From: Hugh Messenger Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 18:08:06 -0600 (CST) Subject: Anders Osborne Bitch!!
I just have to bitch about this to y'all. Sorry for the spleen dump, but I just gotta do it.
Anders Osborne (the N.O. based band with Anders on slide guitar) played Friday night at the venue my band is the Thursday night house band for. They arrived 2 hours early, and of course our stuff was still on stage from the night before. We have a standing agreement with the club owner to do this, and always arrive in time to load out before the Friday night band loads in. When you have a Hammond in the band, saving two loadins/outs is a big deal!
The owner told them not to move anything, that he would call us and we'd come and move it. They ignored him, and proceeded to haul my Hammond organ off stage. In the process they ripped the top of the organ, tearing out all the drawbar wiring. When the top came off, my harp case went flying, came open, and they dropped my Hammond on top of my Super 64X.
The result? A totally destroyed 64X (the Hammond weighs about 320lb), and a three hour emergency operation on the Hammond to rewire it before our gig that night.
And what did Anders say to all this?
"F*** you, it's not my problem. Out of my way, I have to sound check".
My attorney is drafting the letter and accompanying invoice to his management right now. I need to know how much a new Super 64X is going to cost me, if anyone has the price list to hand.
Ooooh, I *hate* musicians with attitudes like that!
The worst thing is, they have a Hammond player in the band, who should know just how delicate and easy to damage those organs are.
The harps are more my fault - I shouldn't have left them on the organ, but it was -8 outside that night, and I figured they were safer there than out in the cold with me going home, especially as the heater in my truck is bust.
Hey ho. If you see Anders, call him an organ crushing mother****** from me. And tell his vintage Gretsch guitar was very lucky to survive the night! "If I had a hammer ..."
