Last week, the Charlotte Observer ran a story stating that the Foo Fighters were rumored to be in Charlotte on Saturday as part of their White Limo Tour. I never got into Nirvana, but I like the Foo Fighters and love the energy that Dave Grohl has as a writer and musician. Anyway, a few people in social media shared the Observer story with me, knowing that I’m a fan, and together we speculated on where they’d show up to promote their new CD.
There’s a song and video on the new album called White Limo. Thanks to the success of the video (nearly 1.5 million views in just over a month), the band is using the limo as an icon for promoting the upcoming tour, and they’re driving the limo across the country stopping in different cities to play the album. They even created a Twitter account, @WHITELIMOTOUR, and have used Twitter to mobilize fans to the whereabouts of the limo so that they could get a listen to the album. And, yes, see the car from the video.
On Saturday afternoon, the limo was in Charlotte at Lunchbox Records. There was a pretty good sized crowd at the record store, and from what I gathered, most people were expecting the Foo Fighters to show up. Even though I’d seen a tweet from Lunchbox stating that the band was NOT going to appear, I decided to take my daughters anyway, since it’s in the neighborhood. Besides, they were probably going to give away some stuff. And who knows – maybe the band would show up and surprise everyone.
When the limo arrived, it pulled into the tight lot and everyone gathered round. The windows were too dark to tell if anyone important was in the back or not. The crowd was hushed. We waited for Dave Grohl to pop out of the sunroof. After a few minutes, one of the back doors opened and a guy got out and opened the trunk. It wasn’t Dave. “No, they’re not here.” He said to some fans. Someone else asked if they were giving anything away, “Sorry, we’re not giving anything away.” The guy then pulled two speakers out of the trunk, and started playing the new album. And that was it. I had the girls get inside the limo for a picture. Then we left. Arriving at home, I tweeted this:
The first concert our oldest daughter (10) attended was the Foo Fighters when they played CityFest in 2002. No, she doesn’t remember, but mommy and daddy are big fans and we couldn’t find a babysitter. Anyway, the FF have been an important part of our family’s soundtrack over the years. So yes, I thought it was pretty lame that one of the best rock bands in the world couldn’t do a little more for their loyal fans.
Later that day, @WHITELIMOTOUR started following me on Twitter. The driver asked for my email address. The next morning, I received a very thoughtful email from Robbie Lloyd, aka ‘The Driver.’ His long email started like this:
“Thanks for sending me your email. I wanted to reach out to you personally. We are not in the habit of letting people down and having worked with the management company for 3 years, I can tell you first hand that Dave Grohl and his entire band and crew are some of the nicest, hardest working people I’ve ever worked with in 20+ years in the music business.”
In the email, Robbie didn’t try to make excuses, but rather apologized for the misunderstanding and said that they never told the Observer that the band was coming. I believe him. And I felt bad for he and his driver partner who had to deal with something like what happened in Charlotte all because of an irresponsible reporter at a newspaper.
The reason I’m even spending the time writing this post is to point out how Robbie was able to do something good within the social media space. Any brand manager for a Fortune 500 could learn a thing or two about this. His authentic appeal, empathy for customers and an understanding of how influence works in this space is something to be applauded. Sure, I wish the Foo Fighters had showed up to play a quick set on Saturday. And yes, I’d have loved a free tee shirt or something. But it is what it is, and after Robbie’s email, I’m ok with it.
Well done, Robbie. Thanks for reaching out.
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Nathan Richie
Mar 23, 2011
Jim – Glad you wrote this post. As an insider to the radio business, I too was excited at the notion that the Foo was dropping by our area to jam. I too was at CityFest years ago rockin my devils horns in the air. Love Dave Grohl’s versatility and energy.In true smoke and mirrors entertainment industry fashion, it was presented on their site and other promos that the band has been playing in unconventional places like gas stations and possibly “even your garage”, complete with contesting opportunities.Even the email I received from the station to further hype the event on-air for the label supported the hope but then ended with an asterisk FYI for the “DJ’s: “the band will not be here, just the limo from the video”. Did the Observer really say they were coming? I didn’t see that. I did see the implied, and the smoke and mirrors of the label…the entertainment business we are all governed by…the business you and I are in as advertising and marketing professionals.Sad thing about it as you’ve pointed out here is the lack of authenticity and the disappointment the fans get because of the old school stunting. In the socialsphere, we’ve come to learn this doesn’t build a fan base and community. It erodes the audience and leaves a bad taste in their mouths.Glad they were monitoring sentiment online and picked up on yours.I was less than impressed by the stunt. Still a fan though.
twrennon
Mar 24, 2011
To state my position, I am NOT a disappointed fan!! I drove 200 miles to see the @WHITELIMOTOUR and the beast burning up the road to give us Foo Fans a taste of this incredible new album!! I tracked the White Limo on twitter from the moment they rolled out of CA. These guys never gave any false hope to their followers that the actual Foo Fighters would be showing up. I never got that impression from the FF Facebook Page or their website. I have not seen the Charlotte paper so don’t know about how misleading that was. Lunchbox Records made it very clear the band would not be there. To be honest, I was thrilled when the large crowd dispersed! That gave me more White Limo for myself. I hung out in the beast rockin’ Wasting Light for the last 5 songs! My ears were ringing for two days and I will never forget the experience! Sure I would have loved for Dave, Taylor, Nate, Chris and Pat to show up. Sure I would have loved for there to have been a whole truck load of free stuff but the thrill of what I got from that day was worth every dime I spent on petrol to get down there. The Limo Driver was incredibly nice and genuinely concerned thinking that I may have driven that distance thinking I was coming to see the band. I think what they are doing is awesome and really appreciated by those of us who really love this band!! For those who just showed up to catch a free show, see somebody famous or get some freebies…well whatever! They missed a really great opportunity to enjoy something pretty darn special. The Foo Fighters are the BEST band on the planet and are extremely generous to their fans. Thank you Foos for rockin’ my world and giving me a little taste of the White Limo! Thank you Limo Driver & support for making the journey and rolling with the tweets and making a lot of it up as you go, stay cool. Your followers appreciate it and the ones you have done really special things for will remember it for a lifetime!! Safe travels guys! Foo Fighters Fan for Life!! ~T~