Sunday, November 6, 2011
Crickets / Music Danzig successfully bums out Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest
Posted by Kevin Warwick on Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 11:59 AM
I'm in Austin right now, mostly on vacation. Over the past couple of days, I've been hitting up Fun Fun Fun Fest to check out, among many others, Hot Snakes, the Murder City Devils, the Damned, Major Lazer, Thee Oh Sees, Big Freedia, Ty Segall, the Heartless Bastards, and the fuckin' Danzig Legacy, who played a headlining set on Friday that should have ruled.
But as some of you may have heard, Danzig's set was a debacle. He started 45 minutes late, bitched and moaned throughout, and basically screwed the crowd over by barely playing any Misfits songs—the park hosting the fest has a 10 PM curfew, so the organizers understandably had to cut him off. I really just felt sorry for Doyle, who got all gussied up in his Misfits getup to only play a pair of songs.
Needless to say, it was a wild scene. Danzig stood on stage for about ten minutes after the sound got cut, trying to incite something, I guess. It should come as no surprise that Danzig's an eccentric nut (almost in an endearing way), but Friday's festivities were just ridiculous, and mind-boggling, and ultimately sad.
I could try to do the evening justice, but luckily one of the fest's organizers broke it down in a lengthy comment on the fest's Facebook page. Check it out after the jump:
Hi. I book the fest. Those that are hating could NOT be more wrong. Yes, someone has your money and ripped you off. His name is Glenn. Stop by his house in LA with some kitty litter in trade for your refund, but we still had to pay him and he didn't deserve it after what he pulled. Here is how it went down...check the timeline:
-glenn flies in this morning and says he has a cold and doesn't want feel like playing the show. he demands french onion soup and vitamins brought to his hotel suite. he wants to soup now and wants it hot. we get it.
-glenn says it's freezing in austin and he can't go on. says it's going to be 28 degrees tonight and he won't perform (keep in mind, it's currently 71 and sunny with a night forecast of maybe 50+). he says we have to move the show/festival inside if we want him to play (obviously, that's not possible).
-we rent stage heaters (no other bands, public enemy, mcd, passion pit, etc need or want heaters on stage...it's warm up there and not cold out) for glenn per demand, as well as bring in an onsite doctor to make him happy and be there if his cold doesn't go away.
-agents and managers assure us he's going to play now.
-glenn's band/crew arrive before him in the afternoon and load gear. they said it all works, they get up the danzig banner, check lights, are happy.
-glenn arrives at 7:45 (half hour before showtime, they go on at 8:15 exactly and have a 90 min set...park curfew by the city/police is 10pm sharp)...when he arrives, he says he's not going to play. says he doesn't like how the banners are hung on stage and doesn't like the lighting or stage size (all this was advanced in email and phone well in advance and the band/crew loaded in mid day and were happy with it and said it would work...stage wasn't small at all). he wouldn't leave his trailer to go look at the stage, though, so the lighting company drew up specs for him to look at of the stage lighting 50 feet from his trailer and brought it to him to look over and prove him wrong.
-in the meantime, glenn's bodyguard gets pushy (literally) with murder city devils manager and tells them they can't have their friends watch MCD from stage and wants them to cut their set. kicks them off stage and gets physical with the band and stafff....oh, also danzig says he's just as big as slayer and slayer is playing a bigger stage on sunday and that's bullshit and wants to play the same stage slayer is playing...or won't play. makes him look bad.
-it's now 8:15 and time for them to go on. the band is ready, corpse make ups done, guitars tunes. glenn says he's not playing and that it's too cold outside. he said big stages should have windscreen so wind can't blow on him from the side. the stage managers then goes and gets tarps and tarp the entire side of the stage so now wind will hit him.
-it's now 8:40. we explain that it's cutting into the set and he's going to have cut the 90 min set if he doesn't play soon, as park curfew is 10. he says he doesn't feel like playing. says "i got a deathbug. if i go on stage and get sick, i'll die. i'm not getting sicker for this show" (NOTE: he totally looks and seems fine...no coughing, no paleness, no vomiting, just some balding and a gut, from what i can tell). we get the Dr and he says he can do a b12 shot or anything he needs if he feels bad...danzig says he only treats illnesses naturally, so won't do that. we finally get him to agree to play and have already informed his crew that it's only 60 mins (9pm at this point) and they start cutting some songs from the set list, so they can still do misfits, but obviously didn't cut enough.
-they went on almost and hour late due to the HANDS DOWN biggest rock star moment we've ever dealt with and then he tries to start a riot and blames the fest, the city, the cops and everyone, but himself. goes backstage and tries to fight a few ppl and get in the van and leaves.
the end....
we're bummed to. we wanted to hear Skulls.
Thankfully, the Damned did the right thing and poked fun at Danzig throughout their entire set on Saturday. Shit, it was hilarious.
Comments (25)
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I keep seeing these articles trashing Danzig. Nobody seems to want to mention that Danzig was f-cking awesome. He had a great playlist (from the Misfits, the black album and more), played with energy, wore the demon mask and we got to see Doyle. He came on late (which was annoying because I stood in front of his stage for an hour before he was supposed to go on so I could be up front) and there were some more songs that I wanted to hear but what we got was worth every bit of the money, travel from Houston and day off work that I put into seeing this show.
JD, thanks for helping Glenn Danzig shit on my city. Houston loves you. Go home and enjoy that air.
The promoter mentions the "10 pm curfew" for the reason of the shut down. BUT if you look at the City of Austin City Ordnances -see link-http://austinnoise.org/the-austin-noise-ordinance/title-8-parks-and-recreation/ It states "sound level must be below 85 db between 10am-10pm and there is a late night extension that can be applied for (you would think a concert of this size would have that as an "insurance plan") and "between the hours of 10pm-2am per the extension the db level cannot exceed 80db" this move by fff fest was just poor taste. I would expect this kind of thing to happen at an independent club ran by a total scumbag, not a headliner at a festival. Also what kind of professional bashes the band that just headlined and drew in alot of money for that show? This show is run by total ametures. Shutting down the headliner, then running to facebook to save face. Pretty lame. I want my money back.
Plucky, C3 can't even get that and have to end their shows prior to the 10pm curfew. They put on ACL Fest and Lollapalooza. Two of the biggest festivals in the world. What would make you think if they can't get around the curfew that some how FFFFest would be able to? You are being quite unfair.
I gotta say, this sounds like Danzig's fault. But for a city that claims to be the "live music capital of the world" to have to shut things down at 10pm is just...weak.
Austin is highly overrated. Even Houston has a festival (SummerFest) that can run later than that.
JD, do you smoke crack or meth? Danzig going onstage 45 minutes late and pretty much deliberatley sounding like dog crap aren't worth two pennies. Sure, he had quite a few years of greatness, but that performance at the festival was pure garbage, Misfits songs or not. If you do something (anything) for a living, be PROFESSIONAL about it and show some appreciation for the people paying your damn bills. He should be ashamed of homself, but it is Danzig we're talking about...
The extension of the curfew only applies to SXSW. Danzig was a super tool. Austin is not, although it has to claim it because it always has, the live music capital of the world.
I have been at Danzig's shows from the early days, Misfits, Samhain, 80's, 90's...etc...
Take it from me, he's dogshit now. He has been a scammer for at least the last 10 years.
I wouldn't go watch him for free.
His ego made him alienate his best musicians (Eerie, John, Chuck) His talent dried up long ago.
That dude has serious issues, he's the Rock music equivalent of Jake the Snake.
Sounds like Danzig was feeling those seasonal allergies and needed a nap, poor guy. Even the Lord of Darkness gets a little autumn sniffle every now and then. /s
Danzig's set at Riot Fest was horrible. The sound was mucky, he could barely sing, and sweet Jesus, he was wearing a button down shirt during Samhain that he was struggling to cover his pasty man boobs with. If it wasn't for his backing band making him sound good, people would have left. Bless Tommy Victor and his buddies for being able to put up with such a huge fucking prick all these years. Add to the fact that Danzig had his bodyguards scour the crowd to throw out anyone taking cellphone camera photos. Seriously, what kind of egotistical maniac would even ask that on his rider? Even some shitheads with overly rockstar attitudes wouldn't stoop that low. Fuck Danzig.
PluckyGlen Ford & Buba Jay- sure they can apply for the extension but the city doesn't allow it. There are just too many other club venues here to compete with and would throw a fit if they couldn't draw a crowd. The 10pm mark is there to shut down outside uncontrollable venues. There are other places to see shows well into the late night; they just don't happen to be in a city park surrounded by residential houses. Fun Fun Fun fest is a day festival just like ACL and SXSW. There should be more after party or ticketholder events at local venues for encore performances and related shows.
Local Austin musician must have had a sixth sense when he posted That Glen Danzig is "An egomaniacal d*uche nozzle" maybe Glenn was afraid he was gonna be teased here or something...
Scott Reynolds (AlL/Descendents) singer from Austin played a festival in Chicago in October and made fun of Glenn Danzig. Apparently it didn't sit well with ole Glenn and one of his band mates contacted Scott via Facebook. I guess after it all went down the wanted him to stop picking on Glenn. Scott then put out an apology in the form of a Misfits song dedicated it to Danzig (best thing evar!). Now he is playing Fun fun fun fest and it is rumored that the shit is going to hit the fan. Check this out if you are in the mood for a good laugh..
Scott Reynolds, singer of the punk bands All and the Pavers, parodies Danzig.
All and Danzig, Misfits, and Samhain played this same festival, along with Weezer and the Descendents. In fact, the All concert took place just after the Danzig / Misfits / Samhain / Youth of Today concert.
Scott R goofin on Danzig Video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZcPiaWlppM
This is the apology song ( I love how smart assed it is)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sGaQqAL9mc&feature=watch_response
http://jgtwo.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/watch-the-majority-of-danzigs-chicago-legacy-concert/ Read review under the video is hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZcPiaWlppM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sGaQqAL9mc&feature=watch_response
OK, folks, aside from the fact that most music ‘fans’ bitch and moan on the Internet these days, here’s a few pointers for everyone to try to digest before showing your keyboard warrior skills..
Danzig is 56. He’s not a ‘spring chicken’ anymore and he’s been doing what he does, by his own terms, for over 30 years.
Sorry, but I can’t see younger bands today still being around in 2040. Longevity is not something our generation has been blessed with…
And as far as the ‘knockout’ video link from the typical Hardcore fanboy who is all big and bad only when he can get away with it, here’s a little free education..
People who get ‘knocked out’ don’t stand up immediately afterward and swear, cause they are out cold, you know?
Danzig got clipped on his chin and stumbled over his own two feet. Pure and simple. Even then, it was 7 fucking years ago. Get over it.
Danny Mariwhateverthefuckhisnameis didn’t do himself or his band any favors by constantly pointing out that he got into a scuffle with a headliner. All it did was direct current and potential fans of theirs to some stupid backstage drama, instead of music.
And what do you know? The NSK website has been down for sometime now…Macho Man Danny even sought sympathy and donations online when he got his ass handed to him in a bar fight. (NSK…… Defeated?)
Anyway, its funny how having a computer can instantly make a fan into a professional music critic, isn’t it?
Maybe Glenn Danzig IS a goddamn son-of-a-bitch (think about it, baby).
-- MrJM
for a dude who was a huge influence in punk rock culture he sure aint acting like it bottom line. I saw the zero boys at that same fest gray haired and all they werent complaining about a god damn thing
I saw the trainwreck first hand. And it sucked. Sound was great, band was great. Danzig sounded like dogshit karaoke...Maybe if he'd held the mic up to his mouth instead of the dramatic backward fistpump move we'd have heard him better. He complained once about the cold, once about the lights being too bright. That's just not rock & roll...hell I once saw cindy lauper break a leg falling off stage and finish the set from a folding chair! I felt scammed.
I felt too let down by 1.8 misfits songs. It's all I was there to see. No one should be sticking up for glenn. He was downright unprofessional. A contract on city land is a contract. bands stop at 10 fans leave by 11. When they didn't the cops came and dispersed the crowd. You can't call up the city and say "uhh can we get an extra hour because can't get our shit together?"
%100 diva bullshit you took my misfits virginity danzig! took it right from my ass!
He called for an outcry against the organizers but only ended up getting beer cans thrown at him and his poor bands gear before they had to put tarps over the instruments and take cover until the 11pm curfew was enforced by the cops. I feel bad for his band. And worse for Doyle. He obviously takes himself seriously and was quite good for the 3 minutes he was on stage.
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