Faridee wrote:
I don't think that getting autographs in booklets means that you treat musicians as gods or something different than regular human beings, I believe art in general has a different feel when what gets delivered to you has somehow the vibe of the creator, which is something you can hardly get from a mass production like a CD. That was the whole magic with demo tapes, you knew that they had recorded it themselves, they had taken the time to copy every single cassette on their own (or at least numbered on their own).
I own some drawings, not paintings yet (cant afford them), and i find irresistible having them signed by their authors, when i write lyrics i try to sign the piece of paper i wrote them in, etc... has something to do with sealing what you just did. I value my signed cd's mostly because they remind me of the moment when they were signed, all of them having a chat with the band or with my friends waiting in the line of a signing session, maybe nice chit-chats about Turkey with Frank or about Becks with Hans, Anneke showing us pictures in her cell phone to prove Finn "has grown so much" etc... human contact... Which doesn't mean i know a rats ass about them, it's just a nice experience, such as meeting an interesting person in a bar on a friday night.
I just wish ppl in music forums would stop satanizing the fans who in the other hand get to think that they can die now whenever they get a picture taken with someone they admire -and i know many who said it right after meeting the band- or in this particular case, getting a signature in their booklets, its not a matter of being mature/immature is a matter of being young at heart and letting whatever emotions they feel flow without caring for what "oh im too old for that, im so over it" people have to say or think about them.
With that being said... of course i want my West Pole booklet signed too =)
I agree with your point but I also think you may have taken what was said a bit too seriously. Autographs are nice to have and The Gathering is a special band for many of us but I'm also not going to walk up to 'em with a marker and an album cover and say "hey!! can you sign this!!??" If I don't feel it's too much to ask after speaking with 'em, I'll ask for one, but I'm also not just going to start a conversation just because I "want" something either. And I don't care what anyone says, musicians (especially well known musicians) always remember that stuff because you did something hundreds of thousands of fans and other people alike probably don't do.