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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: michaelicious on 07 Dec 2009, 07:36
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What do you guys think of this practice in general? Is it a weird thing to do?
I am going to see Julie Doiron on the 17th and I want to bring her a present. I don't know what to bring her, though. I was thinking of maybe baking her some cookies or something simple like that. Does anybody have suggestions?
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it's only weird if you're all like 'omg i love you have my babies oh btw here's some cookies I made you *nervous laugh*'
if you're just like 'hey i like your music here's some cookies' then it ok
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I've done it quite a lot over the years. Some bands appreciate booze, some prefer bottled water. Some like cookies, some like weed. Some like cookies with weed in them. Once I brought a band towels and thick socks based on my own personal estimation from reading a tour blog before the show. That particular gift was received so warmly that at one point there were honestly tears involved. I think a band coming to play in your town or city is a big deal (even if you had to travel as far or further) so I consider this kind of thing to be admirable.
The trick is to not make the gift seem like some kind of bartering device. Don't look like you're hustling. Give whatever it is you have brought at an appropriate moment and make a polite departure. Hanging around can make you seem like a weirdo, unless prompted to do so.
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Probably works best with earnest musicians who enjoy touring and do it for a living, and bands who don't have fervent cult fanbases, which would be most of them I suppose. I guess it just depends on the individual band.
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I've had fans show up to shows and give us baked goods; general consensus was that if we didn't know the person, we weren't eating the food. (This weekend it was caramel corn from a very odd, very persistent woman). Warm socks and towels is super thoughtful.
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Yeah, food is kind of a gray area, it would either really be appreciated, or really looked at askance. I think it would work better if you were either known at the venue so somebody "official" could vouch for you, or if it was a really intimate show with just a few people where you could share with the audience a little as well as the band.
I think the idea of a gift, though, is just fine, but darned if I can think of anything that would work without knowing particulars about the band and what they might like.
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I gave Owen Ashworth (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone) a copy of my book of short stories recently, which was possibly a bit pretentious but my thinking was that I love the stories he told, so I thought it'd be nice to give him some of mine as a token of appreciation because just buying stuff from the merch desk is a bit impersonal (I bought a t-shirt, too. I'm wearing it now). I didn't hang around afterwards.
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The nicest I've done is letting them crash at my place. There were enough couches for everyone and they even got to take a shower in the morning.
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I guess it depends on the group. If they're known for being friendly with fans or not, etc. I know for a fact The Flaming Lips have fans who give presents all the time.
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My friend Tom gave Jeff Rosenstock from Bomb the Music Industry! a tiny acoustic guitar, I think it was made for a baby or something but it was playable. Jeff loved it and gave him a bunch of free CDs and drawings, and he played a couple of songs with it during the show (thanks to special mic placement). It was pretty good.
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The nicest I've done is letting them crash at my place. There were enough couches for everyone and they even got to take a shower in the morning.
One person I played in a band with never spent a night in a hotel room when she was on tour. Not all of us live such charmed lives as she, but this is a big thing.
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I had the keyboard player from Mephiskapheles crash on my futon. As this was the days before cell phones were really common, the next day the local radio station was interviewing a couple of the band members and they were all "Well, if we can find Brian, we're gonna..."
And he was all "Aw fuck, maybe I should call the hotel."
Oh wait... this is is the 'gifts for bands' not 'stories about band members' thread. Hmmmm... I bought a couple of the guys in Murphy's Law drinks at the 930 one night. I guess that's not quite a gift. I was going to say I took Bryan Beller and Kira Small out to dinner, but then I realized I didn't actually pay for their food. I should probably send some gifts out to some of the musicians I know, given the holiday's and what not. Perhaps it will un-humbug my Christmas hating ass.
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I saw Everybody Out! in a record store on Chris Sweeney's birthday. Someone baked him a cake, which he decided to pass amongst the crowd.
It was pretty tasty.
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I gave Casper from Efterklang a pack of cigarettes once. He doesn't smoke so he passed it on to someone in the crowd.