Dan Grigor Thrown Out Of NAMM

BFMN EXCLUSIVE: Shocking footage has surfaced of Grigor being manhandled and thrown out of the Anaheim Convention Center! When a member of the Staff was confronted with the bizarre scene caught on tape his only comment was, “He just wouldn’t leave.”

Thrown out of NAMM.

Click through for the shocking story!

OK, not really but that was fun and I was probably there later than anyone else not on staff.

I always have a blast at NAMM and here it comes again. I’m getting excited. NAMM, for me, is an annual event that I look forward to from the moment the last one ends. Of course I’m excited to see all the new toys and technology, but more than that I will be totally immersed in music for four days straight. That’s what it’s all about. The National Association of Music Merchants gathers us together all in one place and musicians and those that love us and our money come out in force. They bring the best of the best of new products and old favorites. They bring with them major label artists who put on amazing shows on great stages with all the best gear money can buy. There are little intimate concerts of stars at little tiny booths. Legends jam with beginners in the aisles as music from all directions meets in the middle.

If you have never been there let me try and describe what it is like. The entire Convention Center and several building nearby are filled to capacity with the best musical instruments and all manner of accessories. 1400 or so exhibitors setup rows of booths with all their best new products and best sellers. They invite the artists that use their stuff to come and play. Since everyone is in town for this the list of artists is simply astounding. Some of the best music I hear all year is in the aisles at NAMM. Music store owners and tech heads from the entertainment industry come in droves to check out the wares. These are the people who decide what you see in your local music store and what is available online.

This is where new artists beg borrow or steal tickets to get in and try to make sponsor deals and sponsors are competitively looking for endorsements. Lots of bands are just begging to play there. To play there is an amazing opportunity to be heard by leaders in the industry. Everyone who is anyone shows up at one of these sooner or later. To get chosen to play there is an important career move and getting invited to play there is one of those industry complements that is as good or better to some than a Grammy. The opportunity to play a show at NAMM is a privilege and an honor and comes with some responsibility. You HAVE to be good, you CAN’T screw this up, everyone is watching and expecting you to be NAMM worthy. You better bring it.

As a writer it is a chance to get the jump on the competition, maybe grab an interview with a hero or jam with a legend.  The latest products are showcased and you can write about it after an actual hands on tryout with the guy who invented a famous and essential piece of studio gear instead of looking at pictures and regurgitating PR flack.

Here, you can collect enough material for a year’s worth of  stories. More than you can finish on time.  Trust me.

This year we are going again, this time I vow to be more organized and go in with a plan. As I do every year as soon as we walk in the door everything will change. That’s just the way it is. You go in with a plan and then BAM look at that over there… and off we go. I am a kid in a candy store and my  team tries to keep up as best they can and help me capture as much as we can. I already have more NAMM footage than I know what to do with and with that in mind we’re going to go get more. We have new writers and new cameras and this time we have enough batteries too.

We’ll try and show you the cool stuff but also share our experience there. It is 4 days of music and fun and friends and deals and stories. It all happens in Anaheim which as you know is the home of the Happiest Place on Earth. NAMM is just past that on the right.

CLICK HERE for a playlist of videos from earlier adventures at NAMM, and let me know what you’d especially like to see from this year!

DanG