I cannot believe some of the comments I am seeing regarding this set.
Please keep in mind that 25 minutes to change over two bands is a ridiculously short amount of time. About the same amount of time is takes to shower, wash your privates and apply deodorant. Hint, motherfucking hint some of you.
It is seriously and act of God that you get any kind of decent mix out front, let alone a workable monitor mix onstage for the performers in such a short period of time. Of course if changeover time was extended, just how much wailing and gnashing of teeth would there be? Oh my, you might have time to walk out to get a slice instead of bitching about the mark-up at the venue. But where's the fun in that if you can't be complaining?
And nothing could be funnier than hearing a some prog/power fans call someone ELSE arrogant and douchey. Seriously? The amount of hand-holding and stroking some fans feel they deserve is unreal. It's like saying "Oh, Mr. Manager my $300 steak dinner doesn't taste good anymore because the waiter had an attitude. He should have given me a back rub and a rim job."
And you know what kills me? Knowing how nervous the band was beforehand hoping to impress some of you. Why even bother? I know this doesn't apply to everyone but I've never heard a group of more self-entitled people complaining about a situation they have not nor will ever experience. The level of expectations placed on certain artists, their attitudes and behavior is beyond unrealistic. Since when does a performer have to have the diplomacy and tact of a world leader? Granted, it could have been handled better, not so serious and with a sense of humor but for fucks sake, have any of you even considered what it must feel like to stand up there knowing you are not going to be able to deliver your best under the circumstances? How frustrated and angry you might feel? Expecting him to say that in just the right way to soothe some of your fragile and narrow perceptions of how musicians should behave is ludicrous.
Had he chosen to "soldier on" and just give hand signals the rest of the set, there's a very good chance the problems would not have been solved at all and then everyone would be complaining about the performance. It is so awful to hear some people complaining about Daniel's attitude when the performance was FLAWLESS. They were perfect, four part harmonies dead on and that simply doesn't happen with a messed up monitor mix.
This isn't a case of, "Hey, can you bring me up more in the monitor?" there was something seriously wrong, wrong enough to have to stop and start over again. If any of you have ever played in a band before, this is something that rarely if ever happens and in the unlikely case it does it is excruciatingly embarrassing. If you are driving a long road trip and you are out of oil or your tire falls off, you have to fix it, the car is not drivable and that is the situation they were in.
As far as the comparisons to Oliva. Seriously? I won't even begin to dissect all the ways this is wrong but just consider this:
Oliva goes on first. He has an insurmountable monitor problem and shouts, "Hold it! I can't hear SHIT motherfuckers!! Harverster I want another grand and we are starting over. And shut these goddamn curtains and give me some fucking FOG motherfuckers!!" They walk off to peals of laughter. Later Daniel comes out and says, "Now that the bullshit is over..." 15 seconds later he would have been nailed to a cross at the Artmore and set on fire.
And finally, one of the sentiments I heard over and over again from attendees about this festival is that the main reason we go, beyond the music even- it's for the sense of community, the sense of being together with like-minded, good hearted people. The idea that anywhere we go in Atlanta we have a reputation for being friendly, kind people. Well not so much here, people. Not so fucking much.
