We have all seen bands make hay out of being anti-establishment. They revel in thumbing their noses to the music industry and the fans eat it up. I assure you they weren't anti-establishment until they were hooked up to the big machine that creates the fame.
Rage Against The Machine opened for me and it was one of their first live gigs ever. They did no raging and in fact while thanking me they said something to the effect of: "If we ever get famous we won't forget this, Jim". Of course other than Tom the guitarist I've never seen or heard from any of them since. Seeing Tom doesn't mean much because he goes to a lot of social events.
I will say that Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam were more from the heart about the anti-establishment ramblings, but there were angles and other motives connected to them as well. I know this to be true because Eddie and I were pretty close friends back in his angst days.
I love Eddie, Tom, Rage and Pearl Jam. My point is that a band that is anti-establishment before gaining fame is doomed to failure because the actual number of people who can make or break careers these days is less than 400, and everyone knows each other.
If a band causes trouble and has no fame leverage, word spreads quick and top shelf entertainment bizz people will have nothing to do with them. Those bands are in effect over. They can still do a few regional small shows and pretend to be rock stars, but any chance at a bite of the big apple is gone. It sucks too because I've seen really talented artists get labeled as trouble and deep down they weren't. They were playing a role; their mistake was playing it too soon.
#JimRoseCircus
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