Geoff Tate

Witchfinder wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

If you ever thought that Gene & Paul were going to give you something for free, you haven't been keeping up with music.  Charging for autographs is hardly the same as insulting an audience.

Charging for autographs IS insulting the audience. The audience already bought your album, ticket, t-shirt...an autograph on one of those should be a courtesy. It's handwriting...it's not talent or art.

I would agree that artists should autograph for free, but I am sure the complete lack of album sales has forced some of them into fan-fleecing behavior. I have never personally paid for an autograph and I doubt I would.  

Well, in Kiss' case, it's just greed. But still, low record sales is no excuse to charge for an autograph or a picture w/ a fan on their own camera. Nobody is that important.

Then again, they only do it because they know some of their fans will pay for it.

Witchfinder wrote:

Everyone hates Scott Ian and says he's a jerk, but he gladly autographed my copy of Among The Living and had a nice chat.

Never met Scott Ian but I have met Joey BellaDonna and he was a cool dude too, despite rumors to the contrary.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

If you ever thought that Gene & Paul were going to give you something for free, you haven't been keeping up with music.  Charging for autographs is hardly the same as insulting an audience.

Charging for autographs IS insulting the audience. The audience already bought your album, ticket, t-shirt...an autograph on one of those should be a courtesy. It's handwriting...it's not talent or art.

I would agree that artists should autograph for free, but I am sure the complete lack of album sales has forced some of them into fan-fleecing behavior. I have never personally paid for an autograph and I doubt I would.  

Well, in Kiss' case, it's just greed. But still, low record sales is no excuse to charge for an autograph or a picture w/ a fan on their own camera. Nobody is that important.

Then again, they only do it because they know some of their fans will pay for it.

Indeed. Shawn, what are your thoughts on those VIP passes that are all the rage now? You know the ones where you get a ticket, access to the band, signed stuff, merch, etc... Is that fleecing?

Fat Freddy wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Everyone hates Scott Ian and says he's a jerk, but he gladly autographed my copy of Among The Living and had a nice chat.

Never met Scott Ian but I have met Joey BellaDonna and he was a cool dude too, despite rumors to the contrary.

I met Joey and he was very nice. So were Frank and Charlie. What surprised me the most about all of them, is that none of them are taller than 5'7".

Not that I'm defending Gene & Paul, but just about every big name charges for autographs and that certainly isn't limited to musicians (sports figures leap to mind).

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

If you ever thought that Gene & Paul were going to give you something for free, you haven't been keeping up with music.  Charging for autographs is hardly the same as insulting an audience.

Charging for autographs IS insulting the audience. The audience already bought your album, ticket, t-shirt...an autograph on one of those should be a courtesy. It's handwriting...it's not talent or art.

I would agree that artists should autograph for free, but I am sure the complete lack of album sales has forced some of them into fan-fleecing behavior. I have never personally paid for an autograph and I doubt I would.  

Well, in Kiss' case, it's just greed. But still, low record sales is no excuse to charge for an autograph or a picture w/ a fan on their own camera. Nobody is that important.

Then again, they only do it because they know some of their fans will pay for it.

I agree with this if it's at a concert, but if it's at a convention, that's just part of the game.

Really, it boils down to some people having a positive experience with a celeb, and others having a negative one. I rarely listen to people when they tell me they had a good or bad experience with someone. That's just not a reliable way to label them as angel or demon. Sometimes they have off days. Sometimes they're high, or drunk. Sometimes they have a lot of shit on their minds. In the case of DuBrow, my Uncle met him and said he was outstanding. So who to believe? Or perhaps DuBrow was on a batch of bad painkillers in the above mentioned anecdote?

Now for Tate, I've never seen behavior like this before, nor have I heard of it. Calling the audience stupid outright--an obvious and clear verbal attack--is just mean. Tossing a cell phone--mean. It's no different than the whole debacle with Amy's Baking Company, and in their case, yeah there are a lot of horrible bakeries and restaurants out there that treat their customers poorly, but ABC's behavior is unprecedented. So is Geoff's. Yeah, Axl was late or walked off stage. Ozzy cancelled mid-tour (people still act like he's he only one who's ever done this). Gene--well, Gene is Gene. But Geoff is directly insulting his fans without even implying animosity. That's digging a deep-ass hole.

Eyesore wrote:

There are loads of examples of people being rock-star assholes, and there are loads of fan complaints. You're acting like we can't discuss Tate's antics without also trashing every other dingleberry musician out there. How would any of that be relevant to this discussion?

The Tate discussion is current; Tate's descent into public buffoonery is going on now. And we're discussing it accordingly.

And like I said, it's public. Kevin DuBrow being a jerk to a fan at some random concert is hardly the same thing. Is there video of DuBrow spitting on a bandmate, telling a crowd of paying customers that they suck, calling paying customers who leave his show early "pussies," or taking a paying customer's expensive cell phone and chucking it away toward the back of the venue? Are there loads of interviews where DuBrow flat out lies and contradicts himself on a near daily basis? Are there interviews where DuBrow claims to have written 80% of Quiet Riot's music despite ZERO evidence showing that he's ever even written ONE SONG by himself?

Come on, dude.

Stalin probably never did any of those things either, it doesn't make him a nice guy!

It's not the discussing that I have a problem with, and I'm certainly not suggesting that there is anything that people CAN'T talk about or say. I'm just mystified by the level of utter hatred spewed forth (the stuff on here is pretty tame) towards the man, that's all.

That said, the sheer up front, in public nature of his arrogance is a bit much, but nothing that we haven't seen before, he's not reached Blackmore or Axl levels just yet.

Boris2008 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

There are loads of examples of people being rock-star assholes, and there are loads of fan complaints. You're acting like we can't discuss Tate's antics without also trashing every other dingleberry musician out there. How would any of that be relevant to this discussion?

The Tate discussion is current; Tate's descent into public buffoonery is going on now. And we're discussing it accordingly.

And like I said, it's public. Kevin DuBrow being a jerk to a fan at some random concert is hardly the same thing. Is there video of DuBrow spitting on a bandmate, telling a crowd of paying customers that they suck, calling paying customers who leave his show early "pussies," or taking a paying customer's expensive cell phone and chucking it away toward the back of the venue? Are there loads of interviews where DuBrow flat out lies and contradicts himself on a near daily basis? Are there interviews where DuBrow claims to have written 80% of Quiet Riot's music despite ZERO evidence showing that he's ever even written ONE SONG by himself?

Come on, dude.

Stalin probably never did any of those things either, it doesn't make him a nice guy!

It's not the discussing that I have a problem with, and I'm certainly not suggesting that there is anything that people CAN'T talk about or say. I'm just mystified by the level of utter hatred spewed forth (the stuff on here is pretty tame) towards the man, that's all.

That said, the sheer up front, in public nature of his arrogance is a bit much, but nothing that we haven't seen before, he's not reached Blackmore or Axl levels just yet.

Welcome to the Internet 2013. It's a different world now.

Boris2008 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

There are loads of examples of people being rock-star assholes, and there are loads of fan complaints. You're acting like we can't discuss Tate's antics without also trashing every other dingleberry musician out there. How would any of that be relevant to this discussion?

The Tate discussion is current; Tate's descent into public buffoonery is going on now. And we're discussing it accordingly.

And like I said, it's public. Kevin DuBrow being a jerk to a fan at some random concert is hardly the same thing. Is there video of DuBrow spitting on a bandmate, telling a crowd of paying customers that they suck, calling paying customers who leave his show early "pussies," or taking a paying customer's expensive cell phone and chucking it away toward the back of the venue? Are there loads of interviews where DuBrow flat out lies and contradicts himself on a near daily basis? Are there interviews where DuBrow claims to have written 80% of Quiet Riot's music despite ZERO evidence showing that he's ever even written ONE SONG by himself?

Come on, dude.

Stalin probably never did any of those things either, it doesn't make him a nice guy!

It's not the discussing that I have a problem with, and I'm certainly not suggesting that there is anything that people CAN'T talk about or say. I'm just mystified by the level of utter hatred spewed forth (the stuff on here is pretty tame) towards the man, that's all.

That said, the sheer up front, in public nature of his arrogance is a bit much, but nothing that we haven't seen before, he's not reached Blackmore or Axl levels just yet.

I understand all of this but...Axl is borderline douche, but I can't say the same for Blackmore. The man got burned out and had to walk away. Yes, no one ever got along with him, but that doesn't make him a douche necessarily. And all musicians have arrogant ways. EVH is my "idol" dare I say and damn he's done some stupid shit. My point is, Axl and Blackmore haven't directly insulted their audience, and I don't know if it could get much worse than that, at least for me. And Geoff has very little motive for doing this. Just because he's not getting along with his band and selling records doesn't mean he has to alienate the few fans he has left.

Axl & Blackmore have cancelled or cut short countless shows due to tantrums. If that's not insulting the paying audience, I don't know what is?

This is why I mentioned those two, RB's attitude towards fans was a reason Dio started to hate Blackmore.

Eyesore wrote:

There are loads of examples of people being rock-star assholes, and there are loads of fan complaints. You're acting like we can't discuss Tate's antics without also trashing every other dingleberry musician out there. How would any of that be relevant to this discussion?

The Tate discussion is current; Tate's descent into public buffoonery is going on now. And we're discussing it accordingly.

And like I said, it's public. Kevin DuBrow being a jerk to a fan at some random concert is hardly the same thing. Is there video of DuBrow spitting on a bandmate, telling a crowd of paying customers that they suck, calling paying customers who leave his show early "pussies," or taking a paying customer's expensive cell phone and chucking it away toward the back of the venue? Are there loads of interviews where DuBrow flat out lies and contradicts himself on a near daily basis? Are there interviews where DuBrow claims to have written 80% of Quiet Riot's music despite ZERO evidence showing that he's ever even written ONE SONG by himself?

Come on, dude.

Gotta agree with Ken on this one - it's an entirely different type of douche-baggery, Tate's is current and consistent. He has been pulling something new and saying something else every week. The microscope is on him at this point in the metal community and he keeps douching it up. He knows the microscope is on him and he doesn't care, he's letting the real GT out for all to see. For someone that wrote what was considered "intelligent" lyrics, he sure is acting like someone with an extremely low IQ.

Plus, the guy is suing his former business partners for the entire corporation for what he claims is "wrongful termination." He then consistently attacks his former business partners in the music press, had admitted on TMS and multiple interviews the he indeed did attack them and spit on them on stage. Of course, this was after he filed suit with an affidavit stating the he didn't do any of those things. He's given Queensryche's attorneys boxes of his actions/words/admissions for the court case, if the case actually makes it to court. If he's aiming just to settle for the biggest settlement he can get, he is doing a terrible job.

It leaves a couple of options - either he is trying to ruin the Queensryche brand or his ego is so big that he really thinks that he will walk away from this with the entire corporation because he's "Geoff Tate." That tactic didn't work for Dennis De Young (US courts, most relevant to the case) nor did it work for Roger Waters. And those guys actually wrote music and lyrics to hit songs (as opposed to Mr. Geoff 'I wrote 81% of all Queensryche music" Tate.)

All those albums up to Promised Land are classics and I will still listen to them.... GT being a douche doesn't change that.... Unfortunately he's released nothing but crap since then (with a good song or two on each album) and, to paraphrase Top Gun, he's writing checks that his ego can't cash.

Can anyone imagine if the world had YouTube or the internet in general back when Quiet Riot were #1?? Of when Van Halen were THE bad boys? Or when Ozzy was pissing on landmarks? Sheesh...

Blackmore is not the nicest guy in the world, but the only tour he walked away from was Deep Purple's The Battle Rages On, his heart was no longer in it and when he left,  it cost him a lot of money. He co-owns the name Deep Purple but he allowed the other band members to carry on.

Its true he won't sign autographs, and he is not warm toward fans, but then he is not approachable person, nor has he been in over 44 years in the music industry. But he is never called his fans pussies and when he plays live, its never half assed ( so saith Blackmore fanboy)

I get the cancelling shows but they're not doing anything directly to the audience. They're miffed with their bandmates and/or mgmt, label etc. Not their fans. It's insulting, but Geoff is being direct, looking his fans square in the eye and saying F*ck You. That's a whole new low right there, and I say let karma have her way. If Geoff is going to pour hot hate on our heads, he's gonna get it back tenfold.

Okay then, you have convinced me. Tate is the worst human being in history.

Boris2008 wrote:

Okay then, you have convinced me. Tate is the worst human being in history.

Worst musician.

corplhicks wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

Okay then, you have convinced me. Tate is the worst human being in history.

Worst musician.

Considering Charles Manson was a musician, that's not saying much!

Actually, calling Geoff a musician is a becoming bit of a stretch...

And he's at it again....

TATE: Playing With New Musicians After 30 Years Is 'Like Making Love With A Different Woman' - June 21, 2013

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=191614

He continued: "[Playing the full album is] quite a challenge. It takes a certain sort of mindset to make that happen. This album ... is fairly intense.

"It's amazing, actually, because I'm playing this music live for the first time with different people, and I'm playing it with people who are very intense about it. They're not just painting by the numbers with it, just going through the motions, being bored with doing the same thing every day.

He added: "This is the music that got them off as young people, so they're throwing everything they've got into it. Every note, every beat they're playing like it's the last thing they're going to, and for me, I'm inspired by that, enthralled with it.

"This is what I always envisioned for it in the first place. For me, after being in the same band for 30 years with the same people, now it's like making love with a different woman."

TheGeoff keeps it classy.

Playing with people who are very intense about it? Can't stop the digs at his old bandmates, can he?

Dark Horseman wrote:

Playing with people who are very intense about it? Can't stop the digs at his old bandmates, can he?

Nope, he sure can't.... Funny how when I saw Queensryche in March they played with serious intensity.... which was completely different that 2012 at Tate's 2nd to last show before he was fired, where they all stayed as far away as possible for him (with security all over the sides of the stage)... but I imagine if you are being threatened, spit at, etc. you wouldn't want to be on stage with the person doing those actions....


just realized I didn't copy the whole article... the rest follows with the usual statement that Geoff wrote all the music and lyrics..... followed by The Geoff version of "these are the only guys I could convince to join me on tour" followed by more BS before he gets into the getting it on with the Sarzo boys comments......




In a brand new interview with Amarillo.com, QUEENSRŸCHE singerGeoff Tate was asked about the legal battle between him and his former bendmates over the rights to the group's name.

"Well, it's my life, it's my music, my words, my creativity, my passion, you know?" he said. "What you hear on those records is me, it's my creativity, how I express myself. I can't think of not doing that, you know?"

Regarding the current touring lineup of his version of QUEENSRŸCHE, which consists of musicians he's known for years, Tate said: "They're all pros. I wanted to play with people that were great people that I admired, people that I like as people, people that I have a shared commonality with. They're fans of the music, and they bring their own interpretation to it, which I really like."

Tate also spoke about his current tour, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the release of the classic QUEENSRŸCHE album "Operation: Mindcrime".

"We're playing the album in its entirety, which is very fun, very cool," Tate said. "Then we'll encore with a set of songs that are QUEENSRŸCHE's greatest hits, if QUEENSRŸCHE had greatest hits."

He continued: "[Playing the full album is] quite a challenge. It takes a certain sort of mindset to make that happen. This album ... is fairly intense.

You know?

thejokeriv wrote:

For me, after being in the same band for 30 years with the same people, now it's like making love with a different woman."

I am sure his wife was thrilled by that statement.