“So you want to be a rock and roll star
Then listen now to what I say
Just get an electric guitar
Then take some time and learn how to play.”
Ever wonder what it would be like to channel The Byrds lyrics play in front of thousands of fans who are movin’ and groovin’ to your songs? I am willing to admit here and now that when I played in bands in college and for a few years following graduation I had visions of greatness. But, alas, 32 reasonably excited friends at The Rainbow Tavern were all we could muster.
But what is it like? I know only one true “rock star” so I decided to ask him. Dave Dederer played “guitbass” and was a founding member of The President of the United States of America and until a few years ago toured the world with the band. Dave is still involved with the business of the band, but decided a “normal” job and time at home with his wife and darling kids was more important. Hard to argue with his logic.
I asked Dave what it was like to play a show to 60,000 fans like they did in 1996 at PinkPop in the Netherlands. Dave said he and Chris (Ballew, co-founder) wandered the grounds the night before and it was a bit like being turned loose on a deserted carnival ground. They went on the next day and as video evidence shows had a great time.
While I couldn’t get Dave to wax eloquently about his experiences being on stage, he did tell me he had an “Aha” moment while at PinkPop. “I think we went on at about noon the next day, playing to 80,000 drunk Dutch people. Rage Against the Machine followed us. I had never liked them. Two bars into the first song of their set, all 80,000 heads were banging in unison. I thought to myself, “Oh…I get it.” And I’ve loved them ever since.”
Interesting observation but I was left asking myself; “great story Dave, but what was it REALLY like???” Maybe rock stars have a code similar to the pirate code. Don’t tell a fan what it’s like to be on stage playing music in front of thousands of screaming fans.
They need to find out for themselves.
ADDED NOTE:
Dave sent me a follow-up after reading this blog post. Maybe I’ll try driving a forklift at Home Depot and see if I get a similar feeling then I’ll know.
“What was it like? Well…hard to describe if you’ve never played music…going onstage in front of 80,000 people (and live on Dutch TV with big audience)…no soundcheck…an amplifier that wasn’t mine and I had never used before…not sure if you’re going to be able to hear yourself or your bandmates in the monitors…alternately scary and exhilarating…if you stop to think about it, playing loud music in front of a lot of people is really a job where you operate very powerful heavy machinery in a pressure-packed environment, nowhere more so than at those huge festivals…” DD
Here I Write 