Today's Blind Items - The Garage Band

This A list band has been around for quite a while and their fame and recognition in particular have increased over the past decade. Back in the day, these guys were just like every other wannabe band. Relegated to a garage in a not so safe neighborhood that was so dangerous they had to lock the garage even while they were playing for fear someone would break in and rob them while they were playing.

These guys were much like other bands just starting out who go on and on about their craft and not interested in making money. The whole usual thing about just wanting to make music for the people. Trying to light a spark among the few loyal fans who came to see them perform at a steady stream of the worst clubs in earth, they encouraged fans to record the shows and spread the tapes around to other potential fans.

These guys were great and very underground. One of the members of this band, who I will call Mr. S, was, quite simply, a musical genius. It was his creative vision, talent and refusal to compromise that was responsible for the band's early breakthroughs. Unfortunately, though, there was another band member who was very jealous of Mr. S and his creativity. I'll call this guy Mr. M. He was (and is) a monumental jerk- and contrary to the underground reputation of the band, was hungry for fame and wealth from day one. He did a good job at hiding it though, and played along with the band's narrative, but greed and power were always primary his mind.

Part of Mr. M's jealousy towards Mr. S was also centered around Mr. S's girlfriend. She was also an extremely talented artist and was well liked by pretty much everyone in their early scene. The story that has circulated around for years is that Mr. M also had feelings for this woman. Very strong feelings --you know-- it's the classic story. When Mr. M confessed his feelings to this woman, she basically told him to f**k off. She hated him and had no idea why he would even feel that way about her since she made her hatred of him pretty plain to him as often as possible.

This rejection lead to even more issues between Mr. S and Mr. M.  Mr. M demanded a bigger piece of the pie for things he only minimally contributed to and also tried to sabotage a lot of Mr. S's creative process. And the problem is that Mr. S., being the sensitive and creative personality type, just was not good at fighting back against Mr. M. Not a good situation. Anyway, right around the time that this band had one of it's first commercial successes, something bad happened to Mr. S. The official story floating around about the incident has been consistent for years, but there have always been questions about what actually happened. The questions mostly center around Mr. M and his actions at the time of this incident, but since the situation took place such a long time ago, we'll probably never really know the whole story.

People in the band's circle generally believe Mr. M was responsible. After this incident with Mr. S, the band became even more commercially and financially successful which became the primary motivating factor for the band. The band has completely discarded their prior ideals and have also stopped caring about their fans. Sadly, their fans have no idea how much the band members really loathe them. Some of the band's early fans, though, have figured out how disingenuous these guys have become and no longer support them.

Many other fans though continue to believe the band will remain true to their roots. That myth could very well be shattered very soon. Mr. M has demanded a lot of money for a tour that is being planned, which will translate into some seriously astronomical ticket prices for fans. Even more interesting, is that rumors are flying that the band will be using backing tracks for the first time on this tour as well. With many pop stars these days, this is the norm-- but with this band, it would have to be hidden from fans and promoters at all costs. So not only would concert-goers be paying a huge price to see these guys live, but some of the stuff they perform might very well be canned tracks. What Mr. M doesn't know though is that some of the band's crew are getting sick and tired of the crappy treatment they've received as a result of the band's greed, and in particular, hate Mr. M. So it would not surprise me if there was an on-purpose "glitch" at a large show with one of the backing tracks. Since everyone has a smart phone to record audio and video of concerts these days, this will spell disaster for this band and their fan base when this is exposed. The other problem is that some of the crew are also rumored to have Mr. M on tape saying some very politically incorrect things. If this also gets released, it will also expose the fact that the band's narrative is nowhere near what they want people to think it is either. Public relations disaster.