How the 3rd Anniv. Show with Moby Came About

Lot of people have been asking how this all came out, who, what and why? Let's do a timeline.

Thursday
This was pretty much my breaking point. I had exhausted every conceivable avenue to see who was available. I couldn't even land bands I don't even like. When your coworker is offering his cousin's bar band that he plays with on the weekend with his golf buddies, you know you're in trouble.

The excuses were these:

• Drummer had to work
• Drummer has school
• Drummer is out of town
• Drummer left band
• Drummer has no drums
• No excuse
• What the hell is MusicSnobbery.com?
• Exclusivity clauses that prevents bands from playing in the same area at a certain time frame. Siren Festival has these.

Venue owners have to deal with this B.S. every day. I could never do it.

I had good intentions with this show all along. I didn't want to make a profit from it. I wanted to show people great bands that they'll like, buy a CD, pass it along, make people happy. I had to face the reality that the vision in my head of what this show would be like would not come to fruition.

So really the idea for the video was an avenue to show my desperation. It is a parody of the Lorne Michaels skit from Season One of Saturday Night Live where he offers The Beatles $3,000 to show up and play three Beatles song. What made it funny was that it was a real check and real offer. Then a few weeks later, George Harrison shows up and Michaels has to explain that it was for all four of them.

I wrote out a script using a transcript of that SNL skit and rehearsed so that it would be under 3 minutes. It took about an hour to get it correct. By take 20, I was okay if I stumbled over a line because it was 1am when I finished.

I wasn't sure if anyone would find the video funny, because I was dead serious about the offers.

Why did I pick those four people?

-- Moby was my first choice because I know the people at his label, Mute. If I sent it to them, they could forward it to his people. My only reservation was that I've never met him, he's a world traveler and always on the go. If I had to place bets, I would have put my money on him because he would get it -- whatever "it" is.

Believe it or not, the other three were the first people to pop into my head when I asked myself, 'Who would I want to see at Maxwell's if I could pick anybody in the world?" Maybe it's the way I'm wired, but most people would say Bono, McCartney or Jagger.

-- A lot of people I surveyed thought Ben Gibbard would do it. I've met him twice, so hopefully he would recognize the name of the blog. I also figured since they don't start touring until the end of April, he could be in New York doing promotion and all that jazz. As far as I know, he has not seen it.

-- Win Butler was the long shot because he lives in Canada, he's done touring and is taking a much needed break. He also has one of my branded guitar picks. As far as I know, he has not seen it.

-- With The Nash, I was hoping she would stop over in New York before she started her tour on the 15th in Atlanta. It helps that Salt & Samovar opened for her in January. Actually, she might know me and the blog the best, but that's not saying much. I know her people/handlers have seen it, loved it and got back to me saying "She would if she could," but I can't confirm that she's seen it.

Friday
I sent the YouTube  link to some blogs and to my limited number of contacts in the music industry. BrooklynVegan was game for posting and responded, "You're asking for it." I always am.

At 5:04pm, I get a few frantic IMs from my contact at Mute Records, "CHRIS!!!!! OMG!!!!!" I look in my inbox and I see a message from a sender named Moby, Subject: from Moby. 

My reaction was half skeptical that it was him and the other half crapping my pants.

He said what he's offering to do and gave me a few options. I requested he play versions of his songs and other people's songs with his friends. It took me about 10 minutes to write a response because I wanted to be really careful that my spelling and grammar was clear, because it never is (thanks Rutgers degree!). I did write that the best concert I ever saw was the y100 Winter Show or something in 1999, the line-up was Stroke 9, Moby, Foo Fighters, Oasis and Beck. He writes back, "All I remember was that I was really jet lagged." I knew it was him. We then e-mailed back and forth for a good hour.

The plan was to keep it a secret until we worked out some details. So I toyed with some of my friends, asking, "Who do you think is going to respond to my post?"

Walking home from work, I was in a daze. Everything was weird. I should be dancing in the streets, but I was in 'freaking out" mode. I was going to see Mahogany and Dirty on Purpose at Mercury Lounge, but it was best not to go.

Saturday
Tried to get some sleep, but it was tough.

More e-mails about logistics. I was making decisions on things that I wouldn't think I would have to make. Ultimately, we decided Moby would post on his website, then send a MySpace/Facebook alert at noon, Monday.

The anticipation of it would kill me. Plus, not telling anyone would eat at my stomach. I think all were curious as to what the reaction would be.

I drove down to Philly to have dinner with friends and visit with my sister, brother-in-law and niece. I was hoping it would take my mind off of things, but every fiber of my body is thinking about the show and what it could mean to me. I even missed the exit for my sister's house because I was deep in thought. The only other time I felt this way was when I fell in love once a long time ago. That ended badly, I hope this doesn't.

Sunday
I maybe slept for 2-3 hours.

I went to Whole Foods to buy baking supplies. I emptied the shelf on my brand of cocoa powder and vegan chocolate chips. I'll be baking up a storm for the next few days.

I call Dave from Salt & Samovar and Michael from La Laque about the good news. Their reaction was priceless, because I had to convince them that it wasn't a joke. Atkins was nearby with Dave at a wedding and she couldn't believe it either.  I can't say enough how thankful I am to those guys for sticking by me this whole time.

Monday
Probably the worst night of sleep. Maybe an hour. I started getting mad at myself because I couldn't get excited about the show.  Too much anxiety about the announcement. I'm up at 6am, and I see Moby updated his journal. The other part of the plan was that I would give the announcement some space before I said anything. Just let the internet do it's work.

I take the train into New York everyday. When I left Penn Station, I started to panic. I lost my sight, I had trouble breathing, then I felt dizzy. My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I had to prop myself up against a wall to allow myself to calm down. It was bad.

When I got to a computer, I was constantly checking my e-mail and on Google to see if popped up anywhere. Then Jen from The Music Slut writes me, "WHOLLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!" BrooklynVegan saw Moby's post. Then it took a while for things to catch on. Eventually, my IM window was blinking mad.

People just kept asking a lot of questions, mainly, "Are you excited?" I told them, that I was literally freaking out. Luckily, I have a good support group who talked me off the ledge.

When I got home, the best feeling came over me ... I was ready for bed at 11.

Today
Best night of sleep. I woke up and I felt like me again. Then I realized I had over slept by an hour, so I was late getting into the city.

When I checked Ticketweb at around 10am, I see the No Tickets available icon. For once, that's a good sign. I call Maxwell's to congratulate them and e-mail everyone.

It's just been a flurry of e-mails because we (as in the bands and I) have some amazing surprises for you. Every e-mail ends with something along the lines, "I can't believe this is going to happen."  It's all coming together rather nicely and without any hitches.

Comments

Good work! I am excited to say the leats to see Moby 8 blocks from my Apartment for $8! Can't get much better than that!

Ah yes my first Moby show was the same as yours. It was the Y100 Festival at the current First Union Center in Phili, I believe it was Dec 1999? Oasis, Foo Fighters, Moby and Nine Days? Good show!

Yee hah Mofo!! Congrats on staying alive through all of that!

[John]

No nine days at that gig, Anon. Stroke 9 was the awful opening-the-evening band.
Further trivia: it was Oasis' first live performance in over a year, they drew hordes of UK press and fans from across the pond, and they only played five damn songs.
To be fair, one of those songs was a kickass "Helter Skelter," but still.

Yes you are right Stroke 9....Yeah I remember feeling slighted by the 25 minute Oasis set! Beck was awesome that night too..I almost forgot about him!

[swiss]

It's been fun following the saga since the beginning (and got turned onto the Teeth as a bonus). I'm no hipster (tho am a music snob) so will not damn try to pretend this is nothing -- fucking amazing story -- nice WORK!! Happy birthday in advance.