Ego...and Poor Judgment

As I look back at the AC/DC show, it is easy for me to see now what I couldn't see then...that my damaged ego was affecting my good judgment. I was offended and angry at the treatment we had received at the hands of the AC/DC crew. I took it very personally. If I had been thinking more rationally, I would have probably realized that this crew probably treated every opening act this way, after all, it was obvious they were on a power trip. The biggest mistake I made, was assuming that if the crew were assholes, the band must be, too. The musicians in AC/DC, for all I knew, could have been great guys, who might have been just as upset with what their crew did as I was. I'll never know. In my mind we were now at war...I never ended up meeting the guys in that band. I didn't want to. I thought that AC/DC had drawn the battle lines, and we had nothing in common anymore. They weren't our friends, or kindred spirits...they were trying to screw us. I realize today that was a huge mistake. I should have known that roadies often throw their weight around, and can be obnoxious. When they do, the musicians they work for may not even be aware of it. My experience with all the other bands I had toured with or opened to at that time was...that usually, if the crew were nice guys, the bands were nice guys, and if the crews were assholes, well, so were the bands, because like-minded people are attracted to each other. But I have since seen many exceptions to that rule. Today, I really wish I had swallowed my pride, and taken the time to find out who and what kind of guys I was really dealing with where AC/DC was concerned..I probably would have found that we had a lot more similarities than differences, and we might have actually become friends. I know that the person I am today...clean, spiritual, and drug free, would not have blamed the band...for the actions of their roadies...I would at least have given them a chance to show their true colors, before forming an opinion...but in my mind...they were now the enemy...and I was committed to a course that I didn't feel I could turn from..