I generally think these reality TV contest shows are a bunch of crap-- they're so arbitrary. Like some kind of insane make-believe contest you'd put together as a kid. Eg, "what if we put a bunch a people on an island.. yeah.. and each week they had to vote one member off.. and do a lot of crazy contests and stuff!" It's really hard to take this stuff seriously as a result. Boot Camp? Big Brother? Fear Factor? Please.

But I've really gotten into VH1's Bands on the Run. It seems so natural-- four bands, competing to make money and sell merchandise as they tour across the US. This is what struggling bands really go through, not some arbitrary set of hoops to jump through. Plus, it's rock and roll, baby! Groupies! Sex! Drugs! Hotels! Bars! Sleeping until 1pm every day! All that stuff just comes naturally without any magical studio editing or prodding by the producers. Eg, it's real.

Why the heck didn't I join a band back in the day? Geez. Watching this, it's no wonder that 99% of bands are just started as convenient ways for guys to get laid. It really seems to work.

"Why the heck didn't I join a band back in the day?"

Um, because like me, you have no talent? :=)


Just a guess ;-)

I really enjoyed "Bands on the Run", but as someone that spent six years in a real, honest-to-goodness, record-putting out, touring-in-a-van band, I can tell you that it ain't "Bands on the Run". Being in a working band is the hardest job I've ever had (much tougher than my current big-time, big money "real" job). All I seem to remember from those days is lugging the goddamn amps up the stairs (WHY do people put clubs on the second floor of a building), waiting around for two hours while the headliner sound checked the kick drum, forty-five minutes of epiphany (or horror) while we played, waiting around for two hours for the scumball club owner to give us our hundred bucks, lugging the goddam amps back down the stairs, searching for a Motel 6, praying the van didn't get stolen, sleeping four or five to a room, getting up EARLY in the morning and driving seven or eight hours, searching for the club since our booking agent always gave us bad directions, lugging the goddam amps up, well, you get the picture.

Any regrets? HELL, NO! I lived my dream (and am still paying off the debts). But it ain't sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It's blue collar, hard work. Only guys that live in LA and play one show a month do all that rock and roll fantasy shit. If you're out on the road in a van, you're earning your six grand a year!

By the way, there is a book called "The Cheese Chronicles" by Tommy Womack. It is the best book on rock and roll I've ever read (and I've read 'em all). It is what life in band is like for 99.9% of all bands (i.e. the ones that don't "make" it).

Well, yeah, VH1 was footing the bills for these guys-- so in that sense, they didn't have to scrape to make ends meet. The desperation level wasn't as high. But they did play 5-6 times a week at minimum, and the pressure to promote and sell was definitely there.

But still, it *seemed* like a reasonable facsimile of reality, unlike so many of these shows that are clearly utter flights of fantasy.

I guess it's like the NBA. Only the top half-percent of high school basketball players, even the very good ones, really make it big. Everyone else just kind of muddles along.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Flickerstick now that they've won. I honestly thought they had the best songs, the best performances, and the best music of the four groups. Even if they have some real losers in the band-- eg, Cory, and to a lesser extent Dominic and Fletcher. The only mitigating factor is that I consider Rex and Brandin the two coolest, funniest people in any of the band lineups.

The followup show last Sunday was, oddly, one of the best and most entertaining of the entire series. Seeing footage of Soulcracker perform Flickerstick's "Beautiful" at a sound check was hilarious.

Also, I'm unclear. When exactly did VH1 become one of the best channels on cable, and a far, far better channel for music lovers than MTV ever was? It just seems like it happened overnight. I just woke up one day and MTV sucked, but VH1 rocked. Case in point?

http://www.vh1.com/insidevh1/shows/mtrock/hysteria.jhtml

Or any of the better "Behind the Music" shows.

The behind the scenes video footage is kinda funny for Bands on the Run. Check it out for each episode here (broadband connections only, realistically)

http://www.vh1.com/insidevh1/shows/bandsontherun/show/14/video.jhtml

Use the dropdown box to navigate, then go to the video section. Not much of this was actually on the TV show.

>>When exactly did VH1 become one of the best channels on cable, and a far, far better channel for music lovers than MTV ever was?

When you got older and slipped out of MTV's target demographic.

'When you got older and slipped out of MTV's target demographic.'

Yep. VH1 is like Music Time For Yuppies now.

"When you got older and slipped out of MTV's target demographic."

Actually, I think it's when they decided to stop playing music videos. I wish I could get MTV2, which I hear actually does play videos most of the time.

There was a time when MTV wasn't exactly top 40-- it was more like an alternative station. Who else was playing "Video Killed the Radio Star"? Or Duran Duran? That vibe is long gone.

I know I've changed, but so has MTV. No doubt about that.

>>Actually, I think it's when they decided to stop playing music videos.

True, but that's because their demographic would rather watch Jackass than be faced with watching/listening to a type of music they don't like.

>>There was a time when MTV wasn't exactly top 40-- it was more like an alternative station.

That was out of necessity, not necessarily by design.