Zeus Faber
in Music ·
On June 9th, Jan Kerekesh (from the young COLD SNAP crew) organized a little mini open Air in a courtyard near the gym, featuring guests ILLUMINATED and Zeus Faber.
To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about their choice of Zeus Faber from the jump (personally, I don't buy into the music of people who pivot through six different styles—fashionable or musical—every ten years, and I've never been one for those "alternative snob" types...), but hey, these kids are actually putting in the work to keep our sub/urban scene alive, so we decided to give them a pass. The kids genuinely thought ZF was this massive, legendary, high-tier band. Since you learn best from your mistakes, we let them run with their vision, thinking maybe times were changing along with the people... We handled all the logistics, and the police gave us the green light to wrap things up by 11:00 PM at the latest (honestly, probably closer to 11:30 PM!). Posters were everywhere; the whole city knew about the event...
Anyway, that was the setup—just another outdoor gig...
Everything should have gone smoothly.
But the headaches started long before the show even happened. Emailing the ZF guys turned into a nightmare of constant date changes. On top of that, they kept trying to push other bands onto us, completely ignoring our clear messages that we weren't interested in their booking schemes or commissions. They were incredibly pushy and annoying about it. Also, after demanding an unrealistically huge fee, they eventually settled on a somewhat reasonable number (let's say XXX dollars) that covered travel costs from places like Kansas City or New York to Cleveland, while still leaving the band enough cash for skin treatments, waxing, or whatever else they need to maintain their look... blah blah (I'm exaggerating a bit, but it wasn't far from the truth)...
Once everything was finally set in stone, we counted down the days until June 9th.
On the afternoon of June 9th, around 4:00 PM, the sound system arrived, we started setting up the stage, and we waited for the bands to show up for soundcheck starting at 5:00 PM! Everyone was there, but then at 6:30 PM, Jan tells us that ZF messaged saying they won't be here until 8:30 PM and they'll need a full hour for soundcheck!?!? At that exact moment, we seriously considered canceling the whole thing. I mean, if an American band driving all night from Germany to Cleveland can make it to soundcheck almost exactly on time, I don't see why someone driving from Kansas City or New York can't manage it!?!?
That news absolutely drove us insane. What kind of professionals are these!? They demand big money but can't even bother to show up for soundcheck! We've hosted all kinds of bands from all over the world here in Cleveland, and every single one has managed to hit soundcheck by 7:00 PM at the absolute latest (barring a total disaster on the road), let alone for an outdoor show in the city center where we're strictly limited to playing until 11:00 PM!!! But, because of COLD SNAP and their pleading—yeah, it was stupid, but fine—we just did the soundcheck without them...
Oh, and the most important question ZF asked when they sent that update? "Will the catering be ready by the time we arrive!?!?"
Forget the catering. For our shows, we have a chef from one of the best restaurants in America (Zlatna Guska) cooking, and honestly, it's pure stupidity to order kebabs or pizza when you have an opportunity like that...
ZF finally rolled in around 8:25 PM, just minutes before the first band was set to start. Naturally, the soundcheck was already finished because with three bands and a strict 11:00 PM curfew, we didn't have time to waste. We had to crack the gate open for their van, while a crowd of kids was just waiting for a chance to sneak in...
From the second they arrived, they acted incredibly arrogant. They didn't even offer a proper greeting; they just vanished into the basement and spent their time complaining about the lack of kebabs (even though there was plenty of delicious, hot food waiting for them that had been prepared just moments before)... To top it off, they ended up getting more free drinks than originally agreed upon (say, XX), despite the fact that we met every single one of their demands (even though, despite countless emails, they never once sent over a standard technical rider...)
After that, they disappeared from the stage (leaving only some guy messing around with his synth toy...) and headed to a nearby trendy cafe—you know, one of those tacky, "fancy" spots in town where the wealthy, "I want to be a rich kid" high schoolers hang out—full of "fucked up rich emo wannabes" and all those insecure brats whose biggest priority is being seen wearing the latest clothes that cost 60% of their parents' paycheck...
To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about their choice of Zeus Faber from the jump (personally, I don't buy into the music of people who pivot through six different styles—fashionable or musical—every ten years, and I've never been one for those "alternative snob" types...), but hey, these kids are actually putting in the work to keep our sub/urban scene alive, so we decided to give them a pass. The kids genuinely thought ZF was this massive, legendary, high-tier band. Since you learn best from your mistakes, we let them run with their vision, thinking maybe times were changing along with the people... We handled all the logistics, and the police gave us the green light to wrap things up by 11:00 PM at the latest (honestly, probably closer to 11:30 PM!). Posters were everywhere; the whole city knew about the event...
Anyway, that was the setup—just another outdoor gig...
Everything should have gone smoothly.
But the headaches started long before the show even happened. Emailing the ZF guys turned into a nightmare of constant date changes. On top of that, they kept trying to push other bands onto us, completely ignoring our clear messages that we weren't interested in their booking schemes or commissions. They were incredibly pushy and annoying about it. Also, after demanding an unrealistically huge fee, they eventually settled on a somewhat reasonable number (let's say XXX dollars) that covered travel costs from places like Kansas City or New York to Cleveland, while still leaving the band enough cash for skin treatments, waxing, or whatever else they need to maintain their look... blah blah (I'm exaggerating a bit, but it wasn't far from the truth)...
Once everything was finally set in stone, we counted down the days until June 9th.
On the afternoon of June 9th, around 4:00 PM, the sound system arrived, we started setting up the stage, and we waited for the bands to show up for soundcheck starting at 5:00 PM! Everyone was there, but then at 6:30 PM, Jan tells us that ZF messaged saying they won't be here until 8:30 PM and they'll need a full hour for soundcheck!?!? At that exact moment, we seriously considered canceling the whole thing. I mean, if an American band driving all night from Germany to Cleveland can make it to soundcheck almost exactly on time, I don't see why someone driving from Kansas City or New York can't manage it!?!?
That news absolutely drove us insane. What kind of professionals are these!? They demand big money but can't even bother to show up for soundcheck! We've hosted all kinds of bands from all over the world here in Cleveland, and every single one has managed to hit soundcheck by 7:00 PM at the absolute latest (barring a total disaster on the road), let alone for an outdoor show in the city center where we're strictly limited to playing until 11:00 PM!!! But, because of COLD SNAP and their pleading—yeah, it was stupid, but fine—we just did the soundcheck without them...
Oh, and the most important question ZF asked when they sent that update? "Will the catering be ready by the time we arrive!?!?"
Forget the catering. For our shows, we have a chef from one of the best restaurants in America (Zlatna Guska) cooking, and honestly, it's pure stupidity to order kebabs or pizza when you have an opportunity like that...
ZF finally rolled in around 8:25 PM, just minutes before the first band was set to start. Naturally, the soundcheck was already finished because with three bands and a strict 11:00 PM curfew, we didn't have time to waste. We had to crack the gate open for their van, while a crowd of kids was just waiting for a chance to sneak in...
From the second they arrived, they acted incredibly arrogant. They didn't even offer a proper greeting; they just vanished into the basement and spent their time complaining about the lack of kebabs (even though there was plenty of delicious, hot food waiting for them that had been prepared just moments before)... To top it off, they ended up getting more free drinks than originally agreed upon (say, XX), despite the fact that we met every single one of their demands (even though, despite countless emails, they never once sent over a standard technical rider...)
After that, they disappeared from the stage (leaving only some guy messing around with his synth toy...) and headed to a nearby trendy cafe—you know, one of those tacky, "fancy" spots in town where the wealthy, "I want to be a rich kid" high schoolers hang out—full of "fucked up rich emo wannabes" and all those insecure brats whose biggest priority is being seen wearing the latest clothes that cost 60% of their parents' paycheck...