HISTORY-THE RE-BAR

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Our History

A true & fair review.

Quite frankly this may be the gem of Basement Tapes in years to come. We had planned a Tribute to the Seattle Scene in the house it all began in, on the night it all began. No one expected Layne to be found Dead! Being a Tuesday Night was tough enough, being boycotted by many Bands & their fans because the Re-bar has a reputation for being a "Gay Bar" didn't help attendance either. My position is I don't care whose puffing who, it was a show we were there to do & if some of the Bands are so insecure about their sexuality that that they aggressively reject someone else with extreme prejudice based on the other's sexuality, then they are definitely in the wrong business.

Well, a photographer of one Band was hammered to the point the Band left her & the Bartender was forced to cut her off was an issue throughout the night. The same Band knew it was/is an Adult Club & the legal age is 21 in Washington State. Yet they tried to sneak-in their 18-year young Drummer & waffled as they gave excuse after excuse without respect for the Club Owner's own legal obligations. Games the rest of us are too old to have any interest in playing. It got to the point that several of us including the Club Owner got pissed & put all of our feet went down at the same time.

Understand, this Band had the sound. But actions speak louder than words & this Band would prove to be a continual conduct problem. The Drummer's girlfriend standing on the second floor balcony of a hotel room I got them, spitting on the cars below was just one issue. They were so good that Metal Mayhem flew out here to audition them & one other Band, with an offer of an International Distribution Agreement in hand. Yet the conduct of 3 out of the 5 was so unprofessional they blew the opportunities before them. The last straw being when one of their guitarists walked off stage in the middle of their audition because he was cold.

To all Prima Donnas out there, let their loss be a serious lesson to gain from for you. People like us want to invest but no matter how good a Band may sound we are avoiding conduct problems like the plague.

During the show I was asked outside by another local Producer. Each Band was unique of the other but one stood out. Did I want to continue to use the Re-bar on Tuesday Nights? Was I willing to continue to invest? The Producer wanted the one Band back but not the other two as one was "like beating a dead horse" and the other was an obvious conduct problem from the second they tried to enter the door without ID. If it were MY club it would be one thing, but it is not so I declined. NEVERTHELESS, please feel free to take the one Band as far as you can.

That Band played there at least one more time. Their leader called me in excitement about offers from Capitol &/or Warner Brothers. He was essentially signed and our attitudes towards each other were evident in our emails so I abruptly discontinued contact with him in particular. This resulted in him backing out from the opportunity to audition for Metal Mayhem along with 20 other Bands. He also chose to go into slam mode on local discussion boards & out of those 21 Bands scheduled for the next show only 9 showed.

Understand, this guy had already been signed once by a Major label & he pulled the same crap on his people there. This resulted in the label leaving him in the limo outside their NY offices and without any more money coming in. He wanted me to essentially rig The Rock & Roll Round Up™ so his Band would win, kept sending me horrible Bands while throwing fits when I said no. He threw major fits and kept threatening to pull out if I brought in certain Bands that sounded like they'd give him more than a run for his money. And he seemed in shock when one of those supposedly horrible Bands, the conduct problem above, had an advance offer & but didn't. As it was we had already gone around because he is the "leader" who writes everything & was cutting his chaps out on all deals, something I understand in many cases but not in his case with this particular Band & I told him so many, many times.

In the end I've decided to write a song about this guy, I've entitled it "Stage Slut!" Whores get paid, he doesn't care how much it hurts or how much he and his has to pay, he'll go to extremes just to play like sluts do to get laid. He's a cliché all the way!

A Mentor once taught us that people are "At the right place at the right time twice in their lives!" Well, this guy has burned that fact out and then some. I talk to their lead guitarist on occasion, their highest paying gig last year was $100.00 & currently they are spending at least that trying to create & maintain a following in the Spokane/Coeur d' lane area of the Inland Northwest.

Back to the show: The Soundman SUCKED! It was The Duran Diva's Birthday & she was hammered. The Dead Horse Band made a classic amateur error and invited a bunch of friends then snuck them passed the Door when I wasn't there. "Friends of the Bands" understand this is Business and don't leach.

In the end, since these Bands know so much better than I, despite having most excellent performances on video I'd rather eat the cost of Production and archive the tapes than waste another penny on them. NEVERTHELESS, if one of them can finally show me how its done, secure that big contract and Global Attention they think they need then just maybe I'll pull those tapes out, dust them off & re-evaluate my position.

In the meantime, the tapes and attitudes are packed in the bottom of the box farthest back and at the bottom of one of the closets I keep packed full of boxes!

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