on by music. If I can have a vehicle to put together shows I want to see, then I can still take part in something I'm passionate about.

Part of the reason I bring this up is that my friend said a lot of bands and musicians don't think that way. For many of the musicians he knows, it's all about stroking their own ego instead of that of their audience. These musicians he knows think they deserve some sort of guarantee as if performing is an equivalent to an hourly day job. They feel that even if only 5 people show up to their show that there should be a guarantee of payment like a real job. Entertainment doesn't provide electricity to someone's home. Entertainment doesn't raise crops for food. Entertainment doesn't save lives, feed people, or change the world. Even the Beatles and Elvis didn't change the world or the course countries have taken.

I think we have a great lineup booked for the Iowa Band Beach Jam and I haven't heard a "diva" word from any of them about playing for their audience.

The great thing about the Iowa Band Beach Jam is that all of the bands have agreed to play for a percentage of the show. This means that they really get to find out their worth and the value of promoting a show. It's like we were all taught as kids that "the more you put into something, the more you get out of it". There are no guarantees in life and with the music business being as saturated as it is, there are fewer guarantees than ever.

The Iowa music scene is fast becoming like that of the east and west coasts where bands have to guarantee a certain amount of tickets sold before they can take the stage. We aren't there, yet, but with the flooding, smoking ban, high gas prices, and the overall economy, club owners are getting stretched thin and most are going with strict door deals for bands. Some are even charging for their room and the sound guy and even taking a percentage for booking the show.
It's getting tough out there!

I know I've written about it before, but a local/regional band is really only worth what they can draw at $5 a head. Of course, if it's a national or international act, then you can price tickets higher, but that works for very few local and regional bands. Most local and regional acts don't have a big enough following to justify some of the guarantees they ask clubs to pony up.

The bands we have booked "get it". They know that you as the audience are king and they are the court jesters brought in to entertain you. They know they are fortunate to have your support and they value that support. They also hope you keep supporting them and purchase tickets to see them, support the clubs that book them, and purchase their merchandise. When they ask for guarantees, you know that they are working their backsides off to put people through the door of the clubs to justify those guarantees.

I hope you enjoy the Iowa Band Beach Jam and the other shows S&S Entertainment has booked. We are fortunate to work with great bands and great people! Thank you for the support you have shown and continue to show as S&S Entertainment tries to bring you the best shows possible simply for your entertainment. We are your court jesters. You are our king.

Saturday 6/21/08

 

The Black Mollys just returned from a successful tour of the UK a few weeks ago with Ireland's Million Dollar Reload (M$R).  I'd been anxious to see what the US leg of this tour was going to be like.  Seeing as I had booked them to play Shooter's Hideaway in Des Moines for June 22^nd, when I heard they were going to be in Waterloo on the 21^st, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to see them at this additional stop.

 

The American Screamin' Eagle in Waterloo was hopping Saturday night!  People were just flowing in constantly.  This is a great club in a great location and they had to be at their maximum capacity much of the evening.  The Black Mollys were on their home turf as this marked a return for their hometown musician hero, Tory.

 

My buddy Brad joined me for the trip to Waterloo.  We pulled in and saw the tour bus out front, parked, and went up and knocked on the door.  We were let in and got to see Randi, Tory, and be introduced to a few of the guys in Million Dollar Reload.  Everyone was in great spirits and humor.  It really seemed like The Black Mollys picked a great band to tour with and everyone was getting along as if they'd toured together for much longer.  The jokes, one-liners, and cracks were flying back and forth.  This was the third night of the tour and everyone was excited to be playing for Tory's friends and family.

 

When M$R found out I was promoting the show the next day in Des Moines, the joke was that I'd come out to see them just in case I needed to pull the plug on the show the next day.  I told them my expectations were high so they'd better have come out to play!

 

By the time we got inside, the show had already started.

 

Reverie kicked things off.  This power trio from Chicago was rocking out a tight set as I heard only the last couple of songs.  They sure sounded a bit different from their My Space site and I was pleasantly surprised and anxious to hear the full set when they hit Des Moines the next day.

 

I have to be honest that the band I was looking forward to seeing the most was M$R.  While I'm into a lot of different music, the stuff that really reaches into me is in the vein of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, and about every other hard rockin' type of band with hooks that uses a Gibson guitar and a raspy vocal.  M$R fit that bill in the 5 songs they have on their My Space site.

 

In spite of having lofty expectations, Million Dollar Reload blew me away!  Kicking things off with Fire Your Guns and then immediately going right into Goodnight New York not only got me excited and singing along, but turned the heads of everyone in the place!  It was great turning around and seeing faces light up and people turning to each other pointing at the band and giving the thumbs up.

 

Million Dollar Reload rocked through GNR's It's So Easy part way through their set and finished up with Aerosmith's Draw The Line.  It was great hearing their influences played as their own songs reflect these.  M$R had no trouble getting people to connect with their humor and their music.

 

Phil, with his thick Irish accent, teased the crowd and told them Tory must be full of it because this crowd wasn't as loud as he said.  Of course, this got everyone even rowdier.  Phil teased them and they responded with a huge roar of approval for these Irish lads asking M$R to play one more song.

 

As M$R walked off the stage, I told them the Des Moines show was still on!  These guys were awesome!

 

Since all 3 bands were using the same backline, it wasn't long before The Black Mollys hit the stage.

 

Kicking things off with Every Other Day, The Black Mollys had a large part of the crowd push toward the stage.  Tory used the night to put on a more intimate show by using naming friends and family and even helping to celebrate a friend's marriage from that day.  Most everyone knew the lyrics to Erica, I Don't Think So, Complaining, and all the rest.  It was really a great site to be able to look around and see so many people singing along, not just to the choruses, but to the verses and they even knew where the breaks in the songs were.  Tory was having a blast, Stephen was feeding off of that energy as he was rocking out all night.  Randi pounded the skins with precision and was grinning while tossing sticks out to people down front.  Tory was giving away a lot of Jager items.

 

During Rock Whore, they broke things down to the two chord rhythm and started singing other songs for a few bars.  Amy Winehouse, Loverboy, and others were thrown in for familiar measure.  They pulled up Dan from LyinHeart to play the beat for a bit in this breakdown and then pulled up the groom to play for a bit.  Tory turned over his guitar to a couple of friends during this breakdown as he had everyone singing along to the Rock Whore chorus.

 

The Black Mollys finished up with the classic Sweet Caroline.  Everyone was standing and singing along clear to the back of the club.  This was not the end, though.

 

Tory called up M$R to join him on stage.  Four of the members of M$R jumped up with Tory to rock through Whole Lotta Rosie.  The place went nuts!  Singing, shouting, and just grooving along to this interband jam.  Phil's voice really has that AC/DC raspy sound and I think a lot of people were just waiting to hear him belt out an AC/DC song.  Tory played the leads and they all rocked it out.

 

Brad and I got to hang with the band on the bus and outside the bus as the night air felt great.  Seeing the off stage interaction between the members of M$R and The Black Mollys was hilarious!  These guys get along great.  Brian, of M$R, does impressions of them all and of Steven Adler.  I found out that these guys played for Steven Adler on one of his UK tours.  Phil and Brian were digging on each other outside the bus and at one point Phil jumped up on Brian and this scene cracked us all up.

 

As the night wore on, Randi and Phil were going to be sleeping on the bus so I was asked to play the part of tour manager for a moment and get everyone off the bus.  That was actually kind of fun in a weird way.  It was about 3:15am when Brad and I finally headed back to Des Moines.

 

I was excited, impressed, and could hardly wait to see who turned up in Des Moines to catch this show!  I can't wait until the fall tour in October!

 

Sunday 6/22/08

 

I was a complete nervous wreck.  I'd gotten about 4 hours of sleep at the most and was running on an empty stomach.  I had a house to clean up in case I had a guest stay over.  I had some number crunching to do for ticket sales.  I was freaking out mostly because my money was on the line for booking The Black Mollys and Million Dollar Reload on their Illegal Immigrant tour stop at Shooter's Hideaway.

 

I arrived at Shooter's just a couple minutes after 3pm.  I felt bad because I'd hoped to show up at least 15 minutes early, but I wasn't the only one running late.  Paul, the owner of Shooter's was stepping out of his house when I called him so I didn't feel so bad.  The bands were hanging around outside the club visiting and having some fun on this beautiful day.

 

I asked a friend from work to assist as help to the bands and introduced him to them.  I let them know he was there to work for them that day and they were grateful to have any extra set of hands they could get.

 

Paul showed up and we started getting equipment loaded in.  We were working with a total of 2 backlines and 3 drum kits, so the changeovers between bands weren't supposed to be too long.  It was a great setup.

 

I was nervous and checking out ticket sales constantly as my partner in S&S Entertainment took care of the door.  These bands are so good and I really wanted a good turnout.  Being a Sunday and having friends and bands say they were going to show up, but not buying advance tickets doesn't exactly make a person quit sweating when their dollars are on the line.  The Howling Sons had sold several tickets and that helped.  They had a list of several that were coming.  I'd sold several myself and had a list of some that were coming.  I was crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

 

Reverie kicked things off about 5:30pm.  We were running 30 minutes behind, but trying to provide time for more people to show up and it seemed to start off kind of scarce.  Reverie put on a rousing set.  They are doing this tour for fun and to get their name out a bit more.  These guys are great, they play a tight set or original songs and it was great to hear them throw in some Jimi Hendrix!

 

The Howling Sons are from Des Moines and were really excited about playing this show.  The bassist, Phil, has been friends with Tory of The Black Mollys since 1990.  I was pleasantly surprised by The Howling Sons.  Phil plays in a local band called MotoGrind and he had described them as pretty heavy, but had told me The Howling Sons were more along the lines of The Black Mollys.  The aggressive rhythm guitar in some of the songs had more of a punk vibe and just a good solid rock sound.  The melodies on some of the songs were instantly catchy.  This was only their second performance, but these guys are going to be playing Des Moines and getting better known very soon.

 

By the time Million Dollar Reload was about to go on, I was much more relaxed.  While a lot of friends and bands had said they'd come out and didn't, there were a lot of people that did and some that surprised me.  We were at a very comfortable place with all the numbers and I could finally relax.  I had told the guys in the bands that I didn't really expect more than about 50-60 people to come out on a Sunday to a club that's usually closed.  We actually exceeded my expectations!  Our counter had 92 people on it and I'm sure we missed a small few and there were more that came in during The Black Mollys set after we stopped taking money at the door.

 

All evening, I was playing MC just to introduce the bands.  I could hardly wait to introduce my new friends in M$R!

 

Million Dollar Reload kicked it off with the same songs as the night before, Fire Your Guns and my personal favorite, Goodnight New York.  I had chided M$R the night before about the missing falsetto lines at the end of Goodnight New York and teased that I'd jump up on stage and do it myself.  They told me I was more than welcome, so at the end of the song, I did the three lines "Good night tonight New York" and couldn't stop grinning after I hopped off the stage!  I GOT TO SEE BACKGROUND VOCALS ON THE STAGE WITH M$R!!  What a rush!

 

M$R extended their set because I told them they could play as long as they like and even suggested hearing You Can't Stop Me From Flying, the first song I'd ever heard by them when I first visited their My Space.  WOW!!  These guys rocked the dynamics of that song live like they do on the CD!  Dynamics really show where the band is at on a professional level and these guys blew me away!  They even said they were doing the song because I asked them to.  I have to point that out because it just feels great to have made some cool new friends.

 

With the extended playing time, M$R also pulled out a cover of The Cult's She Sells Sanctuary.  My friend Richard is a huge fan and that made his entire week just hearing someone cover that song.

 

Right before they kicked into their last song, Phil said, "We have one more song for you."  I said, "Two"?  And he just grinned, pointed at me and said, "No, just one."  These guys have a great sense of humor and love the interplay with their audience.  They left everyone satisfied with their brand of swagger and rock n roll.

 

The Black Mollys have played Shooter's Hideaway before and this was a bigger audience for them than they had last time around and they are a better live, in my opinion, than last time.  This is due to having Stephen Allen a part of the band.  Musically, the band has always been tight, but I think Stephen's energy and passion for playing really add a great dimension for them live as the level of excitement just seems several steps higher.

 

The set was similar to the list the night before, kicking off with Every Other Day.  These guys are so spot on with their timing, the rhythms, and their banter with the audience.  Tory is a brilliant and under-credited guitar player.  While the songs don't call for Tory to really show his playing off that often, when he does you get a hint of what he is truly capable of.  For Tory, though, it's all about the songs.  I can't tell you how many times at their shows, and several times again last night, that people commented on how catchy the songs are and how easy it is to find yourself singing along by the time the second chorus comes around.  The lyrics are full of irony and wit and wonderfully crafted to keep your attention throughout.

 

I'm a real fan of the little rhythm breaks that add nuance to the songs.  You can hear the impeccable timing of each of them as Randi keeps the beat.  Randi is a powerful player and spot on with the rhythms.  Watching him interact with Stephen and Tory, as they know every square inch of the songs, you see them wordlessly connect on every stop/start moment and every break and breakdown.  Randi is the heartbeat of the songs, while Tory is the soul, and Stephen is the connection between the two as he keeps the rhythms and adds to the melodies of the music.

 

Brian James, KGGO's program director, was out for both M$R and The Black Mollys.  When The Black Mollys took the stage, it didn't take long for Brian and his friends to move up to the front of the stage.  Brian became a huge fan of the band last night so I introduced him to everyone and they made sure he got a copy of their music.  It would be great to have KGGO involved next time The Black Mollys come around!

 

The Black Mollys ended the set with Rock "Hoore" (think Irish pronunciation), and had everyone singing along as they threw in bits of Amy Winehouse during the breakdown, followed by everyone's favorite sing-a-long, Sweet Caroline.  It was really cool seeing everyone down front getting into the performances and singing along.  Even the few that were still in their seats were singing along, too.

 

With about a hundred people rocking out, singing along, and really having a great time with the show that S&S Entertainment was fortunate enough to bring into Des Moines, I gotta say it was a great feeling!  I can't express my thanks enough to everyone that came out and rocked out with Reverie, The Howling Sons, Million Dollar Reload, and The Black Mollys.  It's great to see people supporting the work that S&S Entertainment is trying to do to bring together local and national (even international!) acts in Des Moines, IA.

 

I hung out with the bands until about 4am laughing and even talking politics!  Everyone was so cool, comfortable in their own skin, had a great sense of humor, and really seemed to bond well together.  It's great to see The Black Mollys with such great support in their special guests, Million Dollar Reload.

 

Check out both of these bands on My Space and get ahold of their music!  That's what it's all about, isn't it?

 Stay tuned for more S&S Entertainment shows coming soon!

I just had a great conversation with a friend who has a great business mind and knows this area better than me. He brought up a couple of things that just sounded downright hilarious, but the guy is probably right and I'm sure there are people that actually think this way.

Recently, one of Des Moines' best area bands played a club that charged a measely $3 cover charge. I heard this club rarely charges a cover but has started to in order to keep the riff raff out. That's not a bad thing. Sometimes you have to find ways to raise your clientelle so that you can attract people who will spend more money in your business. It's all about the bottom line.

Anyway, there were actually people turning away from the door due to a freakin' $3 cover charge! Can you believe that? I was told that it is more important to some people to be able to afford that one extra beer than to pay for the entertainment the club is trying to bring to the place! HOLY FREAKIN' COW!!

Now, first of all, I'm not a drinker. I could care less about one extra beer. My life is actually a full one and getting drunk just gets in the way of that. Getting drunk isn't important in any way, shape or form to me. I'd rather have all of my faculties and I can't stand the idea of letting a drink inhibit me. Of course, that's just my opinion. I think the brain is much more important, I guess.

Secondly, I can't imagine for a moment shorting a club for bringing live entertainment! As a former band member, I'd think people with that mindset are idiots to leave my show.

My band was great and well worth the cover charge even if it was as much as five whole dollars! That was over a dozen years ago!

The band that played this particular club is a great band and very entertaining! When you have to pay just under $10 to see a 90 minute movie, what is a freakin' $3-$5 to pay for 4 hours of music and an entertaining show? Is it really that important to squeeze one or two more beers out for that amount? Are you going to have more fun sipping on a drink or listening and interacting with a band?

I've put liquids in my body before and it's never done for me what music has.

Just having one or two less beers is so freakin' important that you can't pay a small cover charge to support the local music scene?

Are things so bad in a person's life that an extra drink or two is somehow more important than live music? More important that supporting the live music scene?

I hope there aren't any band member that think like this. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot! I love it when I see band members at other band's shows.

That's support! That's some real solidarity and those are people you gotta love working with! Shoot, I've seen bar owners and managers in other people's clubs showing support for the live music scene!

I hope all of you are music fans that don't mind spending a few bucks on a band. I hope all of you have that as a priority over an extra beer or two.

I also hope you convince others to get their heads on straight.

It's more important to support the local music scene! Priorities, people! Otherwise, you're going to keep the scene from growing! Music is AWESOME! Live music is AWESOME!

Support the scene!

WOW!!