I Break from the Crowd

The first few points in my personal fan philosophy are not controversial.  They are ones that I suspect that many share.  First, I will listen to everything created by the band or any side project with an open mind.  Now, I will openly admit that I do not include Warren in this.  I realize that many will say that I’m closed minded on him and I will own up to that.  I am not a Warren fan.  I tried.  That said, I will listen to everything else.  I will try everything else.  Second, even though, I will listen to everything.  I will not like everything I hear.  To me, this doesn’t make me less than a fan.  It makes me someone who still has opinions and preferences.  Third, I will attempt to find out as much as I can about the band, career wise.  I will try to keep up with the happenings of the band.  This isn’t hard.  I’m interested.  Obviously, if I stop being interested, I wouldn’t be part of a fandom.  For me, though, I like to know what is happening.  Along the same lines, I will buy as many products that I can and that I like.  It is part of how I express my interest.  I am also open with my fandom by having posters (sue me!) and wearing t-shirts.  I wore one yesterday.  It was John Taylor’s birthday.  It seemed appropriate.  Yes, I went out in public.  I did educate the check out guy in Target that Duran was still making music and that there were still fans.  I am fine with doing a little educating.  Overall, though, I’m willing to bet that so far my philosophy isn’t going to cause anyone to get upset with me or think that I’m being critical.  For the record, before I dive into the other parts of my philosophy, I want to point out that the key word here is MY.  It may not be yours.  That’s okay.  This is my philosophy.

The first parts of my fandom philosophy dealt with fandom on a personal, by oneself sort of level.  What is my fandom philosophy when it comes to the band, itself?  Let me start by saying that I have been very lucky to get the members of Duran Duran’s autograph.  I have been able to go to a cd signing and get autographs from Simon, Nick, John and Roger.  John even personalized it.  I was able to get Dom’s signature with his most recent solo cd as he was selling the first ones with his autograph along with his dad’s.  I even have a copy of All You Need Is Now with signatures from doing VIP during the tour.  Ideally, I would love for AYNIN to include Dom’s signature as well as Mark Ronson’s as they were big factors on that album.  I was also lucky to be able to go to one of John’s book signings so he could autograph a copy of his autobiography.  Anyway, my point is that I’m well-aware that I’m fortunate to have their signatures.  I feel so lucky, in fact, that I would never try to get their signatures again unless it was an some official signing.  If I happen to be in a place in which one or more band members were signing items for fans, I would gladly step back for those who do not have any autographs.  Does that make me crazy?  Perhaps.  To me, though, it is only fair.  We all know that the band can’t sign everything wanted by everyone.  Thus, if they were, say behind the stage after a show, they are only going to sign a few things, for a few minutes.  Let’s say that Nick is going to sign 10 things from 10 people.  If I jump in and get an autograph, that means that the 11th person won’t get a signature and maybe that person has never had the chance.  I would add to my collection and she gets nothing.  That wouldn’t feel right to me.  

The same thing would apply to getting things like drumsticks or guitar picks.  If I was lucky enough to say get a pair of drumsticks, I would be thrilled, of course.  Who wouldn’t?  If I was beyond lucky to have a second pair, it is obvious what I would do.  I would give the second pair to Rhonda or to someone else who doesn’t have a pair.  Why not share?  What does it do for me to have many pairs of drumsticks?  Yes, I’m sure that someone could make the point that the drumsticks represent the specific show, which is why it is okay to have more than one pair.  While I get that, I still think that those kind of items are so few that it would be good to spread the wealth.  Again, this probably makes me unusual.  Of course, I’m sure that there are people out there who will say, “But, Amanda, you don’t really know what you would do if you had the chance for a lot of guitar picks.”  True, but I would hope that the people around me would remind me of my philosophy.  I would feel better in the long run if I followed this plan of mine.  I have done this for autographs and felt good about it.  

Now, of course, this leads me to pictures.  I have not been fortunate with this at all.  I have had one picture taken with Nick with another friend.  It wasn’t a solo picture.  I will openly admit that I would love to get pictures of me and the band members.  I won’t lie.  Ideally, I would love a great picture with me and John Taylor.  It isn’t a secret.  This, to me, though, is just like those autographs or those special band given items.  Once I would have my pictures, I would definitely stand to the side to allow others to get theirs.  To me, that would just feel right.  Now, of course, I already hear the questions.  What if you don’t like the picture?  What if the picture is old?  Obviously, this is just what I would do and what I feel comfortable with.  If the picture isn’t great, I would hope that I had another chance but still would wait until others have gotten theirs at that time.  The same would be true for me if the picture was old.  This part of my philosophy sounds like a hard and fast rule and it really isn’t.  My point is simple.  For me, I would want to share.  This is what would make me happy–to know that as many Duranies around me have been as lucky as I have.  Yes, I realize that this probably makes me very weird.  I’m okay with that even if it means that I get/have less than other fans.  

-A