Note to Keith: I tried to reply to your email, but it just keeps bouncing back to me. I will be there, very close to where you are. Let's hoist a $9 beer to good music and Mountaineer football.
It's been a great Saturday, our first at home in a long while. We went to the farmer's market (mmm, blueberries, peaches, and fresh raspberry preserves) and then out to B.E. for the Master Craft show to see my dad and step-mom. Then we came home to naps and reading and drinking cold lemonade out on the deck for several hours. Now if someone would just show up with some great catered meal so we don't have to bother with dinner, that would make it perfect. Not likely? OK, well perhaps we'll grill something out.
As usual before a show, I'm playing the waiting game with the publicist/holder of the golden press passes. It used to really bother me that some bands think nothing of waiting until the day of a show to bestow or withhold the spoils to the waiting, salivating media. One time I got really PO-ed that the publicist never saw fit to call me back at all, and was several beers into a pre-show, fine-I'll-show-them-then-see-what-kind-of-review-they-get-now tailgate & rant when my cell rang and the marketing director told me it was time to come get the laminate. An hour before the show started. Talk about waiting.
{Now, not all bands are like that. Tom Petty's publicist, to name one, could not have been nicer or more accommodating. She called several times over the week leading up to the show to make sure I had everything I needed, and remembered my name and details about our conversations- no small feat considering that her client was at that time headlining a sellout comeback tour.}
But, of course I understand that bands are on the road. Most groups play 3-5 shows a week, and I'm sure they're trying to figure out which state they are in most of the time, so keeping up with media requests for a show that isn't imminent isn't really a #1 priority. But for those of us who have to make travel plans, figure out how much space we have to fill, do interviews, etc., it can be kind of trying. It makes me go through The Case Scenarios:
Worst Case Scenario: for whatever reason, the band/publicist denies you. This has happened to me once, and I still don't know why. I hung up, made a rude remark about the singer, then decided if he didn't want the publicity, who was I to force it upon him. (I did kind of take it personally, I won't lie.)
Going into it, you already have an answer, and that is "no." Asking can only help your chances of getting a better answer.
"Oh, good!" Scenario: This is the most common. At some point a publicist or venue person calls and says, "Well, you're all approved for "X" show," and I invariably reply, "Oh, good!" It's a reflex, almost, and one I don't mind. It isn't as unprofessional as "OH SWEEET!", and it isn't as aloof as "Oh, okay." The polite "Oh, good!" then leads into a discussion of pertinent details, including where to be, when to be there, and strange quirks the band may have as far as shooting and coverage.
Best Case Scenario: This is very rare, and may in fact not ever happen. But while I'm waiting to hear, my mind wanders into the "what ifs" of this scenario...what if the publicist calls and says, "The group is intrigued by the story you are writing, would you like to interview them?" Then I say, "Yes, I would like to do that, thank you," and go on to interview the band in such spectacular fashion that the story gets picked up by bigtime media and my repartee with the band, combined with my intense live photos, gets me noticed by Spin or Rolling Stone and they offer me a staff position. Like I said, this is sort of rare.
But for now I wait. And drink my lemonade.
