| Sunday, April 01, 2007 |
| Do you know who I am? |
One of the frustrating things about owning a record label is the constant feeling that the artists we deal with should be way more famous than they are. This is particularly true when we release something by a musician who has been on the scene for decades; I want to go up to people and shake them and say, "Don't you know this person is A LEGEND?" But the music biz, and the folks who write about it and buy CDs and go to shows, always seem to be chasing after the new hot thing.
On Wednesday, however, I had an experience that made me feel a little better. Mitch Easter -- who is without question A LEGEND, someone who has both produced classic albums (R.E.M.'s Murmur being the best-known) and released several of his own -- was doing an in-store at Amoeba Records in support of his (fabulous!) new album, Dynamico. Mitch's wife Shalini (who also plays bass in his band) is one of my best friends and that's how 125 came to distribute Dynamico. After the gig, I had recommended we head over to Cha Cha Cha, which is one of my favorite restaurants. The only disadvantage of Cha Cha Cha is that it's a small restaurant that doesn't take reservations and it's insanely popular, so there's always a lengthy wait for a table. Nevertheless, they have a bar area in back where you can relax with a glass of sangria while you bide your time. Since there were a bunch of us -- nine total, I think -- I knew it would be a while. Shalini was quoted a wait time of 40 minutes, so we headed to the bar.
We had barely settled down when a member of the staff rushed over and told us that our table was ready. Get this -- he had recognized Mitch and didn't want him to have to wait. Somehow, they had managed to squeeze two tables together for us. Really, they couldn't have been any nicer. Now I know what it's like to travel in celebrity circles!
Unfortunately, Mitch's Thursday night show at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco was sort of sparsely attended (it was an OK crowd, but there was plenty of room for more people), although he put on a heck of a show. I spent the day hanging out with Mitch, Shalini and their extremely cool drummer, Chris Garges. A photographer from Magnet magazine was trying to hook up with Mitch so we all trekked out to the Sutro Baths so he could take some glamour shots. All in all, it was probably the most hanging-out-with-rock-stars type experience I've had since we started the label, and if anyone deserves to be treated like a celeb, it's Mitch. |
posted by 125records @ 1:30 PM  |
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| 4 Comments: |
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The smaller-than-it-could-be crowd was probably nowhere near as embarrassing as my Don Dixon (another LEGEND!) experience: there were, not counting Dixon and band or venue employees, fewer than ten people present. Dixon's a pro, of course: he treated the whole thing like a gathering of friends in his living room, but damn it was still sort of like you want to go out into the street and shake people by the collar and say, "Don Dixon! Do you know all the brilliant records he's been involved with? And his own stuff? And he's just a brilliant, brilliant singer? And..." before they back away from me and make sure they know where the nearest blunt object is. (Hey Flasshe - epcnm! epcnm!)
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I thought the Rickshaw show was pretty well attended for a Thursday night with limited publicity. A crowd of 30 people in front of the stage listening and paying attention makes for a much more enjoyable concert experience than a full house 300 people drinking and chattering and text-messaging!
I thought maybe you spent Thursday working the "Mitch magic" on some other SF restaurants where it's hard to get a table!
zshgpoeq!
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Dangit, there was a woman right in front of me who was text messaging during the show. Seriously, people, QUIT THAT.
We went to a Thai restaurant a couple blocks away from the club -- no one there recognized Mitch but we did get extremely prompt service.
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2 weeks after arriving in the Bay Area, after a month long drive spent listening to Michelle Shocked tapes, Michelle herself was scheduled to play a solo acoustic show at Stanford on Earth Day in a free outdoor venue my friends raved about.
But it rained a bit in the morning, and the amphitheater perhaps best known for its many Grateful Dead concerts over the years was filled by exactly 4 people including Michelle and me.
To her credit (and I have since seen her many times in crowds ranging from 100 to several thousand) she treated the show like any other she does and played as though her life depended on it. Simply magical!
A year or so ago, ~13 years later, I had a brief chance to mention that show to her in San Francisco and she clearly remembered it, although I am certain she was joking when she told me "I thought you looked familiar!"
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Name: Sue
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The smaller-than-it-could-be crowd was probably nowhere near as embarrassing as my Don Dixon (another LEGEND!) experience: there were, not counting Dixon and band or venue employees, fewer than ten people present. Dixon's a pro, of course: he treated the whole thing like a gathering of friends in his living room, but damn it was still sort of like you want to go out into the street and shake people by the collar and say, "Don Dixon! Do you know all the brilliant records he's been involved with? And his own stuff? And he's just a brilliant, brilliant singer? And..." before they back away from me and make sure they know where the nearest blunt object is. (Hey Flasshe - epcnm! epcnm!)