Message Boards of Negativity

A short while back, there was an article in Relix discussing message boards and the overwhelmingly negative effect that they can have on a band/artist. I don’t remember who wrote it, I don’t remember the name of the band, and I don’t know if I have that issue anymore (I’m no magazine collector, that’s for sure…) so it’s hard for me to be more descriptive than that…

Phil Lesh just requested that the message board on Philzone.com be taken down, for the following reason…

Until now, I have felt that the boards are your turf to trample as you will; but right before New Year’s Eve one of my employees received a very threatening email from a frequent poster on Philzone. In the process of dealing with this I was shown that the discussions sometimes cross the line. For example – Bob Weir is dead; so and so (fill in the name of the musician you most love to hate) is a junkie/child-molester/wife-beater/asshole/sucks, etc.

Yeah, I mean, this is unfortunate and it’s sad to see that the artists don’t necessarily know that this goes on. What’s more, I’ve never seen anything so over the top as the Phantasy Tour boards, and I think that’s precisely what Dan Greenhaus is getting at…

Phil’s actions serve to remind us of the substantial, diverse and influential audience this message board garners, and to be respectful of those individuals, both on stage and off, who make the music and this forum the best it can be.

However, the argument will continue to play on as long as we have idiots flooding our message boards with everything from “I got so drunk I pooped the bed last night…” to “Bob Weir is a child-molestor,” and I really do wish they guys would just go away.