Elbow on David Letterman 7/29 - NOT!! :(

I've noticed a few American Elbow fans here lately (about bloody time, too! ), so I wanted to post this in case anyone missed it and might have a chance to watch. Elbow will be performing on the David Letterman show Wednesday night (7/29) so make sure you stay up late to catch it - or TiVo it if you get snoozy!

Does anyone know if we can get it over here?

It'll be on youtube I'm sure!

ChrissieInFL wrote:

I've noticed a few American Elbow fans here lately (about bloody time, too! )

There used to be a fair few Americans posted on the old Powderblue elbow fan forum... even hanging on when it was getting neglected over the last year. I don't see them posting on here, nor that many of the others either....where did they go?
I do think a lot keep up to date now with events via Elbow Facebook and MySpace, etc, and Letterman will probably be on youtube.

lucky with disease wrote:

There used to be a fair few Americans posted on the old Powderblue elbow fan forum... even hanging on when it was getting neglected over the last year. I don't see them posting on here, nor that many of the others either....where did they go?
I do think a lot keep up to date now with events via Elbow Facebook and MySpace, etc, and Letterman will probably be on youtube.

I honestly never even knew about the Powderblue forum, even though I've been following Elbow since AITB. I found this forum because there were links posted in the comments section of Elbow's MySpace page, which I did (and still do) check on fairly regularly. You're right, Facebook and MySpace have been where I get a lot of my Elbow news and info and I'm sure that's true of most fans. Just wonder where all the American folks went that you say used to be on Powderblue. It'd be nice to feel as if there was a bit more community for Elbow-ites over here, seeing as how well you lot in the UK/Ireland have all done with getting to know each other and meeting up , etc. But in case anyone from the US is around here, I just wanted to give a heads up about Letterman, although I'm also sure it'll be on YouTube soon enough!

(OT. Hi Chrissie, It had a link (all be it not that obvious) on the official elbow website before the official site was revamped for TSSK.
It never advertised or promoted itself on myspace or facebook as it was there before all that stuff was invented.
It did used to do quite well in the DMA, Digital Music Awards, best fan website category in the years it entered (thats when it was a full website with gigography,reviews, press articles, pictures, music and elbow cartoons... bit like a primitive Ning, before the internet sites got so swish and hi-tech!) Its just a shame the girl who set it all up, lost interest after LOTFW, for whatever reason, and it got neglected and the website space for the main site was lost, with only the message room remaining. This happened a year ago now, just before elbow room arrived.

Aswell as Powderblue there was http://community.livejournal.com/asleepintheback/

set up by an American and also USA folks on the mailing list of http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/elbowfans/

Some of the Imeem members used to stop by on PB, and now probably on here i'm sure.

So no doubt you will cross paths sooner or later with someone from one of these at a gig. Two of the first Powderblue forumers I ever met at an elbow gig in early 2004 had come over from USA for Elbow, one from New York and one from Utah, we still keep in touch

Anyway looking out for more media appearances this time while they are over your way.

I have to be honest, LWD - I haven't been internet-crazy for all that long! Never really went looking for forums or any such things back when I first got into Elbow - I had just had my daughter then and there was too much else to do in my day for me to web surf! Wish I would've had a chance back then to discover those other US fans on one of the sites you mentioned - but as you said, maybe I'll run into some of 'em some time or another!

As for further US media appearances, I'm keeping my eyes open and hoping to find something else while they're over here. Really cool to see them getting on a national show like Letterman, though! Better late than never I guess!

No. Seriously? I'm all pumped to watch the Elboys on Letterman, and the kid has finally gone to sleep. I check Facebook for the first time today and see this:

Letterman appearance cancelled

Unfortunately due to the show over running Elbow will not be appearing on tonight's programme.
However, the band are pleased to confirm they will return in September to perform on the Letterman stage.
Check back here for further details over the coming month

WTF...SERIOUSLY??? Livid does not begin to adequately describe my state of mind right now! How in the hell is it possible that a show as well-established as Late Night with David Letterman doesn't know how to ensure that there is enough time for all the guests they have booked?? Effing amateurs!

I am so furious at Letterman. I have been waiting for years to see Elbow get their chance to impress America on late night TV, and Dave spends WAY TOO MUCH TIME talking with his old, washed up, totally boring friend, Tom Dreesen. Dave's lazy "I don't give a *^%&*&$" attitude was so rude and unprofessional, and his apology was lame. He could have at least held up their album cover and mentioned that Elbow had won the Mercury Prize. At least Paul was nice, praising Elbow, but Dave was a total jerk.

TexasElbowFan wrote:

I am so furious at Letterman. I have been waiting for years to see Elbow get their chance to impress America on late night TV, and Dave spends WAY TOO MUCH TIME talking with his old, washed up, totally boring friend, Tom Dreesen. Dave's lazy "I don't give a *^%&*&$" attitude was so rude and unprofessional, and his apology was lame. He could have at least held up their album cover and mentioned that Elbow had won the Mercury Prize. At least Paul was nice, praising Elbow, but Dave was a total jerk.

I didn't even bother watching the program after I realized Elbow had been bumped. I didn't see how Dave handled it but if his attitude was the way you said it was, it's a good thing I didn't watch. I'd have been even more upset than I already was!

Oh, and BTW, welcome to the forum, TexasElbowFan!

I love DL abut am disappointed in him for that.

what a tosser

UPDATE: According to the Letterman website, the rescheduled datefor Elbow's appearance is Sept. 8th. Which, according to their tour schedule, seems to indicate that they'll be adding a trans-Atlantic flight back to the US just to do the show, since they're not scheduled to be over here again after they finish up in Tampa on August 9th. It's a joke that they would be asked to do this after Dave failed to make enough time for them last night, but there you go. I have just emailed the CBS Late Show staff with my comments regarding the show last night. Needless to say, they weren't very complimentary. Not that they care, but it did make me feel a bit better to call Dave a giant pudwacker.

Wow. I'm disappointed in the response on this forum. This kind of thing happens ALL the time in television. It's too bad, for sure, but to be so suddenly sour on David Letterman, who has supported booking all kinds of musical acts both well-known and unknown for many, many years, is silly in my opinion. If it had been a band you hate that got bumped, you probably wouldn't care, right? So cursing out David Letterman is hypocritical. His apology was dry, but that's how he is. It wasn't rude and he even prolonged the little give and take with Paul Shaffer about it for a laugh.

Cheesewater wrote:

Wow. I'm disappointed in the response on this forum. This kind of thing happens ALL the time in television. It's too bad, for sure, but to be so suddenly sour on David Letterman, who has supported booking all kinds of musical acts both well-known and unknown for many, many years, is silly in my opinion. If it had been a band you hate that got bumped, you probably wouldn't care, right? So cursing out David Letterman is hypocritical. His apology was dry, but that's how he is. It wasn't rude and he even prolonged the little give and take with Paul Shaffer about it for a laugh.

My problem is the fact that Elbow got bumped because Dave was allowing his second guest, Tom Dreesen, waaaay too much time for his segment. I know he and Dave are old friends and that Dreesen has even guest hosted on occasion, but he has been on TV for about 40 years now - I used to watch him on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, fer goodness sake! (Goes to show you how old I am, too! ) But a dude like Dreesen doesn't need the exposure, and surely it wouldn't have been a problem to give him a few minutes less so that Elbow could've gone on. If a performance gets cut due to technical trouble or some other unavoidable issue, then yeah, that's nobody's fault. But when a band who isn't going to be in the US much longer is asked to reschedule, just because one of Letterman's cronies was there hogging air time, I think that's a bit unprofessional and definitely something that could've been avoided with a little more consideration from the host and/or the show's staff.

And you're absolutely right that Letterman's show has been really good about featuring great musicians, and even helping to break a lot of new acts in America. I've watched him for a long time and still think he does book great bands (Silversun Pickups were on earlier this week and I love them). But I think his extra-long chit chat with Tom Dreesen was self-indulgent and because it was at the expense of a band who made a commitment to be there, and really could've used the exposure, I am calling shenanigans on Dave. I still like him better than Conan but when he's wrong, he's wrong.

Thanks, Chrissie, for welcoming me.

Cheesewater, sure I was upset that my favorite band got bumped, and I know that it does happen from time to time (not necessarily "all the time" as you said.) Usually when it happens, though, it is because some great guest like Robin Williams eats up too much time, not because Dave spent so much time whining about feeling sick and the absurdly long yawn-fest that he had with Tom Dreesen.

I agree that Dave has historically been pretty good at featuring little-known bands, certainly more so than Jay Leno did, but Conan and Carson Daly do a better job,in my opinion. Dave's show has been going downhill for years so much so that he seems to be going through the motions. When he is well-behaved, he can be as good or better than any other talk show host, but far too often he is just rude and boring.

So if Elbow got bumped because Robin Williams went long, you'd be okay with that? It's because people don't like Tom Dreesen that has them writing sharply worded e-mails to Dave Letterman? Some people like Tom Dreesen and don't care about Elbow.

My point is that it is a sad state of affairs that people wig out enough about it to call Dave Letterman names. If it's known that sometimes guests get bumped, how does it make the host "rude," "unprofessional," "effing amateurs," "lazy," "a jerk," "a tosser," "a giant pudwacker," etc?

And calling Dave Letterman rude is kind of a laugh to me. He appears to be a much more gracious host than Jay Leno ever was. Leno was constantly trying to get a laugh during an interview, even at the expense of his guest. I like Conan, but he tends to take the silly route during his interviews with guests, which I like less than Letterman's dryness. By the way, the "rude" David Letterman had a bottle of hand sanitizer at his desk to cut down on the possibility of his guests catching his illness. It wasn't a joke either.

TexasElbowFan wrote:

Thanks, Chrissie, for welcoming me.

You're welcome - and I just realized that that was Cheesewater's first post, so welcome to Cheesewater too! Sorry, should've done that the first time...

I hear what you're saying about Dave being past his best. But really, I am not saying he's Satan or whatever, because it's not a general complaint I was lodging here. Just that, in this instance, he messed up. I found the show on YouTube earlier today, and when I watched how long he and Dreesen were sitting there doing old-school show biz schtick, I was really incredulous that this was what they bumped Elbow for. I can't imagine that ANY act should have been bumped for that rubbish - except perhaps Celine Dion, in which case it would've been perfectly acceptable (and perhaps even imperative, to protect mankind ).

And Cheesewater...no, I personally wouldn't have been OK with Robin Williams hogging the couch too long, either. And "unprofessional" is completely apppropriate in this case, because Letterman definitely showed a personal preference for one particular guest at the expense of another. I agree that some people in the viewing audience like Dreesen and don't care a rat's butt about Elbow. But there would've been room for both if Dave had done his job the right way last night. Plus, even those who like Dreesen have seen him many, MANY times before on Dave's show and will no doubt see him again. So, my personal opinion is that the priority shouldn't have been to let Dreesen's segment run long, but rather to show the musical act that was promised. Dreesen could've still made his appearance but he didn't have to overstay his welcome, and the fact that he was allowed to is the amatuerish part of this, in my opinion. BTW, don't worry, I didn't actually call Dave a pudwacker in the email to CBS. I'm not quite that silly! But among cyber-friends on the forum - pudwacker's sort of what might be expected of me, I think...

Cheese, I do not wish to fan the flames anymore, but since a couple of your questions were directed at me, I will answer them.

1) If it had been Robin Williams that caused Elbow to have been bumped, I would have still been disappointed but I would not have been as critical of Dave. My point was that what caused Elbow to be bumped was a long and boring segment. While this is certainly a matter of opinion, I think that most people would agree that a "first guest" like Robin Williams is normally more entertaining than Dreesen.

2) I did not write any emails to David Letterman. As for calling Letterman names ("rude", "lazy", "unprofessional" and "a jerk"), these are my opinions, which I am sure you understand that I am entitled to have, just as you are entitled to your own opinion. I agree with you that Letterman is usually more gracious than Leno was, but Leno did not set the bar very high. I also agree that the hand sanitizer was a kind touch.

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

My frustration with this has less to do with them getting bumped, and more to do with the fact that the band were scheduled (and CONFIRMED) to play a Toronto club date yesterday (as a prelude to their all-too-short Coldplay opening slot). They cancelled (the gig had shown up on the venue's site, but tickets hadn't gone on sale) the gig because of the Letterman offer (an important spot to be sure)... so to have them then get bumped is a real grind. They could have played to a packed club here instead - but gave it up (logically) only to get NOTHING? That just burns me a little...

Grrrrr... I stayed up ALL NIGHT with recorder on and everything just to hear Dave apologize. Oh well.

Even Letterman's keyboardist commented on how Elbow are a great band! I thought that was pretty nice of him.
Well, at least they're inviting the band back in September

I've just been watching some Youtubes and came across Simon and Garfunkel on Letterman from a couple of years back.
Which got me thinking

What has happened with the rearranged Elbow appearance? Did it happen in September or has it been postponed indefinitely? Anyone got any idea?

heshofcheese wrote:

I've just been watching some Youtubes and came across Simon and Garfunkel on Letterman from a couple of years back.
Which got me thinking

What has happened with the rearranged Elbow appearance? Did it happen in September or has it been postponed indefinitely? Anyone got any idea?

Nope, they never made it back. Not sure what the deal was but I suspect they just said, "Fuck it"! They're done with the tour now and have put TSSK to bed, so I doubt they'd want to make a trip over here just to do the show at this point. I reckon Dave Letterman's got bigger fish to fry now anyway, what with his personal issues and all, and isn't too worried about whether Elbow visit his show or not! Sucks that they couldn't go on when they were supposed to, but fortunately the US leg of the tour raised their profile considerably here, so the heck with Dave!