This Is Not A Democracy

The morons just keep coming.

the more i keep reading comments, msg boards & all, the more disappointed i get in some of these fellow fans of mine. give all the 'reasonable reasons' you want, but YOU'RE the ungrateful ones. you shouldn't have shit to whine about. these guys HAVE given us a lot over the years. they've given us all they could as musicians, as people. they're not obligated to do a damn thing for us; not to blog for us, share any bit of their personal life, give us free/exclusive/discounted opportunities, not to give up what bit of average life they can have to tour and interview, even continue making music. they could be complete dicks and not give us shit, okay? there are such things as respect and understanding. oh, and for some of you...even having a life. look, i get it. i love these guys, too. but truly, some of ya'll just need to lay off and relax. this is the trouble with fans special treatment anyway, you start thinking you deserve something. lol...thats just not so.

Originally posted as a comment by purelifeideals on A Homeboy's Life using Disqus.



You honestly don't have a clue about OCK, do you? You don't seem to realise that the money isn't going to the band, it's going into the pockets of a COMPANY called Artist Arena.

None of the boys blogs are related to the fanclub - we get those for free - and virtually NOBODY is blaming the boys in the band directly for any of this. (The people blaming the boys are being smacked down by the very people complaining about Artist Arena) It seems from what Andy said to us today, that they don't even realise the extent of what is going on.

OCK has become a business rather than a fanclub, and that's what we have a problem with. They blacklist people who dare to complain - and that's if you can find a way to contact them, because they have no customer service. They scared people into renewing their memberships sometimes more than SIX MONTHS early (losing their remaining membership time) because of their new tiered system, and never used it. They treat OCKs like little children, patronise us, charge us $20 for postage - for us only to receive envelopes with $4.50 mail cost printed on them - and as part of our 'exclusive' membership packs, send us grainy, distorted copies of pictures that have been around for years, which are clearly (and poorly) printed out on the machine in the office. Some people don't get their welcome or renewal packages at all.

Nobody blames the band for that. They blame the people running the OCK and repeatedly criticise them for casting the band in a negative light through their claims that they support the rip-off schemes they come up with. If you believe the lies that they are using to cover up their mercenary crap, then you are a fool.

So before you start slagging off the fans who are out there spending more money than you can imagine on the real fan matters - getting to shows and buying their records or t-shirts and promoting the band to other people - check your goddamn facts. We ARE real fans, we love the band, but we don't love being fucked around by a company that claims to represent those four guys and is making a total mockery of the fans' loyalty to them.

And if we don't "deserve something" - such as respect from the organisers - after paying for the membership in the first place, when do fans deserve anything?