One’s a promoter and one’s an agent. And I figured I wouldn’t learn a single thing from either of them.

But I did.

What I liked most was Neil Warnock saying they were in it for the long haul, unlike the labels. We’ve known for two decades the labels don’t care about longevity, but what about the agents? Well, the difference is the people working at the label don’t own it. They’re working for a salary. On a relatively short term contract. Their loyalty is to themselves, not the act. At most their loyalty is to the company. But that’s not how it works in the agency world. If you can construct a roster, you don’t want to give it up. People wash out of the agency business, but if you make it, you’re in it forever. And if you jump agencies, usually most of your clients come with you. This is so different from the labels.

And Chuggy kept on saying that the labels had no money. And if something worked, they took all the credit…BUT HE TOOK ALL THE MONEY!

This is the world the agents and promoters are working in. The new world. The revolution already happened in their sphere. Napster, piracy…they’re all in the rearview mirror. Agents and promoters are the A&R guys now.

Yup, it’s agents who are out in the clubs til all hours. And they sign a few bands and they use their leverage to get opening slots and if there’s no reaction…they’re dropped. You don’t want a label, you want an AGENT! Hell, sometimes the Agency Group signs acts that not only don’t have a label, they don’t even have a manager! The Agency Group helps them get one.

And Neil said the label’s priorities are different. And they’re more about no than yes. Neil will get word that promoters are willing to book an act in a territory, but the label will say no, they’ll utter something about not having a release date, or being between singles. Neil talks to the acts and they go anyway. You see you want to put in your time, you want to build something.

Chuggy said acts oftentimes lose money on their first three tours. It’s not only the promoter who’s operating in the red. They come without their favorite amps, their cherished roadies, they humbly appear Down Under with something to prove. And if they’ve got it, they make it.

And there was a lot of language about loyalty. To not only the act, but each other.

You see there’s no time limit on the relationship between act and agent. No intellectual property that keeps the act there. You’ve not only got to be honest, you’ve got to produce. But sometimes it does end. Usually, you know, at least that’s what Neil said…someone else can do a better job. And Chuggy said the same thing. That he did five tours with Chris Isaak, the last was a loser, he passed on the next one and someone else took it and it was Chris’s biggest tour in Australia ever. But that’s o.k., Chuggy had lost the passion.

And it is all about passion. Chuggy was loath to do Pearl Jam in stadiums. But he took on the job, made it an event and sold a boatload of tickets. Then again, Chuggy is a promoter. That’s what a promoter does, promote. He’s not just a bank.

And Chuggy was incredibly knowledgeable about the new world. He said he didn’t know sixty percent of the acts he promoted, he listened to the young ‘uns in his employ, but he saw the formation of new entities, run by artists, with those providing label-like functions doing it for very little money. Just like Zeppelin flipped the deal to 90/10, with the act getting the lion’s share of the money, expect the same to happen with recorded music.

And Warnock said the recorded music was a souvenir. Whether you bought it at the show or at home thereafter. It was to help you remember.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Onstage.

And there you can’t do it alone. You do need a team. Both agent and promoter. It’s a dirty business, but you’ve got to trust those you work with. They’ve got to have relationships. And when you start out, everyone’s taking a risk.

Remember who did you a solid, who invested in you, who lost money.

Because they certainly do.

Neil Warnock

Michael Chugg

That’s where we went to dinner. In Dempsey. Wherever that is.

It was an interesting posse. Put together by my old buddy Lee Trink, who worked with Jason Flom and then was a partner with Jeff Kwatinetz and now manages Kid Rock.

Oh, we’re friends now. Bob may put on a lower class demeanor, but never forget his father was a Lincoln dealer, he’s super-smart on the inside. Which may be why he does it his way. The lower classes keep saying yes. Bob keeps saying WHY? And if you make enough money, you get to do it your way. Bob’s got a clothing company and a beer company and if you mess with him too much, he’ll just shut them down, that’s the freedom of having money, that’s the freedom of being a star.

That’s Bob Ritchie, Kid Rock’s real name.

And then Rob McDermott. Who built and maintained Linkin Park. They parted ways, which proves once again you can’t trust the acts. But what I love about Rob is his passion. Too many managers just say yes in order to stay in the act’s good graces. Rob’s got ideas. He loves Pantera and can also talk business. He comes to Asia every year. Hell, he brought Linkin over here when no one else would come. Now he’s bought a metal magazine from an eastern magnate and is doing it all over again.

And then there was the concert promoter from China. Who lost his shirt twice. Fascinating that promoters are on the ass end of the business, when they put up all the money, when they take all the risk.

He’s English. And looks like a thinner Philip Seymour Hoffman. And he promoted shows in Chamonix until he lost everything when the city said he could have deejays spinning until 4 AM and then shut him down for noise way before that. All that land he owned…he no longer did.

So he moved to China. And cried when he got screwed and lost it all again. I love a man who can cry, or at least admit he did. He thought he was a Euro millionaire, and then he was…broke.

And the fourth guy was a VC. He used to be an analyst. Hell, he used to live in the U.S. But after college at Bowdoin he did the Asia thing. That’s where you go if you don’t quite fit in anywhere else, if you’re looking for opportunity. It’s the Wild East. They’re building the infrastructure. If you’re a businessman, not an act, go there now. Be part of something.

So, like I said, we went to Dempsey. Which used to be barracks and has now been rebuilt as an upscale restaurant/shopping area.

Not that Long Beach Seafood was particularly upscale. And we had to sit outside. You see it’s the same damn temperature every day in Singapore, being right by the equator. Kinda like Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were", but at least in California it sometimes DOES rain!

And our newfound buddy, the U.S. expat, ordered.

First we got drinks. I don’t know why they’re ice-challenged. At first I thought there was a shortage, a premium. You get the soft drinks hot and there are like three tiny cubes in the glass and by time you pour the ginger ale in, they’re toast. What about the rest of the can?

We got more ice. And napkins too, which had been strangely absent.

I was excited we were getting calamari. But this was like any crustacean I ever ate. It was crispy, hard, like eating lobster shell. I had to ask…was I eating the wrong part?

Trink said anything was cool as long as it didn’t move.

But when they lifted the lid on the pot right in front of me, I jumped. Because the shrimp jumped. They were ALIVE! Then the waiter poured alcohol over them, shook the pot, got them drunk, and then boiled them. Ergo, "drunken shrimp".

Very tasty.

And the chicken was good, but you go to Long Beach Seafood for the crab. The black pepper and chili crab.

And when you sit down, you think everybody’s been served soup. But really, that’s a finger bowl. You see the crab is…messy.

Trink is a neatnik, he tried to use his utensils. It was useless. You had to dig in. If I go again, I’m wearing my bathing suit. I had sauce dripping down my arms.

But it was oh-so-tasty.

The black pepper crab is hot. It’s like you’re Al Jolson eating it, you’ve got a ring around your lips that is positively burning. For long after you stop eating.

And they bring fried bread to dip in the chili sauce. Which was positively yummy. But as I’m cracking and eating, I begin to wonder…will I be able to sleep?

Dessert was mango pudding and fruit. The pudding came upon these green cylinders filled with dry ice. They kept smoking. The pudding was tasty. It cut the edge off the pepper/chili heat still remaining.

And I still haven’t told you about the conversation. Had we been to the "Four Floors Of Whores"? Not normally something I’d be interested in, but Trink was so horrified by the experience I had to hear more. It was endless stalls/bars, where women outnumbered men ten to one. Lee didn’t partake, but our friend the VC…his buddies did.

And then there was Chinese politics. How the country is eviscerating the culture of Tibet. Building a railroad straight there and incentivizing the Chinese to move in.

And we got to money-laundering and U.S. taxes and credit cards and I felt a million miles away yet right at home.

You see if you’re willing to make the trip…

It’s a whole new world.

Long Beach Seafood

Backstage at MusiCares, Scott Rodger told me McCartney had nothing against Spotify, that he just wanted to do it right, that they were EQ’ing the catalogue and when it was ready, it would appear. And that first was "Ram".

Not one of my favorite McCartney solo albums. Not as much of a let-down as "Wild Life" (I know, credited to Wings), not a tour de force like "Band On The Run", "Ram" was a disappointment when we were all paying attention, when we were finally convinced that the Beatles had truly broken up.

Sometime the solo debut, "McCartney", will get its due. Hell, just listen to "Kreen-Akrore". Never mind "Every Night" and "Teddy Boy". If released today, "McCartney" would be considered a minimalist masterpiece.

But "Ram"…

But, WOW, pull it up on Spotify! The remaster will blow your socks off!

I mean I always liked "Too Many People", but I didn’t love it, it wasn’t necessary, but all the subtle elements mixed with Paul’s voice will remind you why he and the Beatles still stand head and heels above everybody else. That acoustic guitar, but even better…the changes and the vocal. I never remember the album sounding this good. And I own the vinyl, and I’ve played it on great systems.

Music doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s just got to be RIGHT!

Spotify link

We’re geeks!

I just want to tell you a bit more about dinner last night, at the Marina Bay Sands.

When I was in Toronto for Canadian Music Week, talking about going to Singapore, Neill Dixon, who’s the majordomo of that event, told me all about this rooftop restaurant, where they even had an infinity pool, that he was gonna take me to. And when Jasper told me Neill, et al, we’re gonna go last night, I immediately got a hold of Neill to make sure I was included.

I’m not good with heights.

Actually, I’m getting better. You see it’s classic OCD. And the way they treat that, Freudian talk therapy has been proven not to work, is through exposures. Which means…you put yourself in the situation. Again and again. It works! There’s this lift at Mammoth, Chair 23, which is steep as can be and has no safety bar, never mind it’s windy as hell, after all, this is the backside of Yosemite. I used to avoid it, which to a great degree you can, there’s a gondola that goes to a similar point. But the doctor I see insisted I ride it… And lo and behold, I’ve gotten better! You never get over your fear of heights, but you learn to tolerate it.

So the Marina Bay Sands looks like it should fall over. It’s as if someone took the Greek letter "pi" and turned it into a hotel. And at the tippity-top, put a restaurant, observation deck and infinity pool. Yup, you can sit in the pool above Singapore and toast your luck! We just edged up to the plexiglass and looked over…and down.

Down there’s nothing. That’s the way the building is built. It’s totally freaky. You’re fifty-odd stories up and there’s nothing below you!

On one side is downtown Singapore.

On the other is the harbor.

But it’s more than that.

I got an Australian, who promotes concerts here, to point out the sights. Not only was the world’s largest indoor botanical garden right beneath us (with a lighted golf course close nearby), off in the distance that was…Indonesia. And on the other side? Malaysia. I must say as the hours passed, I got used to the thought, but at first I felt so small. In America you’re taught to believe you count. But we don’t really. And then I started thinking about Vietnam and centuries of conflict and I wished everybody could see what I was seeing, to get perspective, to be wowed at the gears of commerce in operation today.

And the conversations were so fascinating.

The Australian promoter does shows here, he’s got Jason Mraz imminently, and in China, everywhere in the neighborhood but Australia itself. He had Westlife in China. Eight gigs on the eastern seaboard. Only in cities in excess of ten million. And I’d never heard of nine of them. In one, the barrier between act and fans was a ribbon, you know, like at the movies, strung between silver poles. The promoter freaked out! The government representatives told him they’d just tell the patrons to sit down. Or if they stood up, that they couldn’t leave their seats. Turned out to work! But my newfound friend said that wouldn’t happen in Shanghai, or Singapore.

And then there was Bernie. Who went to Dartmouth but then moved to Korea, twenty years ago. He’s got kind of an agency/management company/record label. Well, not exactly. But what he does do is make 80/20 deals with acts dissatisfied with their record companies. He cleans up their social media, he gets them distributed all over the world. He’s got acts that sell 1,000 to 10,000 albums in the U.S., singing in Korean. It’s the social networks. And most of those in attendance at the shows are not even Korean themselves!

And then there was Steve…

I could have talked to him all night. And almost did.

Half a decade younger than me, he grew up in Victoria, B.C. From there he went to the U.K., and on a whim to Japan. Where he’s been for twenty seven years. With a Japanese wife, a school teacher, and an eighteen year old son, who’s about to go to university in B.C. himself. And Steve was the local "Billboard" correspondent. And now he does work for NHK, the big Japanese broadcast company. But what I liked most about talking to Steve was the references, the puns, the interweaving of our life history into conversation.

You see we know all these lyrics, we’ve seen all these shows, we’ve got endless information which we don’t believe is trivia and how we connect is by revealing it. Quotes from Elvis Costello records. Bob Dylan lyrics. Little tests back and forth to see if the other is in the know.

But it’s not about competition, it’s about bonding, connecting.

You see we’re all looking for someone simpatico. The media portrays life as a rat race, competing to get to the top. Trumpeting our triumphs and keeping others beneath us. But that’s not how life really is. We want to be close. Sure, it’s nice to get the accolades, but they don’t mean much if you’ve got no one to share them with.

And it really only takes one. A single person who sees the planet the same way. Who can laugh at what you do, see the absurdity of life, but has passion for it too.

Steve had read "Jacob de Zoet". Which blew my mind, because I’ve only found one other person in the music business who did (who sent it to me!) And Steve talked about used bookshops in Japan and sci-fi and mystery novels, which I care not a whit about, but I understood where he was coming from.

And I loved hearing about his choices and experiences. Did he wake up one day and freak out, I’M LIVING IN JAPAN! Kinda. I mean his in-laws helped with the down payment for his house, he’s entrenched. But he did insist only English be spoken in his domicile, so his kid would be bilingual. His son speaks English to him and Japanese to his wife, ha!

And Steve left "Billboard" because he’d done everything. There was no new challenge. How different from playing it safe. Then again, we play it safe in the U.S. because we need the health insurance, Canadians know nothing of this.

And it’s so weird yet thrilling to find myself halfway around the world speaking the same language to someone who lives in a foreign country. We spoke about stereo, 5.1, DVD-A and SACD, listening to Neil Young in all the formats…

This is what I live for, this is who I am.