Top of the Bill
I watched a show this evening about the rise of ‘Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’.
One comment from one of the band members really resonated with me. I paraphrase.
“We stopped opening for other people. We decided we didn’t want to play anywhere where people hadn’t come to see US. Once we did that, we just sky rocketed.”
Wow! That last line just hit me.
Why do we do it?
Why do we show up in places people don’t ‘get’ us, tolerate us, hate us, even?
Places we feel like ‘warm up act’?
What are we trying to prove, achieve?
You’re never gonna be for everybody.
Don’t force it.
Stop accommodating, apologising, accepting.
A couple of months back, I ditched about 40 inactive people from my subscriber list.
Same principle.
I don’t wanna share my writing with people who don’t wanna read what I’ve written. Makes me feel like shit.
No. Do one. Fuck off.
There are people out there who will love what you do - love YOU.
There are people who will celebrate both your personal attributes and your gifts to the world - people who put you at the top of their bill.
They will cheer you on, support you.
They will want you to win. Show up for YOU.
THEY are the ones who deserve your attention, time and energy.
Then there are the others - the hecklers, the haters, the baiters…..the bored WAITERS.
The ones who make you feel like shit by ‘tolerating’ you. The people who have come to see someone else’s ‘show’ and are chatting shit and munching popcorn loudly through your part.
The ones passing time til something ‘better’ comes along.
No.
Ditch the downers.
If they make you feel like crap, don’t just show ‘em the door - proactively kick em out and vow not to ‘play’ to them again.
You deserve someone to be excited about YOU, look forward to YOU!
You deserve for someone to show up for you as though you are a Tom Petty concert. To taste you like violet night and hot leather, to hear you like guitar licks and motorbikes.
Find the ones who prize you.
You are NO-ONE’S warm up act.
You are TOP OF THE BILL.
Now go, sky rocket!
Whilst I’m in this mood, I’ve just been through some more ‘subscribers’ and unsubscribed a few more. Felt good! I’m not into vanity stats. Why the hell would I want subscribers who ignore me?
Don’t do me any favours by being here - that goes for anyone reading this too.
If you have a substack, I urge you to do the same. You deserve for people to anticipate you like a kid for Santa, not a Jehovah’s Witness at the fucking door.
Agree, I feel I have been the support act most of my life really. That's not to say I haven't done my own thing in my own way but a lot of the time I have 'looked after' people who would never look after me in the same way.