David Cassidy on the Web
Cassidy Still Seems To Think He's The Star
February 22, 2008
www.winnipegfreepress.com
I've had a week to calm down. If I'd written this column at the height of my disappointment, it might have been funnier, but I'm sure I would have been sued for libel.
If you went to one of David Cassidy's two sold-out concerts last week and had a great time, if you found him adorable, turn the page now. I am about to annoy you.
I didn't find him adorable. In fact I found his behaviour so unacceptable, I walked out of the show. I just couldn't take it a minute longer.
I really wanted to like David Cassidy. I grew up watching The Partridge Family. I know the lyrics to his songs. I bought tickets to his concert the minute they went on sale, and I was excited to go see him.
The man is still good-looking, and he can still sing. His voice is clear and strong. To me, the only thing that seemed clearer and stronger on stage that night was his attitude.
The first thing that made me uncomfortable was how he treated the musicians playing with him. David often looked back at the band, giving them gestures to speed up the tempo. He'd indicate when he wanted them to kick into the next song, and they were occasionally a beat behind. That "beat behind" would have been frustrating for any front man, but David didn't try very hard to hide his displeasure. He'd sigh, roll his eyes, and hang his head.
It wasn't easy to make him happy.
He complained about the stool they gave him to sit on. It was dusty. He complained about the audio mix to the monitors, saying sarcastically when one song was over "Oh, NOW I can hear myself. I couldn't hear anything a minute ago." When the leader of the band handed him a guitar for an acoustic set, David said "good -- a different guitar" and proceeded to complain about the guitar he'd been given to play the night before. After the set, he said, "I have blisters. I think I preferred last night's guitar."
David Cassidy was a really big deal 30 years ago, big like Elvis and the Beatles. But that was 30 years ago. I think I'm disappointed because I expected to see a man who wouldn't take himself too seriously, and who would be grateful that people are still willing to pay good money to hear him sing. To be fair, he did say at least twice while I was there how much he cherished his fans. He thanked them for sticking by him through the years. Still, when people in the audience handed him memorabilia from the '70s with his face on it, he'd hold it up and talk about it, but he wouldn't take the pen they offered. "Singing," he said, "not signing."
Maybe signing autographs in the middle of the show would have started a stampede. According to his website, he'd spent hours that day online, answering questions from 200 fans. Maybe he was exhausted, in the middle of a tour, far from home. Maybe that's why so much of what he said to the audience that night sounded like sarcasm, with a little edge of mean.
The final straw snapped for me when his sense of humour took aim at a fan. I watched a woman stand in line twice, waiting to give him a gift. The first time, he moved away to the other side of the stage before she got close. The next time, she was more persistent. She waited and waited as he shook other hands and made other jokes. When she finally got the chance she handed him the gift she'd been clutching in her hand, a gift that would last as long as she had been a David Cassidy fan. She handed him a silk flower.
He took her gift, and said into the microphone "Oh look, a FAKE rose." A minute later when someone else handed him a flower he said "Hey! a REAL rose!"
That sealed the deal for me. I was up and outta there.
I feel strongly that being famous does not give you the right to be rude. I think fame should oblige you to be kind.
I don't care who he is, or who he thinks he is; as far as I'm concerned, if he made that sweet woman feel embarrassed or bad about herself for even one second, shame on him.
Just imagine what Reuben would say.
Read another review by someone who appreciated David's talent. Their review was printed in the same paper a day or so later.
