Needless to say I'd been looking forward to seeing B&S for a long time. This may have been part of the problem. I got to Metro a little _too_ early for my own good. If you know me (and few of you do) you know that my passion is recording the concerts I go to. I've been doing it longer than some of you have been walking. This is a hobby that is completely harmless because I don't allow my tapes to go to anyone but the band and occasionally people I've come to trust implicitly. Many musicians around the world are very happy with what I do, but that doesn't mean a thing to folks who don't know me. And occasionally my stupidity from the distant past comes back to haunt me. When I got to Metro I immediately found out from Neil that the band didn't want any taping. OK, that's fine. Maybe I could explain my situation in detail to Stuart, and maybe he might let me record the show. You see, there have been a few times where a tour manager has said "no" when the band would've given an enthusiastic "yes." So I went upstairs to where soundcheck was taking place ("Seeing Other People" about eight times, "Chickfactor," and one I didn't recognise) to give Isobel a get-well gift and wait to talk to Stuart. The fellow who was stage managing was not to happy about my being there (I've never done anything to cause him grief), but Neil was very kind. He said that Metro wanted to toss me, but he told them to at least allow me to see the show. He could tell that I was a fan and didn't think that I should miss out simply because I wanted to record and got there early. When the stage manager asked if I had a ticket I said no because I was fortunate enough to know Matthew and Anthony from the Momus camp who put me on the guest list. Usually that's no big deal with Metro and me. I get there early regularly to set up my mics. It's much harder to do so after the doors have opened. Toward the end of B&S' soundcheck one of the new Metro goons (the security has a high turn over) asked me if I had a pass. I said no and followed with, "who does?" Well apparently others did (I didn't see any), and this was reason enough for me to have to wait outside. OK, fine. I'll come in with everyone else and see if I can talk to Stuart then. After a half hour waiting in line with some of my friends, I was told that I was not to be allowed into the venue at all. Apparently the owner heard about what happened, he decided that I wasn't gonna even get to see the show. I continued to wait outside to thank Neil for sticking up for my love for the band. He had no idea I was not going to be allowed in. I don't know if he continued to try to get me in, but he was most kind to say that he'd try. I think we both knew it was a lost cause. There was a time (nearly ten years ago!) that I had a problem with the management at Metro, but I thought it was all water under the bridge at this point. They just wanted to make my life miserable; and, in a sense, they did. I feel very fortunate that I was able to witness soundcheck at the very least and to cheer up Isobel a little. But now I'll probably have to wait for years before I get the opportunity to see them again. This was worse than if they cancelled *sigh* Basically I'm just sayin' Metro is bad. They have a good reputation in the industry, but there was no reason for me to be banned from the show. I hope everyone else had a good time. Aadam +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+