ClumsyMonkey.net

how could other people meet them inside?

because they are "more important."

You don't know the whole story, but I don't feel like telling it tonight so it'll come back up tomorrow. For tonight....let the topic rest.

ok,
First of all, They never ditch their fans... so what they didn't come out last night? How would you like it if you were sick as a dog with the flu and you just got done performing for 2 hours and then you have to go meet fans? they aren't in the mood. And they are sick...raine sounded it tonight in CT..
Feel better Raine.
that stinx that you had to wait out in the cold to meet the band..but you have to expect that they are musicians and sometimes you just can't meet them...they need their rest...and they get in bad moods.

Ok . Just to clarified and my actually unfrozen fingers fior once this weekend and i waited out side for bout 7 1/2 hours before the show and yea i can understand that they may have been tired and what not but they knew there were people outside waiting for them for over 2 hours and they could have said in the beginning they weren't going to come out to save us from any further frostbite but whatever. And i couldn't really tell that the crownd was bad cause i was in the front center so all i could hear was everyone singing. But i think you expect crappy shows at colleges just cause,well,half the people just go to go not cause theyre big fans or anything. Just a reason for them to act stupid. But yea thats all i'm saying for now.

OK, clarification needed here. Why in God's name would anyone go to a concert 7 and 1/2 hours early? Or even 2 hours early? When you know that it is winter. Winter leads to cold. And snow. And both of those lead to frostbite. You paid money to watch Our Lady Peace put on a concert. Which they did. And I'm sure, if you weren't so god damned picky, it would have been an amazing experience. You did not pay them to come meet you outside, if you stood out there once again. They owe you nothing. You, as a fan, do not own any band. They play music. If you like it, you go see them in concert. I want to congratulate the assholes who have started this shit without actually telling the whole story for their brilliance. People now think OLP is "in a bad mood lately" or whatever. They played music. For you. Why can that not be enough?

Perhaps you guys should take a listen to the song "Not Enough". Maybe Raine is speaking to you. No matter what they do, it's not enough for some of you. And that's ridiculous. If you don't want to like their music any more, don't listen to them. However, if you're pissed because they didn't personally shake your hand and thank you for coming, then you need to get your priorities straight. If you want that kind of reaction, go see a local band. They'll be ecstatic to talk to you for hours. YOU made OLP into the popular hit machine that they are becoming today. People like them because they make good music. And they try to mob them at every opportunity. They have families and lives that they have to try to run at all times, and sometimes that means pushing some groupies aside. Grow up, deal, go buy a CD of a band not so well known, and maybe give them some words of encouragement.

It's not about you folks, it's about the music. As long as we all remember that, then no concert should ever be a disappointment.

Nate

P.S. It's February. It's generally rather chilly out. Just a quick pointer, if a show starts at 7:30, show up around 7. Sit in the car for a few. Wear some gloves. And a scarf. You can get to the front at any show no matter what time you get there. Trust me. I've done it many times before. And sometimes, you just have to yield and let someone else have a chance at the front for once.

yeah, i got there at 8 yesterday(not olp's show...ok go) and that when doors opend. but i was front and center.

and you did good, but i owuldnt have been quite as harsh you are absolutely right that they dont owe us anything. i think maybe they have just spoiled us. in any case, if they have an off day every once in a hwile, i dont think its reason to start thinking they are somehow less appreciative of the fans.

Ok just a few things. We got there early cause we wanted to be in front and i don't like pushing people to get up front. my opinion if they get there that early they deserve to be in the front. I'm not gonna push my way thru other people cause i hate when people do that to me. 2nd. Greenwheel is not a local band and all theyre shows i've been too they've stayed after everytime to talk to the fans. And sure i froze but yea its my fault for waiting out there for 7 1/2 hours and the only part i am blaming is that they could have freakin told us they didn't want any "fan interaction" <security guards words> in the beginning instead of making us freeze our asses off for two hours and then telling the security guard to tell us. (not too mention they saw us out there and completely ignored us)Oh yeah It is bout the fans. The music doesn't sell it self u know. I'm sorry that was just the dumbest sentence i have ever seen. FYI you weren't there so u have no right to call people assholes for stating how they feel. I'm over it now but i just had to reply to your very wrong post.

OK, well, Melissa pretty much just summed it up, and I was going to go to bed right now, because I'm absolutley exhausted (heh... not strong enough words...) from this trip, but I feel the need to explain EVERYTHING that happened, because I know you guys want to know. Please read it all, before you judge anything.

Melissa and I arrived with Jacqui, Rob, and Kimmy around noon/12:30ish (after our 7 and a half hour drive... calculate that one... heh, yep, we left Philly at 5am... actually 4am for Melissa and myself, because we had to get from Jersey to Philly... but yeah). Melissa and I stayed in line while the others went to pick up Bethany and Sarah at the bus stop. While we were there waiting, many MANY people involved with the band(s) passed through the doors, and saw us there. The two of us were there for EIGHT HOURS in the FREEZING COLD (it started off about 20 degrees Fahrenheit and dropped when it got dark). Nobody so much as offered us any kind of warmth. There was a trophy room in the front of the gym, that's actually separate from the actual gym, but we weren't allowed to stand in there, because somehow we're a "security risk". For most of the day, it was a small group, probably about 11 people until about an hour or two before the doors were SUPPOSED to open. Therefore, if anyone wanted to be nice to the diehards freezing to death (we all honestly thought we were going to have toes/fingers that had to be removed), they could've invited us inside for soundcheck or something. And, yes, yes, I know this isn't the band's fault, but, they were aware of the fact that there were people standing outside in the freezing cold, most of us not dressed correctly because you can't bundle up too much for a concert, or you'll pass out when you get inside. The entire front of the gym is glass. We could see them, they could see us. They just laughed (not the band, but everyone else... the band just ignored our existance entirely). Then, to make matters worse, there were "technical difficulties", and soundcheck didn't happen until AFTER we were supposed to have been let inside. We weren't let in until about 8:00 (instead of 7).

OK, so now we're FINALLY inside. I'll just skip the part about lack of most of the cool merch from FOTTP. So, I run in as fast as my legs can take me (and, remember, I was in the very front of the line with Melissa), and luckily manage to score a spot dead center on the barricade. I say luckily, because there were already a bunch of people in there taking up the good spots. Friends of the band and such. Anyway, so, the actual concert was alright. OLP definitely wasn't putting their all into the performance. Possibly because they were sick, or possibly because they had been drinking. I definitely saw Jeremy with a cup of something that I'm positive wasn't water on stage. Real professional. Sorry, that's my bitterness getting the better of me. See, up til this point in the concert, I was still happy and loved the band with all my heart. Anyway, the crowd was fine singing-wise around me, but like I said, I was in the very front. As far as rowdiness goes, they were TERRIBLE. I literally almost died quite a few times. No exaggeration. I couldn't breathe because people were pushing so hard, and I could feel my ribs starting to bend. There were about a million crowd surfers. It was awful. And, yes, go ahead yell at me "if you can't handle it, don't be up front"... well, personally, I don't see why going to see my favorite band, and wanting to be close enough to truly enjoy the experience, should be taking my life into my hands. ANYway, the setlist was mixed up... possibly to fool us into believing it was something different than usual. Heh. But, I didn't mind that, I'd just think they'd get tired of playing the same songs every night. Whatever. It was alright show-wise, like I said. Definitely not the best I've seen them... maybe not the worst, either. I wish they had played a bit longer, though. That was disappointing. When they started 4am, I think the entire crowd (well, the fans, anyway) let out a "noooooo!!!!" because we knew it was already over, and it was way too short. OK, so, show over.

Now would come the part that makes me want to hate this band more than anything in the world, but I can't make myself because they're just too talented. Darn it. I'm really REALLY hoping it was not a normal thing for this to happen... but I can't help but feel they've become jaded and think they're better than us. The things I've been hearing lately... and then to experience it first hand... god. I'm so pissed off. OK, so, I'll tell you what happened.

So, we all gather by the tour bus, like everyone always does. There were probably about 30 of us out there, which was a lot, but not THAT many. We're all freezing to death (again) because we had all been sweating, so now it wasn't just cold outside, but we were wet. And dehydrated, so drinking ice cold water (froze in the car). Hah. Anyway, there's glass doors on this little entrance, too, so we could see inside to what appeared to be a lounge area or something. I couldn't really tell, I was in the back. But, we could see inside. So, we're all standing out there, and Jeremy shows up in the room inside. We're all screaming and the entire time he's in there, he doesn't so much as look up at us. He stood there and talked to people for a good 15 minutes, at least. Then just left. Couldn't even walk over to the doors and wave at us... or even jokingly point and laugh at us in the cold or anything. Just disappeared into a door. Then, Steve came out. He did pretty much the same thing, except he was in the room much much longer. And, people were going in and out of the glass doors, so whenever they were opened, the entire crowd screamed "STEEEEEEEEEVE!!!!!!!!!" There is NO way he couldn't hear us. Everyone else in the entire room he was in turned and stared at us like we were freaks (nice), yet he didn't so much as look up. Totally acted like we weren't even there. Then eventually he disappeared just like Jeremy had. About an hour and a half or two hours passed, and we were just standing out there freezing. Again. So, what happens then? A security guard came out (who had been really nice earlier... sweet guy) and told us to please move over to the left (or something). He went on to tell us that he a representative for the band told him to come out and tell us that the band would just be coming out and walking directly onto the bus, because they didn't feel like "interacting". WHAT is THAT?!?! We talked to the guard a little more, and he tried to make the band not seem like bad guys, saying "oh you know how it is, you're tired, and you get a little irratible, they just want to get on the bus and leave"... but, well, screw them, we were tired too. And cold, unlike them. Not to mention, that was a blatent lie, after we watched Jeremy and Steve talk to people for that long, we KNEW they weren't tired. Oh yeah, and I personally spoke to the security guard about it, and was standing directly in front of him when he told us what was happening, so I didn't mishear anything. What bothers me isn't really the fact that they wanted to just get on the bus and leave, but the fact that they couldn't even wave to us or acknowlege our existance while they were in that room. So, I guess I'm the most pissed off at Jeremy and Steve. But, in general it was a crappy thing to do.

I felt so hurt/angry/depressed/betrayed at that very moment. And, still do. I honestly don't understand what happened to these guys. Just less than 3 months ago, Jeremy hung out with us for 2 and a half hours. Steve talked to me and stuck us on the guestlist. Now, it's like we're worthless. We can stand out in the freezing cold, get crushed in an over-rowdy crowd, travel insane distances (which they ALSO knew about, because Bethany had a "Mazurites Unite! Ann Arbor, MI" sign, which Steve saw and read during the concert), and they don't care. They just ignore us totally and expect us to still love them. Sorry guys, doesn't work that way. You made (at least) 7 very very hardcore fans extremely angry. All I have to say is, they'd better make it up somehow. I don't care how, just somehow. But, I'll tell you this, next time I meet them, they're getting an earful.

OK, now I'm going to bed. In my nice, warm bed. Not three uneven chairs put together in an overcrowded hotel room. As much fun as that was.

Edit:
OK, guess I'm not going to bed yet. Wanted to explain that the reason we got there so early was because of multiple things. Bethany and Sarah had to be picked up because of the time their bus was coming in. We also didn't know how lost we would get on our drive. Long drive, good chance to get a couple hours off of your route without realizing it. The reason we stood in line so long was because there was only room for 5 in the car, and while the others got Bethany and Sarah, we couldn't be in the car. Although, all 7 of us did have to all pile in a few times... but it wasn't comfortable or safe. We did it as rarely as possible. We also had to check into our hotel. So, that's why we were there so frigging early.

And, the reason nobody's posting the whole story (until now, anyway) is because we're TIRED and nobody felt like typing all of that up. I'm just stupid and for some reason care about you people and want you to know the whole story. And, now, I am going to bed before I die. Goodnight.

true. getting there early is a good hting. pushing=bad thing. and i will agree with them on this:they could have told them about nto wanting fan interaction earlier. but whatever. atleast you got hugs from greenwheel!

One last thing... haha.

Yeah, but I got hugs from Greenwheel on Monday! Well, Andy. Only Andy hugged me both times. I didn't innitiate either hug.

I haven't spoken to OLP since November (Raine since October). I like talking to them. They're nice guys, and very interesting people. I'm hoping that statement is still fully true. Because I'm beginning to question the "nice" part. It makes me very sad.

dont quetsion,dont quetsion.

everybody has bad days. i kno i wouldnt like to be judged on one of MY bad days.

you're just mad because steve didnt squeeze your arm!hahaah

OK, last post this time, I swear.

Thing is... they weren't having a bad day. We could see them at soundcheck and in the room talking to the "special" people. They were smiling, laughing, and having a good time all night. They just chose to completely ignore us. Which really hurt. It was beyond rude, and very uncalled for. There was no reason not to at LEAST smile or wave at us. I know it's hard to read this and agree with it, because I've done it myself reading other people's bad experiences. You think, "well, it's not THAT bad... they were probably just having a bad day." But when it happens to you... it's... well, it's life-changing. I really don't know how much time I'm gonna spend on OLP anymore. It's sad. Very very sad. And, going back to the "bad day" thing... these guys sure have been having a lot of "bad days" recently, haven't they?

I couldn't have said it better myself, Nikki. You should use that as your part of the "hate mail" we're sending Rich and Shelley

Speaking of hate mail...here's my portion:

Looking back, I’d have to say that “God didn’t want us to attend this concert” was a motto for my friends and me. Everything that could’ve gone wrong, happened. It all started when our car broke down on the way to the bus station (we took the bus all of the 350 miles it took to get to Rochester). Then, our bus was an hour late, and we had a frightening encounter with an irate passenger. Exhausted, yet excited (Sarah and I maybe got 2 hrs of sleep on the 8 hr bus trip), we arrived in Rochester at 7:30 AM. Since the rest of our gang (who were driving from Philadelphia and Long Island) weren’t going to arrive in Rochester until the afternoon, Sarah and I spent several hours in the bus terminal and the adjacent mall. It was at the dollar store in the mall where we found a bunch of signs. We bought one that said “Party” on it, and wrote CM underneath it (www.clumsymonkey.net) and on the back of the sign, I wrote “Mazurites Unite, Ann Arbor, MI.” Finally, after wasting several hours at the bus station and mall, Rob, Jacqui and Kimmy arrived to pick us up. We got to RIT at about 2:30, proceeded to check in at the hotel, and came back around 4:00, expecting to be let in (since it was EXTREMELY cold outside) and able to watch the soundcheck. We knew something was wrong, since we previously saw the schedule, and they were supposed to do the soundcheck at 4. “It’s ok,” we thought, “They’ll let us inside.” Little did we know that the people at RIT would refuse to let us inside, even though it was absolutely freezing outside, and we had been waiting for a long time. There was a lobby, yet they refused to let us sit inside and warm up. When I went inside to use the restroom, I stood in the lobby for a minute, trying to put my gloves on, and I was promptly yelled at and told to leave. I was shocked by how blatantly inconsiderate the RIT staff was to us. So, we waited outside for 4 hours, teased by the gigantic glass windows that allowed us to see EVERYTHING that was going on. When they finally decided to let us in (there were some technical difficulties, so everything was running behind), we were all reaching levels of hypothermia and were utterly exhausted, but we were excited. I mean, between the seven of us, we traveled a combined total of probably 800 miles. Why? Because we are a dedicated group of fans, who were expecting this concert to be small, intimate, and probably one of the last ones before the European tour. Security was a piece of cake, they didn’t even check for cameras. My friends Rob, Sarah and I ended up in what I like to call the “Steve Mazur Fan Section,” which just happened to be right next to Rich and Shelley, J.

Ok, now it’s time to talk about the concert. As soon as the set list was posted, I began to attempt to count all of the songs. I counted between 12 and 14, and was shocked. At all of the OLP concerts I’ve been to (well, the ones in which OLP was headlining), they have never played so little songs. Wondering what was happening, I assumed that either RIT had a curfew, or Raine wasn’t feeling well. I was right on the second assumption. To our surprise, they started out with Naveed, which was absolutely incredible. It reminded me of how much I truly love that song, and how phenomenal it is live. I don’t really remember the set list, but that’s because it was nothing truly “out of the ordinary.” As my friends said, this concert was really the “Anti-Villanova concert.”

The highlight of this concert (and probably one of the most memorable OLP moments I will ever have) was at the end of the show, when Steve recognized my “Mazurites Unite” sign, and handed the security guards two picks to give to me. I was in heaven. I’ve been trying and trying to get a Steve guitar pick through my own doing. And I received not just one, but two!!!! I was ecstatic!

Even though all seven of us were exhausted, sweaty and dehydrated, we decided that we wanted to stay after to talk to the band for a little bit. I really, really wanted to thank Steve for giving me the guitar picks. That made my day. So, we walk to where the tour bus is. It’s next to this basement area, which was enclosed in glass. Once again, we were refused to go inside, and were tormented by seeing everything that was happening behind the glass. People were inside, Jeremy and Steve were talking to them, and appearing to have a good time, while we were standing outside in the subzero weather. I took my sign and held it over my head for a long time, hoping that somebody would see it, and tell Steve about it, and hopefully he would come outside or let us go inside, and I could tell him how much I appreciated that he gave me the guitar picks. Sadly, that was not the case. Rich did spot me, though, and he showed who I think was Steve’s mother, and she laughed. Steve also noticed my sign and attempted to get up and walk to the door, but then sat back down. We waited to the point where I couldn’t feel my feet anymore, nor move my toes. Nikki, who wanted to tell Steve how much she appreciated that he put her and the rest of the group on the guestlist for the Villanova concert, overheard from the security officer that that band was tired, and didn’t want to go outside, and we had to form a straight line, so that they could walk to the bus.

That remark totally made this whole concert 100 times worse. We completely understood that the band was tired, and didn’t want to take a few minutes to talk to their fans, but why couldn’t somebody tell us that right after we began to stand by the door, so that we wouldn’t have to freeze outside? And, if they didn’t want to interact with us, why did they have to talk to people right in front of the glass, so that we could see everything that was happening? Nothing made sense, and it still doesn’t make sense now.

The combination of the bus ride up, the freezing weather, the lackluster set list and the post-concert incident really disheartened us. I think I’m “OLP-ed out” for a few months.

-Bethany

ah and I'm trying to think about all of the quotes and inside jokes that came from this concert. dudes, help me remember all of them.

My favorite "Rochy quote" is the one in my sig.

ah sorry about the triple post, but I'm still thinking about this concert.

What I really want to hear is that Steve and Jeremy were talking to family (Steve's family was at the concert) but I know that's not the case, because Rich and Shelley were in there, and also some supposedly "diehard" fans who go to all of the concerts.

And Nate: I know what you mean about "They have families and lives that they have to try to run at all times, and sometimes that means pushing some groupies aside," but the thing is, during past concerts, OLP has been "ecstatic to meet us." So, we're used to the band coming out and talking to us like local bands do. If OLP was known for just leaving after the concerts and not interacting, then I would also understand. But one of the things that "defined OLP" (well, it used to define OLP for me) was their connection with the fans, and the appreciation they had for them. So, that's one of the major reasons why we're so upset. We don't understand what's going on.

Ah well, they'll never top Villanova, right guys? If I knew how awesome that concert was going to be, I would've spent 14 hours on the bus to get there. Because I guess good concerts don't come that often. *sigh* oh well. Time to start obsessing about other bands. Like Kimmy said, "Maybe we should start liking bands that have dead members, because then they can't do this to us."

Bethany...your photographic memory impresses us.

hahah when those guys at the coffee shop remarked about our "high IQ," they weren't kidding!!!

"My belt buckle is stuck in my uterus..."
"Rochy or BUST"
"This is the real Rochester?"

Jacqui: "I'm eating food from Michigan!!!!!!"