Gee, wiz, Mr. Russell, what a bright idea!

The BBQ Pit
1

When I read this paragraph from this article in my morning newspaper I almost choked on my cereal!!!

Russell said the band is canceling the rest of its tour. "We lost the guitar player. I can’t see going out and having fun after that,” he said. "It’s the most horrible tragedy I’ve ever had happen in my entire life. What are you going to say that’s not going to cheapen it? I’m numb. I’m just numb.”

Humm…cancel the rest of the tour. Can’t see going out and havng fun…

Pyothechnics in an old wooden building with a very low celing…

WE WOULDN’T WANT TO DEPRIVE YOU OF YOUR ‘FUN’ WOULD WE!

(Sorry for the shout but I had to get that out.)

Either the man really is still numb (I sincerly hope so!), all those years of loud music has lead to serious brain damage or he is lining up for the “World’s Biggist Idiot of the Year Award”.

My money is on the later. I saw the interview where he said they asked for the club owner’s permission and received it. Assuming the owners’ denials are corrrect either someone in his band organization lied to him, he just assumed permission was asked and given or he is lying.

After hearing the owner of the Stone Pony’s convincing story and hearing on the news that at least four other clubs were never asked for permission to use pyrotechnics, I think he was stupid enough to assume permission has always been asked during the tour.

A curse on Mr. Russell if he is lying or the person who lied to Mr. Russell if my either of my first two assumptions are correct.

Oh, and a pox on The Station’s owners and or managers if they gave permission for the pyrotechnics in that fire trap.

And while I’m at it, a double pox on keeping the second floor club in Chicago open after receiving a court order to NOT use the second floor.

A triple pox on the lawyers who were greedy enough to get paid for repeatedly going to court to keep the second floor club open with the building code violations as is.

Closed means ‘closed until the place is brought up to the building code’ to any person with any sense in their heads instead of greed!

Sorry about adding the part about the Chicago tragedy but that’s been bothering me all week. The second RI tragedy and Mr. Russell’s inane comments just set me off to my first Pit post.

2

I think you have to cut Russell a bit of a break. He’s the lead singer, not the tour manager.

He’s used to just being the guy who screams into the microphone and has stuff handed to him. I’d be willing to bet he approached this show like any other … wake up at the Howard Johnson, go to IHOP for some waffles, head over to the club for a sound check, lunch of a Big Mac and a sixer of Bud, an afternoon nap and then off to scream “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” for the millionth time.

I don’t think this guy had the foggiest notion around permission and building codes and whatnot.

That being said, I think whoever was resposnsible for going ahead with that pyrotechnic show in that building, with or without permission, is in deep doo-doo. And I would lay that responsiblity on the band as a business entity or whatever.

But just because Jack Russell is the lead singer, doesn’t make him responsible for every tour detail.

3

FTR, Jack Russell is not just the lead singer.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.shtml

the show was billed as “Jack Russells Great White”

It was his show.

But Your right, there was probably a road manager who made all those preperations.

4

“Jack Russell’s Great White” is probably just hubris. It’s him, and (I’m guessing, I really don’t follow hair bands) one other original member, or something like that. Billing themselves as they do is probably a matter of name recognition, and corporate covering-ones-assedness.

I mean “Jack Russell’s Great White” is just the “company” name.

We’re talking a has-been hair metal singer. I doubt this guy is a CEO material.

On the other hand, if he’s going to take that plunge by making himself the center of attention, maybe he should be the sole bearer of responsibility.

Anyway you slice, I don’t think Mr. Russell’s comeback is going to work.

5

Great White played at a local club here in Albuquerque recently. The club manager’s story exactly matches Russell’s report of how it works:

The band’s manager asked for permission to use the pyro display.
The club’s manager said “no way.”
The band said “ok” and went on with no pyro.

I don’t know what happened at the other clubs, but it sounds to me as though somebody is keeping the time-honored tradition of blame-dodging and finger-pointing.

Whoever’s fault it is, it really sucks.

6

It sounds to me like some reporter asked him if they would be going on with the with the tour and he said the obvious “no of course not”. If he did add the equally obvious “what a stupid question” I doubt the reporter would quote that part.
What would have been a good answer :confused: ?

7

On the other hand …

In a message from Jack Russell on a local Rhode Island TV station (I got this from here, but I think you have to register to read the articles):

"To our fans:
I personally would like to express my heartfelt condolences to those families of the love ones who perished as well as Ty, our guitarist’s family, in the tragedy at the Station last night.

We will continue our Tour with a replacement guitarist sometime in the next few days.

Great White will continue the tour as soon as possible."

The grieving is apparently over.