Johnny the Christian Metal Show Producer/Promoter? Huh?

Some of you may know how that at one time, I was a Christian, and that I was very active in the faith. For those of you that did not know that: Surprise! One of the things I did back in those days was promote Christian rock concerts. It was a good time, and I got to meet some pretty cool people. I also got to meet some real assholes too. You should never confuse Christianity with thinking that those claiming the title will not be assholes. I discovered that disturbing fact early on in the game, and it was one of the many things that eventually drove me from the faith.

There was this one band that was enjoying quite a bit of success at the time (1993 or so), and I contracted with them to come to Jacksonville. Keep in mind this was many years ago, so details are fuzzy now, and I do not wish to name names, so you’ll have to use your imagination. But before I tell you the tale of this band’s visit, let us look at what it takes to produce and promote a rock concert.

Putting on a rock concert is no easy feat. There are many things to arrange. First and foremost is money – the financing. Then there is the no small matter of securing a venue (place to have the concert). Then there are security arrangements to be made at the venue. Let me see if I can remember some more particulars of concert promoting. What follows will be a jumbled list as it comes to memory. There’s advertising (not cheap at all), there is flyer printing and distribution, ticket printing and distribution to places that are willing to sell tickets (and put up flyers), and there is the no small matter of a sound system and lights. Both sound and lights are critical, and both can be a pain in the ass to arrange. Bands, in their contract, will tell you what they expect you to provide. Each band has different criteria for sound and lights. Some provide sound and lights, but most in the small-market Christian metal/rock scene did not.

And let me not forget the food and hotels and dressing rooms. Bands rightly have a need for a place to stay the night, for food to eat, and for a place at the venue to dress and eat and use the bathroom, etc. On the day of the show, in their contracts they ask for such things at the venue like food, towels, chairs, tables, bottles of certain kinds of water and drinks, deli-trays, fruits, Gatorade, tables and chairs strategically positioned so they can sell T-shirts, compact discs, buttons, posters, hats, on and on, ad-infinitum.

I have really just scratched the surface with the above, but as you can see, it is challenging to say the least to put on a successful rock concert. And one should not misconstrue what I am saying. Bands have a right to ask for a professional production, and a producer/promoter reads and signs a contract stating that he/she/they understand the band’s needs and desires for anything and everything in relation to the show as laid out in the contract. Those of you that know me, know I take giving my word pretty damn seriously, so when I signed a contract with a band, I tried as much as humanly possible to meet the criteria set out in the contract. If something was just not doable, I made sure the band understood that up front.

So, back to the band that I brought here back in 1993 or so. The band’s leader and singer, I shall call him “John” turned out to be a total asshole. Sadly, I did not know this until he arrived. While arranging the concert, I was dealing with one of his underlings, so I never had any interaction with John until the band’s arrival – just hours before the show. He started on his journey to assholeism right away by complaining about the directions I had sent them. Those directions consisted of a map with a highlighted route (if memory serves, I think they drove in from Tennessee) and written directions. Remember, this was in the days before Mapquest. He complained, loudly, that the directions were almost useless. Somehow, due to his superior intellect, they had found their way to the venue.

The next big issue was the opening act. Keep in mind, dear reader, that this was all arranged beforehand through his underling. All parties had signed a contract. The problem? John did not want the opening act using the same sound system that his band would be using. John’s band, in this particular rare instance, had arranged for a sound system to be brought into the venue. Nothing was ever said about John’s band being the only act allowed to use the sound system. So, John, being the major asshole he turned out to be, insisted the opening act (who were friends of mine and major helpers in the production of the show) not be allowed to play. John said, “If they play, we will not play. We will leave.”

What would you do? Sounds simple enough on the surface, doesn’t it? You’re thinking I should have just said, “Well then, ASSHOLE, leave!” But, when you have people lining up outside to get into the show – people that have paid their hard-earned cash for a ticket to see this band – the decision is not so easy.

I was completely disappointed. I was hurt. I could not believe this guy was acting the way he was. He was totally unreasonable. I took a few moments to myself away from everybody, and after some thought, the decision was easy. I went to John and told him to leave. “Go. I’m not going to throw my friends under the bus for you. They have been major players in making this happen, and if the choice is between you staying and them not playing, you’re going. I’ll refund the money to each person that walks in the door and says they don’t want to stay because you guys have left.”

He replied, “We’re staying. I said they could play.” Apparently, while I had taken some time alone to make my decision, John and the opening act had come to an agreement. The opening act had agreed to use the house sound system, not the much better sound system John’s band had arranged to have brought in.

So, the show happened. I wish I could tell you that a few thousand people showed up, but it was more like a few hundred. Surprised? Actually, for a Christian hard rock/metal show, that is a pretty good crowd.

The agreement with John’s band was that they would be paid what was taken in at the gate, but no more than $2000. Any money over and above that would be mine – and it was money I needed to pay back to myself for the money I had sunk into the show. Well, as it happened, we made around $1950 at the gate. Stupid, dumb, ignorant, “We’re all Christians and love each other!” me. I was so happy that we’d almost made $2000. I was wishing we had made more, and that I could have paid myself back, but I didn’t do the show (or any show) for that reason. I did it because I wanted to reach young people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. With excitement and gladness of heart, I presented the money to John saying something like, “Well, we almost got to $2000! We’re just shy of that.” I then handed over the paper sack with the money in it. John opened the sack, took out the money, and sat down and started counting. He agreed with my count, and then, much to my shock, asked for the ticket stubs. He wanted to count the torn stubs to make sure I wasn’t holding out on him. And he did. He sat there and counted each stub. Finally, the night ended, and John and his band left for the very nice hotel I had paid for out of my own pocket.

Over the next several years, in spite of that early-on bad experience, I promoted several successful shows. I can’t even remember some of the names now. The last show I did was in 2000. This band I will name, because they were very decent humans. Yes, the guys in Tourniquet were a pleasure to be around. The band is still around too. Back around 2002 or so, their record label rereleased some of their earlier out of print stuff, and on those rereleases are live recordings of the Tourniquet concert I produced and promoted here in Jacksonville at the Murray Hill Theater.

So, while that’s only part of the concert promoter/producer story, the above should give you a glimpse into a part of my life that was fairly interesting and exciting.
Thanks for reading.