Day 32
Until last night, I had forgotten the feeling one gets when they watch one of their favorite artists purely as a fan. The last five years of working with musicians has been a beautiful experience that I plan to continue but the heartbreak of working for those who cannibalize music, musicians, music fans, and their own employees left a mark on my soul that won’t go away. Watching Rhye’s performance at Bumbershoot yesterday reminded me why I dove headfirst into the industry and why it’s important that I stay on my wonky path. Even though I was technically working the festival, for most of Rhye’s set I was able to stand in the fan area and get all swoony about a band I truly love. Mike Milosh has chosen his team well and I could not have been more impressed by the man himself. Here’s hoping I’ll get to tour with them someday soon. Since someone on the Rhye team liked my Adult Contemporary playlist promo image on Instagram a few days ago, we’re practically already best friends (LOL). That said, if you’re reading this Mr. Milosh, I’m actually very qualified to go on tour with you and I will no bullshit be one of the best tourmates you’ve ever had... or we could just date instead if you prefer.
Rhye onstage at Mural Amphitheater at Bumbershoot.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned throughout my entire life is the importance of knowing when to say no. Had I said yes to the first opportunity to work Bumbershoot, I would have worked at least a 16 hour day if not more and been a stressball. Oddly enough, I do strangely enjoy those long days but because I was patient and because I’ve kicked so much ass in the past, I ended up with less than twelve hour shifts in which my main task is to go to the photo pit in front of the stage and hand fans hats, shirts, and bags. Fortunately, this only takes a few minutes because fans want everything that is coming from the stage area, I am free to take photos right next to the damn stage, catch up with friends I haven’t seen in awhile, and watch Rhye.
A clown doing his thing on stage. Not a fan but it would be stupid not to photograph the dude.
Other than meeting and working with a team that travels worldwide to video events, making actual money, and reconnecting with some of my favorite people in the world, I did not do anything I could count as a work block. Since I didn’t post anything on Instagram yesterday, my first work block wasn’t a full 90 minutes. I did not bring @TheRingOfDOOM with me yesterday but he was with me in patch form on my sweatshirt. Even though I’m pretty sure no one cares and some of my most popular @TheRingOfDOOM posts have been created while flexing the power of my credentials working music events, it seems tacky to photograph my fictional character while working. It is exactly this morality that keeps getting in my way but I’ll keep running with it. I haven’t even posted some of my most epic @TheRingOfDOOM moments because I worked too closely with the artist and their team to post a photo taken of them without asking their permission specifically. I have at least fifteen minutes of footage of @TheRingOfDOOM sidestage with Kaytranada and a few photos of him sidestage with Tyler, The Creator. Kaytranada once held @TheRingOfDOOM in his hand in the front seat of my car and told me that Madlib gave him the DOOM ring right off his finger (one of my favorite memories ever). I would only want to post a photo of @TheRingOfDOOM and Tyler if he was seriously fucking with the idea; oddly enough I do believe he’d think it was dope because he’s also a DOOM fan. These are the experiences that prevent me from settling on a job purely for the money. That said, I did let the catering company I sometimes work for that I’m available to work for the next two weeks so I can be guaranteed some fundage for my trip.
Ludacris doing his thing onstage at Bumbershoot.
TODAY’S GOALS
1. Drink 64 oz. water
2. 10 Minute Stretch
3. Go For A Walk
4. Blog Post On Website… Shared (post on all blogs on Medium also)
5. 2-3 Instagram Posts Per Account @206liz @TheRingOfDOOM @MyDefOfCool
6. Remember to eat.
SONG OF THE DAY
Rhye – “The Fall” 2012 Like most of us, I incorrectly assumed that the older woman in this video was the singer of Rhye but seeing the magical intro of this song coming out of Mike Milosh’s mouth woke me the fuck up and instantly made me a superfan as written above. This song will likely always make my heart feel funny and I love that.