So, at what point do "rockstars" (in quotations 'cause I'm going to use the term loosely) turn into complete and utter douchebags?  I mean, I know not all of them do.  Some of them remain truly nice, good people.  Some of 'em can at least feign a sense of good values, even though it's usually pretty transparent.  It really seems like there are too many "stars", however, that follow the path of douchery.

Just had to get that out of my head - it was prompted by a story told by my sister today.  Three Doors Down, Hinder and Staind were in town for a concert tonight, playing at the Mandalay Bay Event Center.  I had tickets… but I've seen Hinder, and I got to see an acoustic set by Staind, so I just gave my tickets away.  Three Doors Down isn't anyone I'd want to see live; and actually, that's who my sister was talking about in her story today.

Sis works at one of the Mandalay Bay pools, and told us that the guys from Three Doors Down were hanging out poolside today.  No big surprise, right?  She continued - apparently, they weren't happy with just hanging out in public (What "rockstar" is?) so they tried to get a daybed.  (For those not in the know - a daybed is basically a big ol' couch-looking thing next to the pool that you can rent to lounge on for the day.  Comes with bottle service, as far as I was told.)  They didn't want to pay for that privilege though - they expected to get one for free.  Not only that, but after their request was denied, they continued to beg for the better part of the afternoon!

That blows my mind, and that's where the first paragraph of this entry comes in.  At what point do people who get paid millions of dollars to play music get to expect things for free?  When comes the time where you turn into that dick that overuses the phrases, "Do you have any idea who I am?" or "I'm sure you know my band, [shitty band X]?"  In the case of TDD - c'mon guys; you've enjoyed moderate success recycling the same three-chord hit song over and over, each time to a fair amount of radio spins and decent record sales.  I'm sure you're making enough bank to "splurge" on a daybed that honest people would pay to enjoy.  So you wrote some generic lyrics and put them on top of mediocre uptempo guitar riffs, then found the right people to force-feed your "music" to the masses.  How does that make you more deserving of… anything?

It's almost enough to make a person lose faith in the music industry.  As an aspiring record label founder, I would abhor being the person that helped get a band famous - only to have them turn into greedy, inconsiderate shells of people. There's nothing like having more than enough money to buy extravagance, yet expecting it to be given to you (and complaining when it isn't).  False entitlement is such a fucked up thing to wrap one's brain around.

I wish I could tell people on-air about this.  Too bad I can't.