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- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
Reading the liner notes, the band thanked their forum and named several admins and long-time mods. Think GN'R would do that with CD?
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
Got tickets to see BM in a nearby club on June 24th!! I'm going with a friend who is also a huge melon fan - I can't fucking wait!!
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
I'm going to see Blind Fucking Melon tonight!!! I am so damn excited. There is no original GNR, there's no original Blind Melon, there's no original Alice in Chains, there's no Self-Destruct or Fragility NIN (although this line-up is sweet, it's not touring on an album I love), so this is about the best show I could ever hope to see.
Bring on Travis, Rogers, Chris, Brad, and Glen! I want some Sleepyhouse!
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
I don't have long to post but I do want to say that this was the best music performance I've ever seen in my life. These guys were all over it, and Travis was working so hard and hitting every note. And they played a wicked setlist, starting with Walk, I Wonder, 2 x 4 ... and just going through so many tunes. 6 songs from For My Friends, which live really fit in, and a lot of old tunes. They even played Holyman and closed with Mouthful of Cavities and The Pusher!
The crowd was pretty big and really into it, the floor during Galaxie, which closed the set before the encore, was going nuts. I got there early enough to be up close, 3-4 people were directly in front of me closer to the band and that's not much. Brad even pointed me out once, probably because I'm a big guy and was digging it like crazy.
Travis dedicated the new song Hypnotize to Layne Staley which I thought was cool, and he gave a little speech about how he's not replacing Shannon and no one can, he's just here to keep it going. He interacted with the crowd really well and his voice was dead on. His screaming during the break of Time was unreal.
The guys were nice enough to come to the front of the club and sign stuff for the fans (someone brought a kazoo with them 
) so I got a BM tee-shirt with Brad, Travis, Glen, Rogers, and Chris's names on it. Sweet.
Ok well I'm going to go take my Physics final.
Re: Blind Melon
I don't have long to post but I do want to say that this was the best music performance I've ever seen in my life. These guys were all over it, and Travis was working so hard and hitting every note. And they played a wicked setlist, starting with Walk, I Wonder, 2 x 4 ... and just going through so many tunes. 6 songs from For My Friends, which live really fit in, and a lot of old tunes. They even played Holyman and closed with Mouthful of Cavities and The Pusher!
The crowd was pretty big and really into it, the floor during Galaxie, which closed the set before the encore, was going nuts. I got there early enough to be up close, 3-4 people were directly in front of me closer to the band and that's not much. Brad even pointed me out once, probably because I'm a big guy and was digging it like crazy.
Travis dedicated the new song Hypnotize to Layne Staley which I thought was cool, and he gave a little speech about how he's not replacing Shannon and no one can, he's just here to keep it going. He interacted with the crowd really well and his voice was dead on. His screaming during the break of Time was unreal.
The guys were nice enough to come to the front of the club and sign stuff for the fans (someone brought a kazoo with them
Ok well I'm going to go take my Physics final.
Hey, something they did at the show I was at and wondered if it happened every time or if it was just something that happened that way that night.-
Travis came out with a mask on for the first three songs, which were old Blind Melon songs. For the forth song, which was one of the new songs, he took the mask off. Does he do that every time, or was it just a coincidence that he was unmasking for his first song.
Glad you dug the show. I'm hoping to check them out here again at the end of July.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
He didn't wear a mask at all last night. I've read about him doing that multiple times but not here. Maybe since they opened with Walk, and not a tune like Galaxie, it seemed more appropriate to start just natural.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
Thought I'd show off my signed t-shirt. Brad's, Travis's, and Glen's are easy to see there. Rogers's signed in a gold pen, and Chris signed with his last name, Thorn, on the Octopus head.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Blind Melon
The following is from the author of "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon"
--The book is 344 pages long, and is available for purchase at Lulu.com for $19.99 (not including s&h and tax). This is the direct link to buy/check it out: http://www.lulu.com/content/3997101
--There are samples of the book to read at the aforementioned site [from the chapter 'Axl and Shannon,' and a bit of 'L.A./Blind Melon Forms']. Also, the names of all the chapters and a complete list of everyone I interviewed for the book is included in the book preview - I interviewed over 50 people for the book (the quotes from Shannon are taken from magazine articles, and there's a quote from Robert Plant from a magazine article - other than that, all the quotes in the book are from interviews I conducted).
--There are quite a few never-before-seen pix included in the book.
--Shortly, I'll be putting up quite a few pix on my myspace site
(www.myspace.com/gregpratopage) that did not make it into the book.If you have any questions/comments about the book - feel free to email me at gregprato@yahoo.com.
I will certainly be getting this. I don't expect it to be a great read, but there is not very much info out there on Shannon and new pictures int he books is worth the price alone imo.
Re: Blind Melon
I don't know if anyone but CC and I would give a shit, this is pretty long, but I can't believe the guy would just piss away an opportunity like he was handed. They just fired the new singer.
From the Blind Melon Myspace:
3:32 PM - Heartbreak Hotel: Room 667
Current mood: Heartbroken
Friends....
I bring you some difficult news.
The revelry call went out to start the tour, and all reported to duty except for one. We, along with our entire team, have been working long hours to prepare for this upcoming US tour, which we have all been excited about. All except one. There has long been consensus among the original 4 members of the group....we agree on purpose and vision, we believe deeply in what we are doing, and we have been forged together in the kiln of tragedy which has made us unbreakable. We all share that. All except one.
We believe that it is a great privilege to do what we do. It is an honor to stand onstage before you all and play these songs, and we will endure just about anything to do so. We have unity on this...all except one.
Travis does not share this with us. Two weeks ago when we cancelled the first half of the tour, Travis was having problems with his voice and the doctor recommended that he rest. Though it hurt us to cancel the shows, we were understanding towards him and supported him because nobody wanted him to injure himself or damage his obviously amazing voice. God dropped a Stradivarius down Travis's throat, but the reality is that he treats it like a broken pawnshop fiddle. It is very difficult to maintain a rigorous touring schedule while chain smoking.
Early this week Travis was due to again visit the doctor, a specialist that we found for him who is the very best available. The doctor wanted to make sure everything was OK before we embarked on the tour. We told Travis that we would cancel the rest of the tour if his voice was still hurting, regardless of what the doctor said. Travis will tell you that we fired him because his voice was fried, but this is not true. All singers go through vocal problems from time to time, and we understand that. We did not fire Travis, he abandoned us. The plan was set, it was solid, and we were confident. Everybody was on board...all except one. Not only did he bail on the doctor, but he did not return anybody's calls, texts, emails, telegrams, or carrier pigeon messages for the last two weeks. We're talking about a LOT of attempts to communicate. This has been a pattern from the beginning of our involvement with him. The reality is that Travis did not want to go on this tour, and his reasons for this changed many times. The touring life is not for everyone. Had he told us that it was just too much for him, then that would have sucked for us but we could have dealt with it. But the dilemma was that HE WOULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITH US.
We finally started calling family members to try to locate him. Members of his family were very helpful and the good news is that they had spoken to him and he was alive. We were all relieved but curious as to what was going on. One of Travis's cousins finally got him to agree to call our manager yesterday evening and they spoke for about 20 minutes (we were all waiting to figure out if we should get on airplanes today or stay home). Travis stated that if we couldn't understand that he needed this time to himself, then he didn't want to be in a band with us anymore. He complained about being underpaid and overworked (we all make the same thing and we all work as hard as he does). He said that he didn't want to play the US anymore and that he was under-appreciated. He complained about playing the same songs in the same towns. We could not make him understand that the wheels were in motion for this tour for 6 months, and that to blow it out just because he didn't want to do it was a very bad move (we think his voice is probably fine now, by the way, though we could never say for sure since he neglected his doctor's appointment and did not call us to tell us that it was not well).
There was no indication that any of this was coming at the end of the Canadian tour. We had great success up there (thank you Canada) and we were encouraged by what was ahead of us. We were all set to record a live album on this tour, we just booked Japan, and we were in the process of putting together Europe and South America. People have been working very hard on this stuff...lots of great people who we are very much lucky to be working with. Travis is unable or unwilling to care about how his actions affect everybody else, and he's been this way since day one. We have passed up or blown many opportunities because of his actions, and this has made it very difficult for us to function effectively. For the 2 weeks worth of shows that we have cancelled in the last year, there have been countless others that were on the verge of not happening. Many nights we have sat in the dressing room or on the bus wondering if Travis was going to show up and what condition he would be in if he did show up. None of us want to be in one of those bands that is held hostage by a single person's whims and demands. Travis's talent is enormous and deep, but after two gut-wrenching years and countless setbacks and heartbreaks, we can no longer work with him.
We want to make this clear that this calamity is not just about the most recent events. For many different reasons, there has been a division that slowly developed from the beginning. Travis came into a very difficult situation, and in a lot of ways he handled it very well. But for whatever reason, we could never get him to come fully into the fold. We tried to achieve unity and balance in the band and we welcomed him with open arms as a full partner. But in a band you are dealing with a bunch of highly creative and impulsive people in suspended adolescence who are also oftentimes maladjusted. It must have been very difficult for Travis to figure out our relationships and to find his place. When things got tough, Travis would fire off an email and threaten to quit the band....this happened at least a dozen times. Eventually, confidence within the band as well as with the people who worked with us became undermined. Everybody around saw what was going on and were probably taking bets on how long we would last.
The real back-story to this is very deep. If you squint your eyes and read very closely between the lines, you might pick up a hint of it. There is no way that we could accurately tell you what has transpired over the past two years without breaking some ethical codes and spewing a bunch of angry stuff that will just sound irrelevant to you. We don't want to hurt Travis or say anything more than what is necessary to tell enough of the story. We believe that to publicly air out all of the prior details of what brought us to this place would be counterproductive. We will have our side of the story and Travis will have his, and the two shall not meet. And you as the reader will be left scratching your head and wondering who is crazier. You'll probably also wonder why we can't just kiss and make up and play the goddamned songs. We can only say that we have tried everything that we could to get to that place.
We sincerely hope that Travis finds a musical situation that makes him happy. As previously stated, his talent is prodigious, and that is why we thought he should play in the big leagues, but now it is clear that he was drafted by the wrong team. He belongs onstage, and that is where we got along with him best. He is a GREAT performer and we are hopeful that he will end up in the right situation for him.
So the next question is "what are we going to do"? First of all, we plan to begin the tour in Allentown, PA on Monday. Chris Shinn, who formed Unified Theory with Brad and Christopher, is coming with us and is ready and willing. We are enormously grateful to Chris for accepting this somewhat daunting challenge. After the tour, we will begin the process of finding somebody who understands, as previously stated, that it is an honor to perform for ya'll, and that it is important to pull together and work together in order to create something truly great. We intend to play all the shows that are on the schedule, including the New Year's eve show, and we will make up the shows that were cancelled earlier this month. We're going on a journey and we'll bring you back something great......thank you for everything that you've given us.
Blind Melon
November 6, 2008
