Bluesband wil roken op podium
Een bekende bluesband uit Chicago, Vini and the Demons, heeft in haar contract voor optredens opgenomen dat de bandleden het recht hebben op het podium ’tabaksproducten te gebruiken’. De voorwaarde wordt door de band gezien als een go/no go.
Dat merkte ook de organisatie van het Superbowl Festival in Jacksonville, Florida die daardoor naar een optreden van de band kon fluiten toen ze weigerden accoord te gaan met deze voorwaarde.
Forces kreeg een persbericht hierover van de band…
HEADLINE: Chicago Blues band, Vini and the Demons refused to sign a contract to perform at the Jacksonville Superbowl Festival after several clauses were struck from their contract rider, including the notorious item: “The Demons reserve the right to smoke tobacco products on stage”.
DETAILS: After an invitation by the City of Jacksonville to the Chicago Blues band, Vini and the Demons to perform at the Superbowl Festival on Feb. 5 of 2005, several contract riders were lined out by city legal reps. Said booker and bass player, Tom Miller-Demon, “First they dropped the pay, then they dropped rooms for a night, then they finally crossed out two of the most important riders in the contract: Vini’s amplifier settings are non-negotiable and the Demons reserve the right to smoke tobacco products on stage. So if the Demons can’t play how they play and be who they are, I asked myself, ‘why are we going?’. This conservative non-smoking swing in the world is really starting to burn my ass. I mean, you can’t have a cigarette with your espresso in Italy now. What planet are we on?”
Said Vini Demon, “My head’s in the 60’s; in the Kennedy administration, not with today’s ‘I wanna’ live forever’ idiots. Look, we play the Blues, drink and smoke. That’s what we do. I don’t need to play the Superbowl. They’ll run an alcohol ad every ten minutes for all the world to see, and I can’t smoke a cigarette on an outdoor stage in Jacksonville, Florida? Fuck ‘em.”
Nevertheless, Miller says, the Demons’ Southern tour is still on. Some of the announced engagements include the following:
* Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 – Vini and the Demons play The Slippery Noodle
372 South Meridian St. – Downtown Indianapolis – 9 PM
* Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005 – Vini and the Demons play Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
1811 Piedmont Ave. – Atlanta, GA – 9 PM
* Wednesday, February 9, 2005 – Vini and the Demons play Eddie Cs
with Special Guests, The Unusual Suspects
1315 S. Main St. – Gainesville, FL – 9:30 PM
* Thursday, February 10, 2005 – Vini and the Demons play Eddie Cs
with Special Guests, Hoyt and the Hotheads
1315 S. Main St. – Gainesville, FL – 9:30 PM
* Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005 – Vini and the Demons play Tobacco Road
626 South Miami Ave., Miami FL – 9:00 PM
— More dates to be released…
For more information on the Demons:
To reach Vini Demon for further comments, interview, or features:
773.328.8816 or vinidemon@hotmail.com
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The Demon Credo:
The Demons play the Blues.
The Demons play the Blues with great feeling and intense emotional energy.
The Demons share this with their audience and a magical synergy develops during the course of a performance that is palpable and alive.
The Demons have tremendous respect for the Blues.
The Demons do not rehearse or perform until they have had a ritual shot of Jack Daniel’s in honor of Robert Johnson and all the Blues musicians who have come before them.
The Demons do not play non-smoking venues.
The Demons believe the spirits of the original Blues performers are always present when they play.
The Demons are bound by a covenant to keep the Blues alive in the 21st century.
The Demons carry mojo bags charged for them under a waxing moon during a Celebration of the Dead ritual by a high priestess who loves the Blues.
The Demons are serious as fuck.
The Demons play the Devil Music.
The Demons play the Blues.
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VINI AND THE DEMONS SHORT BIO
VINI AND THE DEMONS:
Old School Blues with Neo/Retro Balls!
Passionate; possessed; intense; spiritual; sexual; evil like chocolate.
Vini and the Demons’ performances incorporate everything that is missing from today’s music.
In the winter in 2001, Vini and the Demons moved as a band from the deep South to Chicago, as many of their Blues heroes did before them. The Demons vowed a sacred oath to help keep the Blues thriving into the 21st century and beyond. The Demons made this commitment, in part, with the encouragement and blessing of Muddy Waters’ daughter Ros, and the legendary Bo Diddley, both supporters and fans of the band.
Since their arrival, The Demons have become a well known and well respected entity in the Chicago Blues community. The Demons were a featured act and house band at Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater’s Reservation Blues for over two years.
A favorite of the late Shirli Dixon, the Demons continue to be one of the few bands chosen to perform at the Willie Dixon Blues Garden Concert Series each year. In 2003, The Demons were selected by the City of Chicago to participate in Jim Fraher’s historic photograph of Chicago’s finest Blues artists, during the nationally honored, “Year of the Blues” celebration.
Vini and the Demons have shared the stage with many of Chicago’s Blues artists including Eddie Taylor, Jr., Little Arthur Duncan, Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Bo Diddley, Sharon Lewis, Carlos Johnson, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, Jimmy Burns, and many more. The Demons’ debut CD, Vini and the Demons, was released to the public on January 9th of 2004, at a standing room only bash at the world-renowned, Rosa’s Lounge.
Vini and the Demons can be heard on many radio stations in the United States, and Europe. In France, the album reached #16 on RCV 99FM (Rockez Belles Oreilles). Their song, “I Don’t Want You” hit #14 on Marc Loison’s Sweet Home Chicago Blues Show on Radio 666. On the air in Lille, Tournon, Normandy, Belgium, Canada, and soon to hit the charts on Macedonia’s National FM Radio Show, Mojo Blues in Skopje, the Demons are quickly gaining world-wide recognition.
Vini and the Demons never rehearse or perform until they have had a ritual shot of Jack Daniel’s in honor of Robert Johnson, and all the Blues musicians who have come before them. The Demons do not play non-smoking venues.
The Demons play the Blues with deep passion and an intense spiritual fervor. With a repertoire of over 70 standards and original songs, the Demons keep their audiences drinking, dancing, and feeling the Blues the way it was meant to be experienced.
Vini and the Demons are managed by Hamilton “Bo” Gibbons, who has worked closely for many years with the Dixon family and Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation.
